This image is taken from a photo of the painting as the original digital image is no longer available.

In the temple in Jerusalem, the Holy of Holies is where only a high priest could go, once a year, to atone for the sins of the nation.  Details of which are recorded in the book of Leviticus 16:1-35.

The curtain separating the ‘Holy of Holies’ from the ‘Holy Place’ was split in two at the moment of Christ’s death – showing that the barrier between God and people was removed.  Now all people are free to approach God because of Christ’s sacrifice for the sins of humanity.  Some bible references that talk about this are in Hebrews 9:1-14 and Hebrews 10:1-22.

While studying those verses, I kept thinking how God’s love made a way for us to be able to come close to Him.  The purple cloth is the temple curtain, as blue, purple and scarlet yarn made up the curtains for the Holy of Holies area in the temple.

The idea of a zip in the curtain came from the thought that a zip opens from the top to the bottom.  Jesus came from up in Heaven and went down to earth to open the access way for us to approach our Heavenly Father through his sacrifice on the cross.  You can’t tear a strong zip with your own strength, you need the zip to do what it was designed to do.  Just like we can’t come into God’s presence by our own strength, we needed Jesus to gain access for us.