Ephesians 2:14: A Story about Walls

"For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us." 
Background

In the temple at Jerusalem, there are many different areas that those who want to worship that belong to different groups cannot cross. The first of these walls of separation that the gentiles were not allowed to cross. Basically, if they crossed this boundary, they could be killed because they were seen as being unclean.

The separation wall

The next area of separation was at the Court of the Women. Israelite women were allowed to go here, but were not allowed to go any further into the temple. They were not allowed to go past what was known as the Nicanor gate.

Court of the Women

There is also a boundary at the court of the Israelite's where those who were not priest were not allowed to pass. These "walls" of separation continue on and on until you get to the area of the temple known as the holy of holies, where only the high priest could pass through on one day of the year.

How can it apply to our lives? 

After Christ was crucified, the veil hiding the holy of holies, the most sacred of all the separations, was torn. This meant that anyone who was walking by could see into this most sacred place, where the presence of God was said to be able to dwell. "He hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us." 

Christ breaks down the barriers that keep us away from our Heavenly Father. This happened in after His crucifixion, and it can happen in each of our lives. Christ wants each of us to be able to be in God's presence, and He can help us to do this. The most significant way Christ has broken down the walls between us and God was through the atonement. Through His atonement, Christ became a mediator for each of us. He paid the price for our sins so that we might be able to stand in God's presence.

If we let Him, Christ can bring us closer to our Father in Heaven, which is something that would extremely bless each of our lives. Neither Christ nor Heavenly Father want us to be strangers. They love us and want us to be closer to them. Thanks to Christ, we are able to be brought closer to God.