And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
Ver. 51. The veil of the temple was rent] To show that there was an end to the Levitical liturgy, and that now there was free and open access for all saints to the throne of God's grace, for the veil was a figure of the spiritual covering which was before the eyes of the Church till Christ's coming.
And the earth did quake] To work a heartquake in the obstinate Jews, as in some it did; others of them had contracted such a habitual hardness, such a hoof upon their hearts, as neither ministry, nor misery, nor miracle, nor mercy could possibly mollify.
And the rocks rent] So they do wherever Christ makes forcible entrance into any heart. "I will shake all nations, and then the desire of all nations shall come," Haggai 2:7. A man will never truly desire Christ till soundly shaken. God's shaking ends in settling; he rends us, not to ruin, but to refine us.