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;
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. This was the thick and gorgeously-worked veil which was hung between the "holy place" and the "holiest of all," shutting out all access to the presence of God as manifested "from above the mercy-seat and from between the cherubim:" - "the Holy Spirit this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made mainfest" (Hebrews 9:8). Into this holiest of all none might enter, not even the high priest, except once a year, on the great day of atonement, and then only with the blood of atonement in his hands, which he sprinkled "upon and before the mercy-seat seven times" (Leviticus 16:14) - to signify that access for sinners to a holy God is only through atoning blood. But as they had only the blood of bulls and of goats, which could not take away sins (Hebrews 10:4), during all the long ages that preceded the death of Christ, the thick veil remained; the blood of bulls and of goats continued to be shed and sprinkled; and once a year access to God through an atoning sacrifice was vouchsafed-in a picture, or rather, was dramatically represented, in those symbolical actions-nothing more.
But now, the one atoning Sacrifice being provided in the precious blood of Christ, access to this holy God could no longer be denied; and so the moment the Victim expired on the altar, that thick veil which for so many ages had been the dread symbol of separation between God and guilty men was, without a hand touching it, mysteriously "rent in twain from top to bottom:" - "the Holy Spirit this signifying, that the way into the holiest of all was NOW made manifest!" How emphatic the statement, "from top to bottom;" as if to say, Come boldly now to the Throne of Grace; the veil is clean gone; the Mercyseat stands open to the gaze of sinners, and the way to it is sprinkled with the blood of Him - "who through the eternal Spirit hath offered Himself without spot to God"! Before, it was death to go in, now it is death to stay out. See more on this glorious subject at Hebrews 10:19-22.
An Earthquake-the rocks torn apart-the graves opened, that the saints which slept in them might come forth after their Lord's Resurrection (Matthew 27:51-53).
And the earth did quake. From what follows it would seem that this earthquake was local, having for its object the breaking of the rocks and the opening of the graves.
And the rocks rent ('were rent') - the physical creation thus sublimely proclaiming, at the bidding of its Maker, the concussion which at that moment was taking place in the moral world at the most critical moment of its history. Extraordinary rents and fissures have been observed in the rocks near this spot.