Phoenix Chapter No. 34 Cookstown Ontario Canada

A purple Royal Arch Mason veil made by MAC and SAC.

 

www.jttgrandchapter.org/resources/Lectures/The Veils.pdf

 

Part I

Comp Michael Post

As all companions have, we have gone through a particular ceremony in which we must pass to truly become a Royal Arch Mason. That ceremony is “Passing the Veils”. Why is this ceremony important and what does it represent?

 

The ceremony of “Passing the Veils” or the use of the Veils in Royal Arch ceremonies is as old as the Degree itself although it origins seem to be lost in the oral traditions of ancient times. The Veils in early ceremonies were three in number, later a fourth was added in some countries (Most all, if not all, American Chapters today work in this “four-Veiled” ceremony). There are some scholars however believe that this elaborate ceremony did not always belong to the Royal Arch but rather it was part of, or wholly the ceremony of Excellent Master or High Excellent Master’s degree (Ireland; Scotland, and Bristol, England). This Excellent Master degree can also be seen in the Allied Masonic Degrees in America.

 

So what does this intricate ceremony signify?

It could be said that masonically, passing of the Veils signifies the enlightenment that comes with Masonic progression. While some academics say it symbolizes the problems or suffering encountered by the Jews on their returning journey from exile. Others believe that it involves the Veils of the Tabernacle of Moses and related to those of the Temple of Solomon. And still others consider it as a reference to Jesus, tying it to among other things the Veil of the last Temple upon His death.

 

What is the lesson that should ultimately be discovered in this ceremony? As said before I believe it to be lost in the oral traditions of the past. What do you believe? What do you think is the truth behind the symbolism?

 

The problem with this topic is where to start. There are many avenues in which I can take this discussion, but where to start? Should I start with the colors of the Veil? Or perhaps why our Veil system of America is different of that of Scotland or the United Kingdom? Should I talk about the Tribes of Israel and there banner colors vs. the colors that are on the High Priest Ephod? Or should I discuss the Veils or coverings of the tabernacle vs. the Veil that separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place or the Holy of holies. But what about the journey we have made?

So let us begin with that journey, which we all have taken.

 

After we have all braved that rough and rugged road we come unto a tabernacle and we are met with resistance to enter, the first Veil. We explain to the Grand Master of the First Veil that we have come from captivity and our intent to help rebuild the temple and that we are the true descendents of the Giblimites that built the first temple. After that we are then challenged for entry, we recollect the lesson of the burning bush from which Moses spoke with the great I AM, with that we enter. We are given a sign and password. The sign is explained by a scripture reading from the book of Exodus 7: 10–12. The password is that of the three sons of Noah.

 

“These three names can allude to Noah’s Ark or the Ark of Safety. We could say that God was the architect, Noah was the builder and his sons, Shem, Ham and Japheth they were the craftsmen.”

 

We now come to a second Veil and are met with resistance. We then give the sign and password that we were divested with from the Grand Master of the First Veil. We are allowed to enter and although we are in fact Most Excellent Masters promoting the noble and glorious work of rebuilding the temple we are told that we cannot go further without the words and signs of the Grand Master of the Second Veil. We are given a sign and password. The sign is explained by a scripture reading from the book of Exodus 4: 6–7. The password is that of three builders of the Ark of the Covenant.

 

The Ark of the Covenant, or of Moses, is also known as the Ark of the Testimony. Along with Moses, Bezaleel (tribe of Judah) and Aholiab (tribe of Dan) were filled with spirit of God, wisdom, understanding, and in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship and thus worked diligently until the tabernacle, Ark and all things belonging to it were made exactly as God had instructed.

 

Next we come to the Third Veil and again are met with resistance. We give the sign and password that we were divested with from the Grand Master of the Second Veil. Proving once again that we must be in fact Most Excellent Masters we promoting the noble and glorious work of rebuilding the temple we are permitted to enter but we can go no further without the words, signs and signet of the Grand Master of the Third Veil. The sign is thus explained by a scripture reading from the book of Exodus 4:9. The password is that of the three principles to build the Second Temple and replace or substitute the arch of the Covenant in the Holy of Holies. We are then given the Signet of Truth.

 

Alas, we come to the Grand Master of the Fourth Veil or Royal Arch Captain. We give the sign and password that we were divested with from the Grand Master of the Third Veil, we then present the Signet of Truth. We are then told to wait until the Grand Council is informed of or request to enter. The Grand Council recognizes or request and permits us to enter.

 

This completes our initial journey through the Veils.

 

PART 2

So now that we went through the journey of “Passing the Veils” where should we go? I guess a suitable place to go is; what is the right number of veils one should go through? Previously I stated, “The Veils in early ceremonies were three in number, later a fourth was added in some countries (and most all, if not all, American ( whether they are Prince Hall or otherwise) Chapters today work in this “four-Veiled” ceremony)”.

 

Comp. F. A. M. Taylor, Assistant Librarian for the Grand Royal Arch Chapter of England; wrote in 1932, “The veils were doubtless a part of early ceremony of the Arch Degree and the working of the same discontinued, I believe, at the Union in 1817.” He goes on to state, that it appears that the, “passing of the veils” was extensively in the early part of the 19th century. No account of what the ceremony was, or any records are to be found in minutes of the early English Chapters.

 

What should the proper system of veils that one should pass? What do the veils really represent? I think this is the basis of what we should look into. Depending on what you say the Veils represent you can state your argument.

Ernest Cooke, Provincial Grand Superintendent of Bristol (England), informs us that until 1929 only three veils were used in the Chapters of that Province. In 1932 after much research and careful consideration, the use of the fourth veil (White) was authorized. He based much of his argument on the fact that one, they were in use in the early Chapters. (There is no proof of this). And two, the description of the Tabernacle in Exodus is so definite.

 

A point of interest comes from the Comp. F. A. M. Taylor, Asst. Librarian of the English Grand Chapter in 1932. He states that it was the practice to have three “Masters of the Veils”, who were officers of the Chapter (Which officers, is not stated.). Being armed with a sword and bearing a banner of appropriate colour, were stationed at the Blue, Purple and Scarlet veils (The White veil is guarded by the RA. Captain (as it is in our Ritual)).

i. I will start off with the “traditional” three- Veiled system then unto the four -Veiled system. So the basic question is “Why three veils”? Before we go any further let’s break down what a veil is. If you go to Wikipedia or other website you can find various meanings of veil, from veils for women to headgear and so on, veils have several meanings. The word "veil" in the Hebrew speaks of a screen, something that conceals and separates. With that said lets break down these systems.

 

In the book, “Secret Societies of all Ages and Countries” by C.W. Heckethorn (1897) he mentions only three veils. “The Textbook of Freemasonry” (1870) which is irregular and an unauthorized publication, supposedly giving all the ceremonies of the Craft and the Royal Arch, the author states that the ceremony is sometimes dispensed with. Here reference is made to only three veils. A quote from “The Perfect Ceremonies of the Royal Arch Degree,” Lewis (1907) states, “The ceremony is said to follow the restoration to light. The ceremony is carried out with only three veils”.

 

ii (Italicized words done by me) I believe the original intent was to imitate the tabernacle of Moses. In that Tabernacle, properly there were three veils or curtains. It is said these veils were used to hide the glory of God's face or presence from the people or to separate a sinful man from a Holy God.

 

The first veil was the eastern gate which opened into the courtyard. Those who came to present offerings to God (this is where the Brazen Alter was) could pass through this veil or gate (Ex. 40:33). This “Passover Veil” separates the courtyard of Moses' tabernacle from the world.

 

The next veil allowed only the priests to enter the Holy Place (Ex. 40:28). This was the first veil into the tabernacle. The Holy place is the place of testimony, of spiritual bread, and the offering up of the prayers and praises. This “Pentecost Veil” separates the courtyard from the Holy Place.

 

The last veil was only for the High Priest, who once a year could enter into the Holy of Holies (Ex. 40:21). This was the place that the Ark of the Covenant rested. This Holy place was where the High Priest would give up offering and provoke the ineffable name of Deity. In the Tabernacle there was a table, but no chair for Aaron or any of the priests to sit on, for their work was never finished. Although there was no chair; there was one seat, the Mercy-seat reserved for The Almighty Himself who sat there between the cherubim. The “Tabernacles Veil” separates the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place where God "sat" on the mercy seat.

 

“I will commune with thee from above the Mercy Seat, from between the two cherubim’s which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel."

 

Exodus 25:17-22

Another correlation to these three veils above is the three annual feasts of Israel (which some believe, four have been achieved or celebrated).

 

“Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty.”

 

Deuteronomy 16:16

However, I will not go into more detail about them during this paper... lol (Research is a beautiful thing. I implore you to do some more, let me know how it goes!)

So here we have several questions. If the veils were representing those of the tabernacle, Why do we have four veils? Is there or should there be a three or four Veils?

 

If you look at the veils of the tabernacle there are three. But what of the “true” veil of the Tabernacle. There are four colors to it; does this represent the meaning of the veils as we see it today? So why do we have four veils? Why are there three Masters of the Veils and not four? Why is the “fourth veil” guarded by the Royal Arch Captain and not another Master of the veil?

 

The meaning of the four horns on an altar.

hoshanarabbah.org/blog/tag/horns-of-the-altar/

 

Exodus 29:12, Horns of the altar. The four horns of the altar of sacrifice was the place where the blood of atonement was sprinkled (also Lev 4:4, 17, 18, 25, 30, 34; 8:15; 9:9; 16:18).

 

But there’s more. Horn is the Hebrew word qeren meaning “horn, hill or ray.” This word is used to describe the rays of light rays emanating from the face of Moses after his encounter with YHVH (Exod 34:29) and the horns of an animal (Ps 69:31). In ancient cultures, the horn was a metaphor for physical strength or spiritual power (Deut 33:17; 2 Sam 22:3; Ps 18:2). Elsewhere, YHVH is referred to as man’s “horn of salvation” meaning he is the strength of our salvation. The Hebrew word for salvation is yesha meaning “deliverance, rescue, safety, welfare, victory, prosperity.” The root of yesha is the verb yasha meaning “to save, to deliver, to give victory.” Not only is YHVH called our “horn of salvation” in the Tanakh, but this designation is applied to Yeshua as well in the Testimony of Yeshua (Luke 1:69). Interestingly, Yeshua is a derivative of the Hebrew name Yehoshua (or Joshua), which also derives from yasha.

 

It should be evident from this quick study that the horns of the altar are a picture of Yeshua, who is the horn or strength of our salvation and who shed his blood for our sins on the altar of the cross.

 

This being the case, why then are there four horns on the altar? This is likely symbolic of the four attributes of Yeshua, even as the four colors of cloth used throughout the tabernacle prophetically symbolize the same thing. Crimson speaks to Yeshua’s humanity, purple to his kingship, blue to his divinity, and white to his sinlessness or righteousness.

 

Additionally, the Jewish sages view the four horns as symbolizing the four corners of the earth, for, in Hebraic thought, the earth is nothing more than a large altar dedicated to Elohim. (See The ArtScroll Tehilim/Psalms commentary on this verse and notes at Ps 118:27.) The horns on the four corners of the altar could also prophetically point to the fact that Yeshua came to save all humans (who would trust in him) from the four corners of the earth.

Done