Why did the curtain in the temple tear in two "from top to bottom"? (Matthew 27:51)
Context: 50 And when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he gave up his spirit. 51 At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split 52 and the tombs broke open. The bodies of many holy people who had died were raised to life. 53 They came out of the tombs after Jesus’ resurrection and[e] went into the holy city and appeared to many people. 54 When the centurion and those with him who were guarding Jesus saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, and exclaimed, “Surely he was the Son of God!”
Matthew 27:51
ESV - 51 And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.
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Asked November 12 2019
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Jack Gutknecht
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Tim Maas
If the wording of the question is asking specifically about why the tear in the veil of the temple started at the top of the veil and ran vertically all the way through it, rending it completely in two, I would say that this was meant to indicate that it was God the Father Himself (who, although omnipresent, is symbolically "above" man) who had initiated the tearing action, and also who had fully completed it through Christ's death, so that the veil no longer represented a barrier between God and humanity, as it had under the sacrificial system of the Law that was a foreshadowing of Christ's ultimate/final atonement.
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