Chapter Two of Ephesians is one of Paul’s clearest statements about the Cross as God’s power for redemption.

In this chapter, Paul used the most dramatic image he could have used to describe the estrangement of the Gentiles, and the reconciling power of the Cross. His image was the Temple in Jerusalem. The layout of the temple painfully marked the separation of the Gentiles. Inside the temple walls were a series of courts. The innermost court was the hallowed “holy of Holies” into which the High Priest could go and that only once a year. Then came the court of the Priests just out side the Holy Place; then the Court of the Israelites; then the Court of Women; then finally far back and away from the Holy of Holies, far away from the priests, separated from the men of Israel by a barrier of…