What does 2 Corinthians 3:14 mean?
Paul is explaining Exodus 34 to make his point: the new covenant between God and those who trust in Christ is far more glorious than the old covenant between God and Israel. One reason for this is that Moses had to cover his own face to protect the people from looking at God's glory reflected there after he spent time with the Lord. In their sinfulness, the glory of God was dangerous to them. It scared and hurt them. They could not endure it.Now Paul adds that the minds of the Israelites were hardened by sin. Even as Moses was receiving the commandments from God, Israel built an idol to worship instead of worshipping the Lord. This disobedience and betrayal of God resulted not just in punishment from Him but in a hardening of their minds to see His glory. The glory was revealed in God's Word to them, but they could not, would not, see it.
Nobody can see God's glory, Paul adds, because of this veil created by sin. It keeps us from understanding what is true until it is removed through Christ. In other words, only those who come to God through faith in Christ are freed from the veil and given the ability to begin to receive God's glory. Why? Because in Christ, their sin is forgiven and replaced with Jesus' righteousness.