What does Matthew 27:51 mean?

Multiple dramatic events take place at the moment of Jesus' death (Matthew 27:50). The first mentioned by Matthew is that the curtain of the temple is ripped in half, notably said to happen "from top to bottom." This most likely refers to the inner curtain between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place (Exodus 26:31–33). This separated the area where the high priest, only, could enter, and only once every year. That entry was to make a sacrifice for sin on behalf of the people. Anyone daring to enter God's presence there at any other time would surely die.

The curtain was huge: the height of a six-story building and half as wide, elaborately and thickly woven with seventy-two plaits of twenty-four threads each. This was not something easy to cut, let alone tear. For the curtain to be split in half was remarkable enough. Matthew specifies that this tearing happened from top to bottom. This could only have been done by God.

The meaning ought to have been clear to those religious leaders who saw it happen. Hebrews 9:11—10:22 explains in detail how Jesus' death on the cross made it possible for anyone to come to God through faith in Him. Those who come through Jesus can come boldly and without fear right into God's presence. The need for the Jewish sacrificial system that God had given to Israel was done. The perfect and final sacrifice for sin, Jesus Himself, had been made. In both a spiritual and literal sense, the barrier between men and God was removed—by God Himself.

At the same time the curtain was torn in two, earthquakes shook the ground and large rocks broke apart. It must have felt like the earth itself was responding to the death of Jesus.