From Veil to Mirror: What Moses Missed

Moses wore a veil. Not because the glory of God was too bright for Israel—but because it was already fading. What had once blazed on his face after meeting with Yahweh was slipping away, moment by moment. The veil kept the people from seeing that the radiance was temporary.

I understand that veil.

I wore mine in church for years. Not cloth, but performance. If I prayed long enough, fasted hard enough, preached fiery enough—maybe people wouldn’t notice that the fire was fading in me, too. I didn’t want them to see the cracks. I didn’t want them to see how tired I was.

But Paul tells us something different in 2 Corinthians 3: “We all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

Moses veiled his fading glory.
We behold Christ’s unfading glory.

The difference is everything.

The Christian life isn’t about hiding the cracks. It isn’t about veils, or masks, or curating enough religious glow to convince others we’re still burning bright. The gospel says we can step out unveiled—because what shines now isn’t our own radiance, but His.

We don’t manage glory. We receive it.
We don’t protect appearances. We reflect Christ.
We don’t cling to fading light. We gaze into a mirror—and the mirror looks back with Jesus.

I’m done with veils.
If my face shines, it’s not because I’ve earned it.
It’s because I’ve seen Him.

And unlike Moses, this glory doesn’t fade.