You asked

what specific 'middle wall of partition' was paul referring to in the jerusalem temple?

The passage, plainly, with room to sit with it.

Ephesians 2:14

“For he is our peace, who made both one, and broke down the middle wall of partition,”

Paul is writing to believers in Ephesus, a major city in Asia Minor, likely in the mid-1st century CE. In this part of his letter, he is describing how Jesus has brought together people who were once separated.

What divisions in our world today might Jesus' act of breaking down barriers speak to?

Keep thinking

Behind the textwhat was the physical 'middle wall' in the jerusalem temple, and what did it symbolize?
Across the Biblehow does the old testament's emphasis on separation for holiness relate to paul's message here?
For todaywhat tangible steps can we take to dismantle walls of division in our own communities?

Read alongside it

Acts 21:26-30
Describes Paul being falsely accused of bringing a Gentile into the Temple, highlighting the strict separation.
Galatians 3:28
Paul's statement that in Christ 'there is no Jew nor Greek' echoes the breaking down of ethnic and social barriers.

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