Ephesians 2:14

To understand this verse we must discover what dividing wall Paul had in mind. Perhaps it was the wall in Herod’s Temple courtyard that separated the Court of the Gentiles from the Court of the Jews. [Note: Morris, p. 65. Cf. Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, 15:11:5; ibid., The Wars of the Jews, 5:5:2.] This seems improbable since that wall still stood and divided Jews and Gentiles when Paul wrote this epistle. Perhaps he had in mind the veil between the holy and most holy places in that temple. However, that veil-it was not a wall-did not separate Jews from Gentiles but all people from God. It seems most probable that Paul had in mind a spiritual rather than a physical barrier that had separated Jews and Gentiles since Abraham’s time. This is in harmony with Paul’s emphasis on spiritual realities that marks Ephesians.

"This new institution [the church] does not dissolve ethnic distinctions, but displays reconciliation, with every believer equally qualified to share in the benefits of salvation and peace that emerge from the uniting of Jews and Gentiles into a new living community." [Note: Bock, p. 314.]

This verse is a strong testimony to the fact that with the death of Jesus Christ God began dealing with humankind on a different basis than He had in the past. He now stopped working with and though the Jews and Judaism primarily (though temporarily, cf. Romans 11). Instead He began dealing with Jews and Gentiles on the same basis, namely, their faith in His Son. In others words, He began a new dispensation or administration in His dealings with humanity.

"When Ephesians 2:14 says Christ is our peace, it means that Jesus is the source of restored relationships, not only between an individual and God but also between individuals. Now people form a new community, the household of God, which itself is compared to a holy temple, a sacred work of God (Ephesians 2:18-22)." [Note: Idem, "’The New Man’ as Community in Colossians and Ephesians," in Integrity of Heart, Skillfulness of Hands, p. 161.]