What are the four truths that Paul wanted to communicate through his use of veil imagery?  We should share the gospel openly and confidently (= referent #1). Jews who don’t believe in Jesus misunderstand the main point of the Law (= referent #2).  Believers in Jesus are being transformed by the glory of God (= referent #3). Unbelievers have been blinded by Satan (= referent #4). 

What does the apostle Paul mean when he uses the word “veil” in 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:3?
For years I didn’t really understand 2 Corinthians 3:12-4:3 because I was looking for a single referent for the veil imagery in the passage. Some time ago, though, I realized that a key to understanding the passage is to acknowledge that Paul keeps shifting the referent as he moves through this section of his letter to the Corinthians. In a span of ten verses, Paul uses the word “veil” four times along with the adjectives “unveiled” and “veiled” (once each). But what is Paul referring to when he utilizes veil imagery? Here’s the passage, with veil language bolded:
3:12Since we have such a hope, we are very bold, 13 not like Moses, who would put a veil over his face so that the Israelites might not gaze at the outcome of what was being brought to an end. 14 But their minds were hardened. For to this day, when they read the old covenant, that same veil remains unlifted, because only through Christ is it taken away. 15 Yes, to this day whenever Moses is read a veil lies over their hearts. 16 But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit. […skipping 4:1-2 since no “veil” imagery is found in those verses…] 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor 3:12-4:3).
A key to understanding Paul’s use of the veil in this passage is to acknowledge that he shifts the referent (= the thing he is referring to) each time he mentions it.
But first a bit of background. Why does Paul use the image of a veil in the first place? Paul is drawing upon something that happened to Moses during the time the children of Israel were camping out at the base of Mount Sinai. Exodus 34:29-35 explains that when Moses came down from the mountain after receiving the Law tablets, his face shone with the glory of the Lord. This freaked the people out. So Moses decided that he would wear a veil over his face when he was with people. But whenever he went to speak with God, he would take the veil off.
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With such a variety of prayer postures in the Bible, I think we should assume that taking one particular posture for prayer is not the main issue in prayer. The primary issue is that you actually talk to the Lord when you pray. Do be aware, though, that certain postures lend themselves more readily to certain types of praying; for example, lying prostrate on your face seems more appropriate for repentance than lying on your bed. But try to find a mix of prayer postures that best allow you to pray.

When I first started to learn how to pray on my own, I thought that I had to kneel when I prayed. Most of the people I had read about who were pray-ers were also kneel-ers. For example, a second-century Christian named Hegesippus records that James, the half-brother of Jesus, “was frequently found situated upon his knees asking forgiveness for the people, so that his knees became hard after the manner of a camel, on account of always bending down upon a knee while worshipping God and asking forgiveness for the people.”[1] As a young man, I so wanted to have camel knees!
But when I tried it, I kept falling asleep while kneeling next to my bed. (I had no idea it was possible to fall asleep on my knees! My grandson might say that that was my superpower.)
I tried standing, pacing around my room, and sitting on a comfortable chair with my hands turned upward. It took two years from the time I committed myself to develop a personal prayer life to find a prayer posture that really worked for me. The breakthrough came when I learned that my beloved teacher, David Needham, took daily prayer walks. “What? You can walk and pray at the same time?” I decided to try it and, as a result of his example, have been prayer-walking for the past four decades.
But walking and trying to pray is not going to work well for many people, especially for people who get easily distracted by things they see.
So let me list out other prayer postures you might try that I’ve found in the Bible, since there is such a variety in the Bible itself, with the goal of helping you grow in your times of prayer.

Standing. Hannah stood while she prayed for God to give her a child (1 Sam 1:26). Jesus prayed while standing before the tomb of Lazarus just before raising him from the dead (John 11:41). Psalm 4:4 says that we should, “Stand in awe.” In one parable of Jesus, both characters are standing for prayer in the temple (Luke 18:10-14). In 2 Chronicles 20:13 it says that the whole congregation of Israel stood before the Lord.
Lifting or stretching out one’s hands. 1 Timothy 2:8 encourages, “I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands.” Psalm 141:2 reads, “Let my prayer be counted as incense before you, and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!” (Cf. Exod 9:29)
Lifting eyes upward. Now, in certain situations it’s a good idea to close your eyes in prayer to keep from being distracted by the things around you. But frequently in the Bible, people lift their open eyes upward. Psalm 121:1 says, “I lift up my eyes to the hills. From where does my help come?

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Life isn’t primarily about evangelization or Bible memorization, or even obedience to Christ’s commands, important as all of those are. Life is, first and foremost, an abiding relationship with a gracious and loving Lord. It is living a D’Vine Life in Christ.

Yes, my title has a double meaning: The vine in John 15 is Christ, who is Divine, and we live life connection to the Vine. So one way to refer to the Christian life is: living a D’Vine Life.
A couple years ago I wrote a devotional book about inChristness in the letters of Paul—100 short devotionals on the various ways the Apostle Paul uses the expression “in Christ” (or similar expressions) in his letters. It turns out that one of the most important passages for understanding inChristness in the letters of Paul, surprising as it may seem, is not even in Paul’s writings. It is a passage spoken by Jesus, recorded for us by one of Jesus’s disciples in John 15. Notice Jesus’s use of the word “in.”
I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:1-5)
It is almost impossible to believe that the Paul wrote so much about being “in Christ” without ever thinking about Jesus’s teaching about abiding in the vine. Paul didn’t make up the idea of inChristness at all; he learned it from what Jesus taught about living a D’Vine life.
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