{12} For he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us;

(12) As by the ceremonies and worship appointed by the Law, the Jews were divided from the Gentiles, so now Christ, having broken down the partition wall, joins them both together, both in himself, and between themselves, and to God. From which it follows, that whoever permanently establishes the ceremonies of the Law, makes the grace of Christ void and of no effect.

People's New Testament

2:14 For he is our peace. It is the Crucified Christ that brought you nigh, for he, he only, is our peace. The creator of peace between Jew and Gentile; between alienated man and God.

Who hath made both one. Jew and Gentile one. The old distinctions are destroyed. All are on the same footing before God.

And hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us. Having broken down, or ended, the law of Moses which built up a wall between the Jews and Gentiles.

Wesley's Notes

2:14 For he is our peace - Not only as he purchased it, but as he is the very bond and centre of union. He who hath made both - Jews and gentiles, one church. The apostle describes, The conjunction of the gentiles with Israel, Eph 2:14,15. And, The conjunction of both with God, Eph 2:15 - 18. Each description is subdivided into two parts. And the former part of the one, concerning abolishing the enmity, answers the former part of the other; the latter part of the one, concerning the evangelical decrees, the latter part of the other. And hath broken down the middle wall of partition - Alluding to that wall of old, which separated the court of Israel from the court of the gentiles. Such a wall was the ceremonial law, which Christ had now taken away.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

14. he-Greek, "Himself" alone, pre-eminently, and none else. Emphatical.

our peace-not merely "Peacemaker," but "Himself" the price of our (Jews' and Gentiles' alike) peace with God, and so the bond of union between "both" in God. He took both into Himself, and reconciled them, united, to God, by His assuming our nature and our penal and legal liabilities (Eph 2:15; Isa 9:5, 6; 53:5; Mic 5:5; Col 1:20). His title, "Shiloh," means the same (Ge 49:10).

the middle wall of partition-Greek, ". of the partition" or "fence"; the middle wall which parted Jew and Gentile. There was a balustrade of stone which separated the court of the Gentiles from the holy place, which it was death for a Gentile to pass. But this, though incidentally alluded to, was but a symbol of the partition itself, namely, "the enmity" between "both" and God (Eph 2:15), the real cause of separation from God, and so the mediate cause of their separation from one another. Hence there was a twofold wall of partition, one the inner wall, severing the Jewish people from entrance to the holy part of the temple where the priests officiated, the other the outer wall, separating the Gentile proselytes from access to the court of the Jews (compare Eze 44:7; Ac 21:28). Thus this twofold wall represented the Sinaitic law, which both severed all men, even the Jews, from access to God (through sin, which is the violation of the law), and also separated the Gentiles from the Jews. As the term "wall" implies the strength of the partition, so "fence" implies that it was easily removed by God when the due time came.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

2:14-18 Jesus Christ made peace by the sacrifice of himself; in every sense Christ was their Peace, the author, centre, and substance of their being at peace with God, and of their union with the Jewish believers in one church. Through the person, sacrifice, and mediation of Christ, sinners are allowed to draw near to God as a Father, and are brought with acceptance into his presence, with their worship and services, under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, as one with the Father and the Son. Christ purchased leave for us to come to God; and the Spirit gives a heart to come, and strength to come, and then grace to serve God acceptably.