No one had expected it, but it had been part of the divine plan all along. It was, as it were, a mystery that was now revealed. Just as there could be no mistaking what was meant by the abolition of the partition in the Temple, there was no misunderstanding concerning the reference that of the two, God was making one new man . Jewish believers and Gentile believers were being fused into a totally new entity. The two were becoming one in Christ.
Redundancy is often tedious.
Editors cringe when they see it. But when the Lord decides that redundant phraseology is in order, we would be well advised to listen carefully. And He decides so here, perhaps because the thought of Jew and Gentile becoming members of the same family is one that elements on both sides might not wish to entertain. So God Himself presses the point. And that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby, And came and preached peace to you who were afar off, and to them that were near.