Water, and Scarlet Wool, and Hyssop (Hebrews 9:19)

2023-03-25

For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people (Hebrews 9:19)

In addition to the blood, water, scarlet, and hyssop were used in cleansing. The main place these are used together is in regard to cleansing lepers. “And the priest shall command that one of the birds be killed in an earthen vessel over running water: As for the living bird, he shall take it, and the cedar wood, and the scarlet, and the hyssop, and shall dip them and the living bird in the blood of the bird that was killed over the running water: And he shall sprinkle upon him that is to be cleansed from the leprosy seven times, and shall pronounce him clean, and shall let the living bird loose into the open field” (Leviticus 14:5-7).

The purification of the priests also used these: “And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even” (Numbers 19:6-7).

Water washes away impurity; everyone knows this today. We wash hands to protect passing on germs. It also has much symbolism in spiritual washing. “That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish” (Ephesians 5:26-27).

The “scarlet wool” is just called “scarlet” in the Old Testament. The word is actually two Hebrew words, crimson worm, the worm from where the dye came. It was also used in the Tabernacle curtains (Exodus 26:1), and the high priest’s garments (Exodus 39:2). This scarlet must have stained rather thoroughly, as inferred from the prophet Isaiah: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18). Perhaps this cleansing, or dyeing, suggested a permanence about it.

Hyssop, an aromatic herb, seems to be the means to apply the cleansing. It perhaps acted as a brush. “And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning” (Exodus 12:22). And again, “And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave” (Numbers 19:18). It was given as a means to get the vinegar to Jesus on the cross: “Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar: and they filled a spunge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth” (John 19:29).

When we come to this passage in Hebrews, the blood was with water and the red dye, applied by the using of this hyssop. The Lord Jesus Christ took of His own blood, He purified us (compare with water), He permanently marked us with His blood (compare with the scarlet dye), and He applied it by the baptism that He gives us (compare with hyssop).