Is it possible that the scandalous stain of our sins could be removed by perfect human blood?
Of the thread colors used to decorate the linen, the meaning of scarlet should be easiest to solve because a scarlet thread runs through Scripture. And yet, as we examine it, we see what appear to be two contrasting ideas. Two Hebrew words are used for this color, both of them in Isaiah 1:18, “Though your sins are like scarlet [Heb, shani], they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson [Heb, tola`ath], they shall be as wool.” We hear of it first in the story of Tamar bearing children to Judah, where the scarlet thread was used to mark the firstborn, and is linked to the line of the Savior (Gen 38:28). Rahab’s scarlet thread was used in the rescue of her family from Jericho’s judgment, and she is also linked to the Savior’s genealogy (Jos 2:18). Scarlet was also used in the ritual cleansing of the leper (Lev 14:4). In the ultimate irony, Matthew says it is the color of the garment given to the Lord Jesus at His trial (Mt 27:28) and the one to be worn by the epitome of sinfulness, the Mother of Harlots! How do we make sense of all this? Is it that sins are like scarlet, or the very opposite—the Savior from sin? In fact, it is both. A red stop sign warns of danger and provides safety. We can find help in Psalm 22. In answering the question of verse 1, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” the Redeemer explains, “But I am a worm, and no man” (v 6). What can this mean? The word translated worm is tola`ath shani, the scarlet-worm, Cermes vermilio, an insect which feeds on the oak tree, and is crushed to produce scarlet dye. What humility! Christ’s crushing provided our saving. So this color speaks of the humbling humanity of our Lord bearing our sins in His body on the Tree so we may be “white as snow.”