May 30, 2025 - Joshua 2:18 - "The Scarlet Cord"

Joshua 2:18

"Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by: and thou shalt bring thy father, and thy mother, and thy brethren, and all thy father's household, home unto thee."

Here we see a vivid token of God's sovereign saving grace in the scarlet cord hanging from Rahab’s window—a simple thread, yet rich with Gospel meaning. This scarlet line, appointed as the sign of deliverance amid judgment, prefigures the precious blood of the LORD Jesus Christ, shed for His elect. Just as Rahab and all within her house were saved because of that cord, so every sinner sheltered beneath the blood of Christ is free from wrath. Here is not the merit of Rahab, but the mercy of God, Who ordained her rescue according to His eternal purpose. The scarlet cord points us to the finished work of Christ, Who by His obedience and sacrifice obtained eternal redemption for those given to Him by the Father.

What is the nature of the scarlet cord?

The word translated thread was not merely symbolic, but strong enough to let the men of Israel down through the window. In Joshua 2:15, it is referred to as a cord: "Then she let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall."

This would have been a line twisted with various scarlet threads. What is the significance of the cord? It served as the means of escape for the two spies, but more than that—it represented deliverance and salvation for Rahab and her household. What, then do we learn from this?

1. It was a singular (exclusive) cord.

Rahab is a striking instance of the salvation of sinners by the grace of God alone. She was a sinner by birth, by practice, and notoriously so—as are all whom the LORD saves. Yet she stands as a testimony to God’s distinguishing, free, and efficacious grace. Just as the scarlet cord was appointed for her and her family alone—and no one else in Jericho—so too the purpose of God and His redeeming work are for a chosen number of sinners whom He has determined to save. Even as there was but one cord, so there is but One Way of salvation in Christ: "Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6).

2. It was an emblematic cord.

The color scarlet signifies the blood of the LORD Jesus Christ, which He shed for sinners, and by which even the worst of sinners are justified. The scarlet cord was an emblem of that precious blood. Redemption, justification, sanctification—all the blessings of grace—are through it. Scarlet was the color used in the tabernacle’s fabric, representing the shed blood of Christ, necessary for the remission of sins. The Word of God declares: "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).

3. It was a covenantal cord.

All the promises of God are fulfilled in Christ: "For all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen, unto the glory of God by us" (2 Corinthians 1:20). So the cord was for Rahab and her family a token of God’s faithfulness to preserve them alive. She pleaded for this covenantal assurance: "Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the Lord, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father's house, and give me a true token:" (Joshua 2:12).

That scarlet line pointed to God’s unchanging promise to save those who flee for refuge to Christ: "That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us" (Hebrews 6:18). They shall never perish. He is faithful to save all for whom Christ has shed His blood. God’s Word is His bond.