Numbers 19:1-10 - "The Red Heifer"

Numbers 19:1-10

"And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke: And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face: And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times: And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn: 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. And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even. And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin. And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever."

In the Book of Numbers, chapter 19, the LORD gives a solemn ordinance: a red heifer, without spot or blemish, and never yoked, was to be taken, slain outside the camp, and wholly burned. Its ashes, mingled with cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet, were carefully gathered and laid aside for the people of Israel. From them would come the “water of purification,” a cleansing for sin.

At first, these details can seem complicated. But every detail matters, for they point us to Christ:

The heifer was to be red, a sign of the redemption accomplished by His blood. It was to be without blemish, showing the sinless perfection of our LORD Jesus (1 Peter 1:19). No yoke was ever laid upon it, signifying that Christ laid down His life freely. As He Himself said, “I lay down my life for the sheep… no man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself” (John 10:15, 18).

The sacrifice was performed outside the camp, for the offering itself was counted unclean. This reminds us of our Savior Who suffered “without the gate” (Hebrews 13:12–13), bearing reproach for His people. Yet unlike those priests, who became unclean by handling the ashes, Christ bore our sins without being defiled. He remained holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners (Hebrews 7:26).

The ashes were to be kept and mixed with water for cleansing. But this was not a beauty treatment, not a cleansing of the body. It was a picture of sin being dealt with before God. Still, it was only a shadow. The blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, but they could never remove sin. “How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” (Hebrews 9:13–14).

Here is the connection: the ashes point to Christ’s death, and the water to the purifying work of the blood of the LORD from the cross in the heart of the elect sinner when given life in the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit (setting the sinner apart) to Christ in God-given Faith. Baptismal water cannot purify the heart. You can go into that water a lost sinner and come out a wet lost sinner. Only the Spirit of God, through the finished work of Christ, can purify the heart and bring peace with God, cleansing the guilty conscience from dead works. The LORD Jesus said, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5).

The ashes were mingled with running water (living water as a type of Christ), and this mixture became the “water of separation” (or “water for impurity”), used for cleansing those who had been defiled by death (touching a dead body, bone, or grave). The central issue is that death’s defilement separates the person from the camp and the tabernacle, which is what our sins do in separating us from God in spiritual death. The water of separation was applied with hyssop, signifying the need for purifying grace coming from outside oneself, through the blood shed of the LORD Jesus. When Christ was pierced, blood and water flowed out (John 19:34). This is not an incidental medical detail but an important Gospel truth:

• The blood signifies death and the immediate justification of those sinners for whom Christ died because of the satisfaction of God’s justice completed at the cross.

• The water signifies cleansing and sanctification — the elect sinner, having been set apart in justification at the cross, is then set apart by the Spirit and His sanctifying grace because of Christ's death. This sanctifying does not render the flesh progressively holier. The flesh is continually sinful, and therefore, there is a need for the continual sanctifying work of the Spirit to draw the heart outside of itself for righteousness in the finished work of Christ. John himself later reflects on this, emphasizing that both water and blood came forth together as a testimony to Christ’s sacrificial death as the Substitute for His people (1 John 5:6, 8).

Even the details of cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet cast into the fire remind us of the cleansing of lepers in Leviticus 14. Leprosy was a picture of sin, and all of it was consumed in the burning. So when Christ died, He bore all the sins of His people—past, present, and future. “He put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26).

And how often was the heifer offered? Only once. The ashes were preserved for generations, a lasting provision until Christ should come. This also points to Him, for “by the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all” (Hebrews 10:10). Once. Finished. Complete.

So what is our hope? Not our works, not our zeal, not our attempts at righteousness. As Paul wrote, many go about seeking to establish their own righteousness, but refuse to submit to the Righteousness of God. Yet “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth” (Romans 10:4).

And so, we who believe by God's grace rest in this Truth: “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). In Him, your sins are taken away—every spot, every blemish, every trace of leprosy consumed in the fire of His Sacrifice.