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There are three things in the book of Numbers which are rich in spiritual meaning, functioning as types and symbols. These three things are the fringes, the water for impurity, and the cities of refuge.
Numbers 15:37-41 gives a record of the ordinance concerning the dress of God’s people. “Then Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the children of Israel and tell them to make for themselves fringes on the borders of their garments throughout their generations” (vv. 37-38a). Garments signify the conduct of God’s people before Him. God required the children of Israel to make fringes on the borders of their garments, indicating that He wants His people to have a beautiful expression in their conduct before Him; He wants us to walk worthily of the calling with which we were called (Eph. 4:1).
Furthermore, God told the people of Israel to put a cord of blue on the fringe of each border (Num. 15:38b). Blue, a heavenly color, signifies a heavenly expression; the cord signifies binding, restriction. Hence, a cord of blue signifies that God wants His people to have a heavenly binding and a heavenly expression in their conduct. A cord of blue signifies that our conduct and behavior, as children of God with the divine nature, should be beautiful and under the heavenly ruling and binding for the manifestation of human virtues.
The people of Israel were to look upon the fringe and remember the commandments of Jehovah and do them; they were not to seek after their own heart and own eyes, according to which they had committed fornication. Thus, the people would remember and do all God’s commandments and be holy to God (vv. 39-41).
According to the record of the four Gospels, the Lord Jesus wore this kind of garment. One day a woman who had been suffering from a hemorrhage for twelve years came to touch the fringe of His garment with faith. The power of the Lord’s human virtues came upon her, and she was healed (Matt. 9:20-22). Out of Christ’s heaven-ruled deeds issued the virtue which became the healing power (14:36). Both God’s ordinance and the Lord’s conduct indicate that we should walk under the heavenly binding as children of God. As people of the kingdom of the heavens, we should be bound not by the police or law courts but by a heavenly binding, by the heavenly government and ruling. This will produce a beauty in our human conduct that we may be sanctified and glorify God. Therefore, Peter exhorted us as strangers and sojourners to live a life in an excellent manner toward all men in all concerns (1 Pet. 2:11—3:13), abstaining from fleshly lusts, on one hand, and having a manner of life excellent among the Gentiles so that God may be glorified, on the other hand.
After the rebellion of the children of Israel in Numbers 16 and 17 and as a result of God’s punishment, their corpses lay throughout the land and the filthiness of death spread everywhere. The entire population of the Israelites was under the effect of death. They were all in a situation of impurity. Thus, in chapter 19 God told them to prepare the water for impurity with a red heifer that they might use the water to get rid of the filthiness of death with which they were affected.
“This is the statute of the law which Jehovah has commanded, saying, Tell the children of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which is no blemish and upon which a yoke has never come. And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and someone shall bring it outside the camp and slaughter it in his presence” (vv. 2-3). This heifer, the principal component of the water for impurity, signifies Christ for our redemption. The color red signifies the likeness of the flesh of sin, which is for the bearing of man’s sin outwardly. When Christ was incarnated, He became in the likeness of the flesh of sin (Rom. 8:3). Furthermore, the heifer was without defect. This signifies that the redeeming Christ was without sin. Although Christ was in the likeness of the flesh of sin, there was no sin within Him. He did not have the sinful nature, and He did not know sin (2 Cor. 5:21). The heifer also had no blemish. This indicates that Christ was perfect. Furthermore, the heifer had never come under a yoke. This signifies that Christ was not used by anyone, especially by or for God’s enemy, Satan. Eventually, Christ accomplished God’s redemption by being crucified outside the camp on Calvary (Heb. 13:12-13), a small mount outside the city of Jerusalem.
“The priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet strands, and cast them into the midst of the burning of the heifer” (Num. 19:6). Cedar wood signifies Christ in His dignified humanity, hyssop signifies Christ in His humbled humanity, and scarlet signifies redemption in its highest significance. This indicates that the high and dignified Christ and the lowly and humbled Christ in His redemption were elements for the composition of the water for impurity.
“A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and place them outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the assembly of the children of Israel as water for impurity; it is a sin offering” (v. 9). The burning of the heifer with the other elements produced ashes, which signify Christ reduced to nothing. These ashes were kept for the water for impurity; it was a purification of sin, or a sin offering. Verse 17 says, “For the unclean they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the sin offering, and running water shall be added to them in a vessel.” The running water, that is, the living water, put in the vessel, signifies the Holy Spirit in the resurrection of Christ. Hence, in the water for impurity, there is the efficacy of Christ’s redemption with the washing power of the Spirit of His resurrection.
Now we shall see the usage of the water for impurity.
The water for impurity was to be sprinkled upon unclean persons: those who touched a dead body, who came into a tent or were in a tent in which a man died, who touched one who had been slain with a sword, a dead body, a human bone, or a grave (vv. 11-14, 16-20). Death comes out of sin, and sin is the root of death (Rom. 5:12). From the sin of rebellion, death was prevailing among the children of Israel. Thus, there was a need for the water for impurity. Only the working of Christ’s redemption, through His dignified and humbled humanity and with His death and the Spirit of His resurrection, could heal and cleanse the situation of God’s people, a situation full of death.
The water for impurity was also sprinkled upon the tent in which a man died and upon all the open vessels and furnishings in the tent for their cleansing (Num. 19:15, 18). Because of the universal rebellion among God’s people, death overshadowed the entire people of God so that the tents and every vessel in the tents were contaminated. No matter where someone went or what he touched, he was unclean. By sprinkling the water for impurity, the entire situation of the children of Israel was cleansed from the effect of death because of their sin of rebellion. It is the same with us today. Only the efficacy of redemption, accomplished through the death of Christ, and the washing power of the Spirit, accomplished through Christ’s resurrection, can annul the effect and impurity of death brought in by our committing of sins.
In Numbers 35 God wanted the children of Israel to set up six cities as cities of refuge in places distributed for their dwelling so that the manslayer who killed a person unintentionally might flee there to escape death. This shows that God’s redemption for His chosen people is thorough and complete.
The cities of refuge were six in number (v. 13). The number six signifies mistake-making man, who was created by God on the sixth day (Gen. 1:26-27, 31). Hence, God commanded that cities of refuge be set up that the refuge of God might be brought to sinful man.
The cities of refuges were divided into two sets of three cities each. The number three signifies the Triune God as the refuge for the man who makes mistakes. God regards us as those who make mistakes, and He has ordained that there be a refuge into which we may flee; that is, He came to be our redemption. The number two signifies a testimony standing in the universe. The two sets of cities of refuge testify and declare to the universe that the Triune God is living on earth among human beings to be their city of refuge.
God ordained six cities of refuge, three across the Jordan, that is, east of the Jordan, and three in the land of Canaan, that is, west of the Jordan (Num. 35:14). This shows that the cities of refuge were distributed in different places, indicating that God has come to where man is in order to approach man. The Triune God is near and available to us. Regardless of where we are, the Triune God is available as our city of refuge.
The six cities were the same distance from each other for the convenience of fleeing there by anyone who killed a person unintentionally. This indicates that the Triune God has spread Himself among men, to the very place where we are, to be a city of refuge for all those who make mistakes.
The cities of refuge were provided so that a manslayer who killed any person unintentionally may flee there (v. 11b). Verse 12 says, “The cities shall be for you as a refuge from the avenger, so that the manslayer may not die unless he stands before the assembly for judgment.” In this way a manslayer could be protected from the avenger. However, the cities of refuge were not for murderers, those who killed with an intent (vv. 16-21). They were only for one who killed unintentionally so that he might be delivered out of the hand of the avenger of blood and come under the judgment of the assembly (vv. 22-25a). Adam sinned without intent, and we, the descendants of Adam, have sinned in the same way (cf. Rom. 7:15-24). Our sinning today is foolish and nonsensical. Therefore, in the sight of God we are those who sin without intent, and He considers our sinning as being without intent and thus has prepared cities of refuge for us. In those days the cities of refuge were not only for the children of Israel but also for the stranger and sojourner among them (v. 15). This signifies that the Triune God as a refuge for mistake-making man is for all mankind. Today both Jews and Gentiles have a refuge in the Triune God.
The rescued killer was to remain in the city of refuge and live in it until the death of the anointed high priest. After the death of the high priest, he could return to the land of his possession (vv. 25b-29). The need of the one who fled to the city of refuge to live in it until the death of the high priest signifies that the redemption of Christ, our High Priest, became effective in releasing us at the time of His death.
The cities of refuge typify that Christ, as the embodiment of the Triune God, is our refuge. For Old Testament saints, such as Abraham, David, and Isaiah, the city of refuge was like the fold in John 10. These saints had to remain in this refuge, in this fold, until Christ, the High Priest, died. No ransom could have released them before the time of Christ’s death (Num. 35:32), but now that Christ has died and resurrected, we, who have sinned unintentionally, can flee into Him to be redeemed and to be in the good land enjoying the blessed portion given to us by God. This is truly a picture full of God’s mercy, grace, wisdom, and sovereignty.
The fringes, the water for impurity, and the cities of refuge are rich in spiritual meaning, functioning as types and symbols. The fringes indicate beauty, and a cord of blue on the fringe signifies a heavenly binding. This indicates that, as people of the kingdom of the heavens, we should be bound by the heavenly binding and ruling to produce a beauty in our human conduct that we may be sanctified and glorify God.
The water for impurity is the water which was used to get rid of the filthiness of death with which the children of Israel were affected. The water for impurity was composed of a red heifer, the principal component, which signifies that Christ, who is sinless and perfect and who has never been used by anyone, is our redemption. Other components were cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet strands, signifying that the high and dignified Christ and the lowly and humbled Christ in His redemption were elements in the composition of the water for impurity. There was also living water for purification, which signifies the Spirit in the resurrection of Christ. Hence, the water for impurity signifies that the efficacy of Christ’s redemption with the washing power of the Spirit of His resurrection can heal and cleanse the situation of God’s people, a situation which is full of death, and annul the effect of death and impurity brought in by our committing of sins.
The cities of refuge were for a manslayer, someone who killed a person unintentionally, to flee there to escape death. There were six cities of refuge, divided into two sets of three cities. Three cities were on the east of the Jordan, and three cities were on the west of the Jordan. Moreover, the six cities were the same distance from each other. This signifies that the Triune God, as the refuge for all those who make mistakes, dwells on earth among mankind to be their refuge, and that the Triune God, who has spread Himself among men to be a city of refuge for all those who make mistakes, is near and convenient. Regardless of where we are, we can flee into Him. As such a refuge, the Triune God is for all mankind. Everyone, including Jews and Gentiles, has a refuge in the Triune God. The one who fled to the city of refuge had to live in it until the death of the high priest, signifying that the redemption of Christ, our High Priest, became effective in releasing us at the time of His death. The picture of the cities of refuge typifies that Christ, as the embodiment of the Triune God, is our refuge. Now that Christ has died and resurrected, sinners can flee into Him to be redeemed and to be in the good land enjoying the blessed portion given to us by God.
