Daily Verse | Exodus 29:45
Then I will dwell among the Israelites and be their God.

It’s Monday and already February 2021. Only 46 months until the Democrats steal their next presidential election.

My reading through the Bible has brought me to the portion in Exodus where God lays out in some detail how the Israelites are to build the Tabernacle, the altars, the Ark of the Covenant, the priestly garments and the requirements for sacrifices. One of the phrases used in God’s instructions throughout Exodus is, “blue, purple and scarlet yarn.”

Those colors are used to describe the curtains of the Tabernacle.

“Make the tabernacle with ten curtains of finely twisted linen and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, with cherubim woven into them by a skilled worker.” (26:1)

They are used to describe the garments that Aaron and his sons are to wear.

“These are the garments they are to make: a breastpiece, an ephod, a robe, a woven tunic, a turban and a sash. They are to make these sacred garments for your brother Aaron and his sons, so they may serve me as priests. Have them use gold, and blue, purple and scarlet yarn, and fine linen. (28:4-6)

They are used in the ephod, waistband and decorative pomegranates. What’s amazing is that yesterday I came across an article from The Christian Post headlined, “Biblical ‘royal’ purple cloth scraps from era of Kings David, Solomon found in Israel.” The article says,

Researchers in southern Israel found the remnants of woven wool fabric that had been dyed the color of royal purple while examining textiles from the Timna valley, a copper production district of King Solomon’s day.

Through the use of radiocarbon testing, the samples of fabric were dated at around 1000 BC.

The report explains how valuable this “royal purple” was.

“This is the first piece of textile ever found from the time of David and Solomon that is dyed with the prestigious purple dye,” she said.

“The gorgeous shade of the purple, the fact that it does not fade and the difficulty in producing the dye, which is found in minute quantities in the body of mollusks, all made it the most highly-valued of the dyes, which often cost more than gold.”

I am constantly amazed at how archaeology consistently validates the biblical accounts it records. We read about purple being used for priestly garments and for royal robes, and now we have in hand an actual sample of the material dyed and woven about 3,000 years ago.

You know when else the color purple was used for a robe?

Then Pilate took Jesus and had him flogged. The soldiers twisted together a crown of thorns and put it on his head. They clothed him in a purple robe and went up to him again and again, saying, “Hail, king of the Jews!” And they slapped him in the face. (John 19:1-3)

Even during the exodus God was anticipating our final high priest.

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. (Hebrews 4:14-16).

The sacrificial system of the Old Testament was just a shadow of what God was planning in the New Testament era. Purple was a color of significance in the offices of both priest and king in the old covenant. Under the new covenant, Jesus was prophet, priest and king, and he was dressed in purple while under arrest to mock his claim to a kingdom.

The newly discovered purple fabric is not a yarn, but more evidence attesting to the truthfulness of scripture. For Christians, such evidence might bolster our confidence in what we believe. For those who don’t yet believe, the evidence might cause more curiosity.

[All images Dafna Gazit/Israel Antiquities Authority]