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The Assembly of EloahThis is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the One You have sent - Jesus Christ. John 17:3 (HCSB)

Published by The Assembly of Eloah

P.O. Box 287 Airway Heights, WA 99001-0287

www.assemblyofeloah.org

Church Series No. 1.11.001.C Edition 1.0 05.16.07

Linen

(Copyright © 2006 Will Boettcher)

Linen is mentioned many times in both the Old and theNew Testaments. It is the material of the Tabernacle. It isthe material of the High Priest garments. Messiah waswrapped in linen for His burial. Linen is mentioned in theBook of Revelations. Is there a significance to this mate-rial and can we know what it is?

The Fabric of the Tabernacle in the Wilderness

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In the New Testament, whenever a Christian is referred toas the temple of God, the

Greek word naos is used. Accord-ing to Thayer’s Revised Greek En-glish Lexicon, this word “temple,”Strong’s Greek Dictionary number3485, is used of the sacred edifice(or sanctuary) itself, consisting ofthe Holy Place and the Holy of Ho-lies. God gave the instructions forthe first Holy Place and Holy ofHolies in the Old Testament bookof Exodus. This is the first physi-cal Tabernacle or Holy Place andit was to be made of linen. Thequestion then becomes: “Whylinen?”

When studying the subject of linen, manyanalogies to the lives of those within theBody of Christ become apparent. Not onlyto the individuals, but to the Body as awhole. The growing, processing and weav-ing, as well as the natural properties oflinen are analogous to the life of the indi-vidual within the Body of Christ.

In the Old Testament the word “linen”appears 74 times, having been translatedfrom eight different Hebrew words. It isalso in the New Testament 16 times astranslated from five different Greek words.The subject of linen is fascinating, but whyis linen so prominent in the Bible? Whynot wool? After all, the Israelites wereshepherds. Didn’t they have plenty of woolfrom both the sheep and the goats? Theproduction of linen requires water, sowhere did the linen come from? Woolshows up just 14 times in the Bible, butlinen a total of 90 times. Also, the wordflax, the plant that linen comes from, ap-pears ten times. With all of their flocks,why isn’t wool the main fabric mentionedin the Bible? What is there about this fiber,

linen, that it would have such an impor-tant role in God’s word?

It turns out that linen played a very im-portant economic role during biblicaltimes. But, is that all there is to the story?When looking at flax and linen, one be-gins to discover interesting characteris-tics that have implications relating to theChurch, and to individual Christians. It re-ally is a fascinating story.

This study will look at linen, especially asit relates to the Tabernacle in the Wilder-ness. It will show some analogies to God’scalled out ones, as well as considering thegrowing, harvesting, and processing offlax into linen. The characteristics of thefinal product, linen, will be compared tothe life of a Christian.

Flax

The discussion of linen must begin withflax, because that is the plant from whichlinen is processed. Linen is a bast (ph-loem) fiber found in the stem of the flaxplant. They are the vascular cells of theplant, carrying the nutrients up and downthe stem of the plant, from the roots to

the leaves and back down again.

Structure of Flax

There are two types of flax; one is raisedfor its seeds from which linseed oil is pro-duced and the other is raised for its fiber.This paper will focus on the fiber plant.When densely planted for fiber, the plantsaverage 3-4 feet tall, and will be about 1/8of an inch in diameter. The branches areconcentrated at the top because of the cul-tivation practices and the varieties used.

A cross section of the flax stalk reveals, sixroughly concentric rings. (See Figure 1,page 2).

1) The outermost ring consists of a layerof thick walled cells, covered with thecuticle, a delicate waxy layer over the

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outer surface of the plant. There areopenings in the cuticle called stomata,which are microscopic opening used bythe plant for gaseous exchange or res-piration. These are large enough to per-mit the entry of bacteria during the ret-ting process. This ring is known as theepidermis or simply the outer layer.

2) Inside the epidermis is a region of oneor two layers of circular cells known asthe cortex, or bark. These cells containpectin, which is a somewhat gummy sub-stance that adheres to the fiber bundles.

3) Proceeding inward, the next layer con-tains the bundles of bast fibers, whichare the linen fibers that will be extractedfrom the stake. There are approximately1,000 flax fibers per stem, arrangedin up to 40 bundles. Each fiber is about1/2500 of an inch, which means it takes2500 fibers to make one inch. That is alittle bit bigger than a quarter. As smallas the individual fibers are, they are hol-low. (See Figure 2, page 2).

4) The fiber bundles are separated fromthe woody cells by a ring of thin-walledcells called the cambium.

5) Inside the cambium is a ring of short,thick woody cells that give the stalk itsstrength.

6) Thin-walled cells called pith surround

the hollow center of the stalk.

This complex structure means, that toharvest the usable fibers from the rawflax, requires the removal of a consider-able amount of waste material. It is timeconsuming, it is difficult and it requiresgreat skill.

Figure 1

Figure 2

Cultivation of Flax

The plants are grown very close together,in well-drained sandy loam and in tem-perate climates. The plant produces thebest fibers in a cool, moist growing sea-son. Most flax matures in 90 to 120 days.A late summer harvesting will produce thebest linen.

Harvesting Flax

There are three degrees of ripening theflax grown for linen: green, yellow andbrown. The yellow produces the long,supple fibers that are ideal for process-ing. The brown flax is brittle and the greenis not very strong. Flax needs to be har-vested at just the right time in order toproduce the best fiber.

Most harvesting of similar plants wouldbe a cutting process, but with flax, theyvery carefully pull the plants up with theroots. The fibers grow down into the rootsand the longer fibers are better for spinning.

This typifies God pulling Christians out ofthis world. He doesn’t just cut them off atground level leaving part of who they arestill in the world. He pulls the whole per-son out. He will then process them intothe final product.

After being pulled out of the ground, thestems are tied into bundles and stackedin the field to dry. It is interesting that

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even as the processing begins, the flax,like Christians, will be put into groups.

Once properly dried, the stems arecombed to remove the seeds, and thenthey will be retted or allowed to rot. Theretting process loosens and removes thegums and resins holding the bundles offibers together.

During the retting process the stalks areleft to lie in the field between two andeight weeks depending upon the weather.Another common way of retting was tosoak the stems in nearby rivers orstreams, which produces a higher qualityand lighter colored fiber. Timing is every-thing. If you leave the process go on toolong or not long enough, you will haveinferior fibers.

One of the interesting things about theprocess of making fine linen from flax isthat it is as much an art as a science.Eloah is the perfect artist and has perfecttiming as He works with Christians to pro-duce the best fiber for His Tabernacle orHoly Place.

Processing the Fiber

After the retting is finished, the flax isrinsed and the water squeezed out. Thestems are then allowed to dry before tak-ing the next step, scutching. This involvedbeating the stems with a stick or tool,crushing the inner woody core of the stem,leaving the desired bundles of long fibersintact. The process produces about 60%linen fibers (the longer fibers) and 40%tow fibers (the shorter fibers).

After scutching, the fibers are scrappedwith an iron knife and then the fibers aredrawn through a heckling comb to removeremnants of the fibrous core and outerbark, as well as aligning the bundles offibers for spinning. The processed bundlesof fibers are now ready for the spinners.

Does this process, in anyway, reflect on aChristian’s life as God, through His Son,works with them? Weren’t they just liv-ing their lives, minding their own busi-ness, when they were pulled up out ofthis world and everything was turned up-side down? Maybe they even felt like theyhave been left in a field to rot. Maybe theirtrials felt like the juices were beingsqueezed out of them and they were be-ing left to dry. What about scutching?Haven’t Christians been through trials thathave them feeling like they were beingcrushed, as God removes this world fromthem? Or, how about the less violent pro-cess of being dragged through a comb toremove the last little bits of this world from

their character?

Spinning

The earliest techniques for spinning werevery simple and required no other equip-ment than the human body. The flax fi-bers were spread on the ground. Then thespinner took one or two fibers in her hand,pulling and twisting them between handand thigh, progressively incorporatingother fibers, twisting all the while and asthe thread lengthened it was wrappedaround their fingers until the ball of yarnbecame too large. Then, they started allover again. Later in history spindles wereadded and then the spinning whorl. Spin-ning wheels weren’t invented until quitelate in history.

Wet spinning of the fibers produces thefinest yarn. Dry spinning produces an in-ferior product. The yarn, which must con-tain between forty and fifty fibers at allpoints, is classified by fineness, strength

and wear.

History of Linen

At this point a little history of linen mightbe helpful. Linen has been used for thou-sands of years. The claim is that flax orlinen is one of the oldest textile fibers,

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and it is also claimed that linen may havebeen used for weaving in the Nile Valleyas early as 4000 BC. We do know fromarcheology that the bodies of early Egyp-tian kings and nobles were wrapped inyards of delicate linen. Pieces of linen clothhave been found in Egyptian tombs dat-ing as far back as 2500 BC. Some of itcontained 540 threads to the inch, is 60inches wide and 6 or more yards long.Today, we cannot produce linen of thisquality, even with our finest machinery.Today’s linen is much coarser, with onlyabout 280 threads per inch.

Evidence supports the theory that, untilthe 18th century, linen was the most im-portant textile in the world. Egyptianslaves were responsible for the spinningand weaving of linen, which was a big partof their economy. This is supported by thebook of Exodus, where the Israelites hadlinen fibers which were spun by thewomen (Ex 35:25) and woven by the menfor the Tabernacle and the priestly gar-ments (Ex 36:6).

When they opened the tomb of King Tut(Tutankamen), the linen curtains werefound intact. All of the other fabrics hadcrumbled into dust. Why? Because bac-teria will not attack linen.

When the tomb of the Pharaoh of RamesesII was opened in 1881, the linen wrap-pings were perfectly preserved.

Sewing needles have been discovereddating from around 10,000 BC with eyesso small that only carefully processed fi-bers could go through them.

Linen was a versatile fabric that could bemade coarse and thick, or very fine anddelicate. The Egyptians had a reputationfor their fine linen, which was nearly trans-parent. (Illustrated Encyclopedia of BibleFacts by J.I. Parker, Merrill C. Tenny andWilliam White, Jr. pg. 479). Contrary to

those cultures around them the Egyptianmen stayed home and did the weaving,while the women went to the marketplace.

The wealthy people both men andwomen wore long see-through robes thatwere pleated. Noblemen would some-times wear a long robe over his kilt, whilethe women wore long pleated dresseswith a shawl. www.kingtutshop.com/freeinfo/Ancient-Egyptian-Clothes

Qualities of Linen

Linen is a subtle mixture of firmness andsuppleness giving it an unadorned,unembellished rather harsh softness thatfeels wonderful whether smoothed orcrumpled.

Linen is available in different qualitiesvarying from almost silk-like to sack linen.(Wikipedia Encyclopedia)

A characteristic often associated with linenyarn is the presence of “slubs”, or smallknots that occur randomly along itslength. These are actually defects associ-ated with poor quality. The finest linen has a very consistent diameter with no slubs.(Wikipedia Encyclopedia)

The fibers are somewhat polygonal inshape and they can vary greatly in size.Their length is variable; some fibers canbe up to 40 inches long, but 10-15 inchesare more common. Individual fibers arenot all the same thickness, so the fine-ness also varies. The width of the fibersis also inconsistent along their length. Howthe fibers are processed has an effect ontheir fineness. Only our Father throughMessiah knows just how to process eachindividual to make the finest of fibers forHis use.

Processed flax fibers have a high naturalluster with an attractive sheen; in otherwords, they reflect light.

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Flax is one of the stronger, as well asheavier, plant fibers in nature. A very in-teresting thing about linen, is that it isabout 20% stronger when it is wet. Isn’ta Christian strongest when wet with theHoly Spirit from God?

Because linen absorbs and releases mois-ture quickly and is a good conductor ofheat it has a cooling effect on the wearer.It actually feels cool to the touch. Bed-ding is cooler to sleep on for this reason.

Flax is hollow causing it to absorb mois-ture readily. Because of this, it has verygood wicking properties; in other words,it soaks up liquids.

Linen makes great washcloths anddishtowels, which will last up to 20 years,and they don’t leave lint on the dishes.

The wicking properties of linen make itan ideal material for oil lamp wicks.

Mat 5:15-16 Nor do men light a lampand put it under a bushel, but on a stand,and it gives light to all in the house.16) Let your light so shine before men,that they may see your good works andgive glory to your Father who is inheaven. (RSV)

It will absorb sound because it is hollowand, for this reason, it makes a good wallcovering.

Linen does not have the electrostatic prop-erties of other fibers, so it does not at-tract lint, hair or other foreign particles,as many textiles do. Also its smooth sur-face repels soil. Bacteria leave it alone,so it is a very hygienic material

Linen is soft, and the more it is washedthe softer it becomes without weakening it.

After processing, linen won’t shrink be-cause it becomes stable. In other words,it will not shrink after processing.

The fabric becomes softer, whiter andmore luminous with each washing, BUT,linen becomes brittle when dried outcompletely. Linen can recover its natu-ral flexibility by absorbing moisture. Linenquality is still judged by its whiteness.

Rev 6:11 And white robes were givenunto every one of them; and it was saidunto them, that they should rest yet fora little season, until their fellow servantsalso and their brethren, that should bekilled as they were, should be fulfilled.(All scriptural references are from the KJVunless otherwise noted).

Rev 7:9 After this I beheld, and, lo, agreat multitude, which no man couldnumber, of all nations, and kindreds, andpeople, and tongues, stood before thethrone, and before the Lamb, clothedwith white robes, and palms in theirhands;

Some complain how wrinkled linen be-comes and how hard it is to iron. The an-swer to the problem is that the linen mustbe damp. In other words, it must havemoisture in it and then you must use avery hot iron. Neither a heavy iron nor asteam iron, but a very hot iron. Onlywith the moisture of the Holy Spirit canwe stand up to a very hot trial and have

our wrinkles removed.

New Testament Temple

The word “temple” appears 107 times inthe New Testament. There are four Greekwords used in the New Testament fortemple. SGD #2411 is used 67 times andit is always used of the whole temple com-pound except, for once where it is usedof the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus.

ThayerSGD #2411 hieron (hee-er-on’)KJV - temple 67; 67

1) a sacred place, temple

1a) used of the temple of Artemisat Ephesus

1b) used of the temple at Jerusa-lem

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The temple of Jerusalem consisted of thewhole of the sacred enclosure, embrac-ing the entire aggregate of buildings,balconies, porticos, courts, belonging tothe temple; the latter designates thesacred edifice properly so called, con-sisting of two parts, the “sanctuary” or“Holy Place”, and the “Holy of Holies” or“the most holy place”. Also there werethe courts where Jesus or the apostlestaught or encountered adversaries, andthe like, “in the temple”.

The other main word for “temple” in theNew Testament is SGD #3485. This is thesanctuary consisting of the Holy Place andthe Holy of Holies.

ThayerSGD #3485 naos (nah-os’)

KJV - temple 45, a shrine 1; 46

1) used of the temple at Jerusalem, butonly of the sacred edifice (or sanctuary)itself, consisting of the Holy place andthe Holy of Holies

2) any heathen temple or shrine

3) metaph. the spiritual temple consist-ing of the saints of all ages joined to-gether by and in Christ

There are a couple of other words for“temple,” but they’re not pertinent to thisstudy. The interesting thing about thesetwo words is that every time a Christianis referred to as “the temple” the Greekword naos nah-os’ SGD #3485 is used.In other words, if they have God’s Spiritabiding in them, they are the Holy Place.

1Cor 3:16-17 16 Know ye not that yeare the temple (SGD #3485) of God,and that the Spirit of God dwelleth inyou? 17) If any man defile the temple(SGD #3485) of God, him shall God de-stroy; for the temple (SGD #3485) ofGod is holy, which temple ye are.

1Cor 6:19 What? know ye not that yourbody is the temple (SGD #3485) of theHoly Ghost which is in you, which ye haveof God, and ye are not your own?

2Cor 6:16 And what agreement hath thetemple (SGD #3485) of God with idols?for ye are the temple (SGD #3485) ofthe living God; as (the) God hath said, Iwill dwell in them, and walk in them; andI will be their God, and they shall be mypeople.

Eph 2:20-22 And are built upon the foun-dation of the apostles and prophets,Jesus Christ himself being the chief cor-ner stone; 21) In whom all the buildingfitly framed together groweth unto anholy temple (SGD #3485) in the Lord:22) In whom ye also are builded togetherfor an habitation of God through theSpirit.

Note verse 22 of Eph. 2. Was not the Tab-ernacle in the Wilderness where God wasto meet with and dwell with the childrenof Israel?

Ex 29:42-45 This shall be a continualburnt offering throughout your genera-tions at the door of the tabernacle of thecongregation before the LORD: where Iwill meet you, to speak there unto thee.43) And there I will meet with the chil-dren of Israel, and the tabernacle shallbe sanctified by my glory. 44) And I willsanctify the tabernacle (tent SHD #168)of the congregation, and the altar: I willsanctify also both Aaron and his sons, tominister to me in the priest’s office.45) And I will dwell among the childrenof Israel, and will be their God.

Also, when Jesus talked about destroyingand rebuilding the Temple, he used theGreek word SGD #3485 (naos) or HolyPlace.

John 2:19 Jesus answered and said untothem, Destroy this temple (naos), andin three days I will raise it up. 20) Thensaid the Jews, Forty and six years wasthis temple (Naos) in building, and wiltthou rear it up in three days? 21) But hespake of the temple (naos )of his body.

As he was being crucified, the Jews threwit back at him. They also used the Greekword for Holy Place. They didn’t even re-alize what they had just said.

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Mt. 27:40 And saying, Thou thatdestroyest the temple (naos), andbuildest it in three days, save thyself. Ifthou be the Son of God, come down fromthe cross.

The Temple Holy Place was based on theHoly Place or Tabernacle in the Wilderness.

So now let’s go back to the Old Testament.

Tabernacle in the Wilderness

In Ex 26:1-30, there are a couple of wordsused for “tabernacle;” the first is SHD#168 which really means tent.

Brown-Driver-BriggsSHD #168 ‘ohel (o’-hel)from 0166; TWOT - 32a; n mKJV - tabernacle(s) 198, tent(s) 141,dwelling 2, place(s) 2, covering 1, home1; 3451) tent

1a) nomad’s tent, and thus symbolicof wilderness life, transience1b) dwelling, home, habitation1c) the sacred tent of Jehovah (the tabernacle)

The second is SHD #4908 which meansdwelling place.

Brown-Driver-Briggs4908 mishkan (mish-kawn’)KJV - tabernacle 119, dwelling 9, habi-tation 5, dwellingplaces 3, place 1,dwelleth 1, tents 1; 1391) dwelling place, tabernacle

1a) dwelling-place1b) dwellings

Exodus 26:1-30, 35:10-19 and 36:8-13shows that the Tabernacle (SHD #4908)consists of the ten curtains of fine twinedlinen.

Ex 26:1-30 Moreover thou shalt makethe tabernacle (SHD #4908) with tencurtains of fine twined linen, and blue,and purple, and scar let: withcherubims of cunning work shalt thoumake them. 2) The length of one cur-tain shall be eight and twenty cubits, andthe breadth of one curtain four cubits:

and every one of the curtains shall haveone measure. 3) The five curtains shallbe coupled together one to another; andother five curtains shall be coupled oneto another. 4) And thou shalt make loopsof blue upon the edge of the one curtainfrom the selvedge in the coupling; andlikewise shalt thou make in the utter-most edge of another curtain, in the cou-pling of the second. 5) Fifty loops shaltthou make in the one curtain, and fiftyloops shalt thou make in the edge of thecurtain that is in the coupling of the sec-ond; that the loops may take hold one ofanother. 6) And thou shalt make fifty ta-ches of gold, and couple the curtains to-gether with the taches: and it shall be onetabernacle (SHD #4908)

Verses 5 and 6 clearly show that it is oneTabernacle or Mishkan made of ten cur-tains. Biblically the number ten is “the per-fection of divine order” and the numberfive “is the number of grace” (Numbersin Scripture by E.W. Bullinger). In thesame book, the number four “is the num-ber of creation” and seven represents“spiritual perfection.” Each curtain is fourcubits wide by twenty-eight cubits long(4x7). Do we see a pattern in the con-struction of the Tabernacle?

Ex 26:7-11 And thou shalt make curtainsof goats’ hair to be a covering (SHD#168 upon the tabernacle : (SHD#4908) eleven curtains shalt thou make.8) The length of one curtain shall be thirtycubits, and the breadth of one curtainfour cubits: and the eleven curtains shallbe all of one measure. 9) And thou shaltcouple five curtains by themselves, andsix curtains by themselves, and shaltdouble the sixth curtain in the forefrontof the tabernacle (SHD #168). 10) Andthou shalt make fifty loops on the edgeof the one curtain that is outmost in thecoupling, and fifty loops in the edge ofthe curtain which coupleth the second.11) And thou shalt make fifty taches ofbrass, and put the taches into the loops,and couple the tent together, that it maybe one.

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Verse 7 clearly shows that the coveringover the Tabernacle is called the tent.

Exodus 26:12-13 clearly shows that thecurtains of the tent were two cubits longerthan the curtains of the Tabernacle, andthey hung one cubit lower on each side ofthe Tabernacle.

Ex. 26:12-13 And the remnant thatremaineth of the curtains of the tent(SHD 0168), the half curtain thatremaineth, shall hang over the backsideof the tabernacle (SHD 4908). 13 Anda cubit on the one side, and a cubit onthe other side of that which remainethin the length of the curtains of the tent,(SHD 0168) it shall hang over the sidesof the tabernacle (SHD 4908) on thisside and on that side, to cover it.

The Tabernacle (SHD #4908) is composedof the ten curtains of fine twined linen inblue and purple and scarlet, and the tent(SHD #168) covers it. Exodus 35:10 ff.verifies this.

Ex 35:10-19 And every wise heartedamong you shall come, and make all thatthe LORD hath commanded; 11) Thetabernacle (SHD #4908), his tent(SHD #168), and his covering, his ta-ches, and his boards, his bars, his pil-lars, and his sockets, 12) The ark, andthe staves thereof, with the mercy seat,and the vail of the covering, 13) Thetable, and his staves, and all his ves-sels, and the shewbread, 14) The candle-stick also for the light, and his furniture,and his lamps, with the oil for the light,15) And the incense altar, and his staves,and the anointing oil, and the sweet in-cense, and the hanging for the door atthe entering in of the tabernacle (SHD#4908, 16) The altar of burnt offering,with his brasen grate, his staves, and allhis vessels, the laver and his foot, 17) Thehangings of the court, his pillars, andtheir sockets, and the hanging for thedoor of the court, 18) The pins of thetabernacle (SHD #4908), and the pinsof the court, and their cords, 19) Thecloths of service, to do service in theholy place, the holy garments for Aaron

the priest, and the garments of his sons,to minister in the priest’s office.

And again in Ex 36:8-13

Ex 36:8-13 And every wise hearted manamong them that wrought the work ofthe tabernacle (SHD #4908), madeten curtains of fine twined linen, andblue, and purple, and scarlet: withcherubims of cunning work made hethem. 9) The length of one curtain wastwenty and eight cubits, and the breadthof one curtain four cubits: the curtainswere all of one size. 10) And he coupledthe five curtains one unto another: andthe other five curtains he coupled oneunto another. 11) And he made loops ofblue on the edge of one curtain from theselvedge in the coupling: likewise hemade in the uttermost side ofanothercurtain, in the coupling of thesecond. 12) Fifty loops made he in onecurtain, and fifty loops made he in theedge of the curtain which was in the cou-pling of the second: the loops held onecurtain to another. 13) And he made fiftytaches of gold, and coupled the curtainsone unto another with the taches: so itbecame one tabernacle (SHD #4908),

In these verses the Tabernacle is alwaysthe ten curtains of fine twined linen, blue,purple and scarlet, not the whole enclosure.

Why the Different Colors?

If the white linen is for righteousness asseen in Revelations 19:8,

Rev 19:8 And to her was granted thatshe should be arrayed in fine linen, cleanand white: for the fine linen is therighteousness of saints.

and blue is for the Law from Numbers15:38-39;

Num 15:38-39 Speak unto the childrenof Israel, and bid them that they makethem fringes in the borders of their gar-ments throughout their generations, andthat they put upon the fringe of the bor-ders a ribband of blue: 39) And it shallbe unto you for a fringe, that ye may

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look upon it, and remember all the com-mandments of the LORD, and do them;and that ye seek not after your own heartand your own eyes, after which ye useto go a whoring.

What are represented by the scarlet andthe purple? The scarlet is a type of thered blood of Christ that was shed for mansredemption (Rev 1:5-6, 5:9).

Rev 1:5-6 And from Jesus Christ, who isthe faithful witness, and the first begot-ten of the dead, and the prince of thekings of the earth. Unto him that lovedus, and washed us from our sins inhis own blood, 6) And hath made uskings and priests unto God and his Fa-ther; to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Rom 5:9 Much more then, being nowjustified by his blood, we shall be savedfrom wrath through him.

But, Christians are also justified by keep-ing the Law.

Rom 2:13 For not the hearers of the laware just before God, but the doers of thelaw shall be justified.

The color purple results from combiningblue (for the Law) and red (for Christ’sblood). Could it be that purple is the colorof grace?

The Tabernacle, a type of the Church, (Eph2:21) was fully covered by the goat hairtent, even extending beyond it (Ex 26:12-13), just as Christians are covered bygrace. It appears that this goat hair tentis a type of the covering grace of God.Although the Bible is silent on the sub-ject, could the goat hair tent have beenpurple?

Purple is also the color of royalty, andChristians are the Royal Priesthood,

1Pet 2:9 But ye are a chosen genera-tion, a royal priesthood, an holy nation,a peculiar people; that ye should shewforth the praises of him who hath called

you out of darkness into his marvellouslight:

as well as kings and priests as seen inRevelations 1:6, 5:10.

Rev 1:6 And hath made us kings andpriests unto God and his Father; to himbe glory and dominion for ever and ever.Amen.

Rev 5:10 And hast made us unto our Godkings and priests: and we shall reign on

the earth.

Cherubims

The white linen and the three colors havebeen explained, but why the cherubims?It does not say how many, it is just plu-ral. Could it be that God is weaving thefabric of His family with the heavenly andthe physical? When Christians are giveneternal life, will they not be as the angels(Luke 20:35-36)?

Where Did the Linen Come From?

The Israelites had the linen for makingthe Tabernacle. Where did it come from?

If linen requires a temperate moist cli-mate for growing, then the desert can beruled out as being the source of the flax.They had to have brought the fibers withthem because they did not have time togrow and process the flax. And, if theybegan to do the spinning (Ex 35:25), itmeans the fibers had already been pre-pared. Just like with Christians, when Godcalls individuals and gives them to Christ,they are the raw material. Pulled up outof Egypt no less. He then must begin theprocess of removing the extraneous ma-terial, so that the woman (the Church)can spin the fine fibers. Once the fibershave been spun into yarn, they will bewoven into the fabric of the Tabernacle.

Remember, as mentioned earlier:

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A characteristic often associated withlinen yarn is the presence of “slubs”, orsmall knots that occur randomly alongits length. These are actually defectsassociated with poor quality. The finestlinen has a very consistent diameter withno slubs.

Christians will have the defects of sin re-moved, or they will not be in the Taber-nacle.

Who made the curtains? It turns out thatthe women did the spinning and the mendid the weaving. Remember, in Egypt itwas the men who stayed home and didthe weaving; and seeing as the slaveswere the ones used for the weaving, wesee that the Israelite men already knewhow to weave.

Eloah selects individuals and places themunder His Son, Christ, who works withthem at his Father’s direction. Christ isweaving them into the fabric of theFather’s family. That’s his job. God laidout the plan and Christ does the work.

John 6:44 No man can come to me, ex-cept the Father which hath sent me drawhim: and I will raise him up at the lastday.

Exodus 35:25 shows that the women didthe spinning:

Ex 35:25 And all the women that werewise hearted did spin with their hands,and brought that which they had spun,both of blue, and of purple, and of scar-let, and of fine linen.

and the men did the weaving and em-broidering.

Ex 36:8 And every wise hearted manamong them that wrought the work ofthe tabernacle made ten curtains of finetwined linen, and blue, and purple, andscarlet: with cherubims of cunning workmade he them.

Ex 38:23 And with him was Aholiab, sonof Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, anengraver, and a cunning workman, andan embroiderer in blue, and in purple,and in scarlet, and fine linen .

Even to the making of the Tabernacle, theIsraelite’s had been trained in Egypt fortheir jobs. Just as many Christians havebeen trained, by their experiences, forresponsibilities within the Body of Christ.

The following three points have alreadybeen mentioned:

1. That the Egyptians had a reputationfor their fine linen, which was nearlytransparent.

2. That linen quality is still judged by itsshade of white.

3. That processed flax fibers have a highnatural luster with an attractive sheen;in other words, it reflects light.

These qualities are reflected in Revelations19:7-8.

Rev 19:7-8 Let us be glad and rejoice,and give honour to him: for the mar-riage of the Lamb is come, and his wifehath made herself ready. 8) And to herwas granted that she should be arrayedin fine linen, clean and white: (SGD#2986) for the fine linen is the righteous-ness of saints.

Thayer’s shows that the word “white” hasa much broader sense then merely beingwhite. It means shining, brilliant, or trans-parent, and noted above these are alsosome of the qualities of linen.

ThayersSGD #2986 lamprov, lampros (lam-pros’)KJV - bright 2, goodly 2, white 2, gor-geous 1, gay 1, clear 1; 9

1) shining

1a) brilliant

1b) clear, transparent

2) splendid, magnificent

2a) splendid things i.e. luxuries orelegancies in dress or style.

The Assembly of Eloah Linen

Page 11

It is possible, that the High Priest couldsee the Ark of the Covenant through theveil. That the veil had been woven of linenso shear it was translucent. The Egyptianswere renowned for the fine quality of theirlinen and that it was so shear it could beseen through. Remember they saw theArk at other times. In the book of Joshuathey carried it around Jericho in plain sightof the people.

Ex 26:31 And thou shalt make a vail ofblue, and purple, and scarlet, and finetwined linen of cunning work: withcherubims shall it be made:

Notice that the order has been changed.Blue is first, so, even if it were nearlytransparent, it would still be harder to seethrough.

In Conclusion

Following is a reiteration of a few of theattributes of linen which are types of char-acteristics found in a Christian’s life.

When wet flax fibers are about 20%stronger.

Flax is hollow causing it to absorb mois-ture readily. Because of this it has verygood wicking properties; in other words,it soaks up liquids.

Its wicking properties make it an idealmaterial for oil lamp wicks.

The fabric becomes softer, whiter andmore luminous with each washing, BUT,linen becomes brittle when dried outcompletely. Linen can recover its natu-ral flexibility by absorbing moisture, fromthe air if need be, it doesn’t need to bewet, just moist.

One of the things about linen is how muchwater is involved with the growing, har-vesting, processing and maintenance oflinen. Not only that, but it’s affinity forliquids.

As it soaks up water, it becomes stronger.When it dries out, it becomes weaker and

brittle - easily broken. Yet, if it becomeswet once again before it breaks, it isstrong and supple once more. Being aswater is a type of the Holy Spirit, the anal-ogy seems apparent.

The wicking attributes can be tied to Mat-thew 5:14-16

Mat 5:14-16 “You are the light of theworld. A city set on a hill cannot be hid.15) Nor do men light a lamp and put itunder a bushel, but on a stand, and itgives light to all in the house. 16) Letyour light so shine before men, that theymay see your good works and give gloryto your Father who is in heaven. (RSV)

The linen of righteousness is the wickthrough which the oil (Holy Spirit) flowsto produce the light.

Another type or analogy is that the Tab-ernacle is a type of the Church, and Chris-tians are the individual fibers spun andwoven into that Tabernacle. Think of it asour God weaving the fabric of His familyas He becomes all in all.

1Cor 15:28 And when all things shall besubdued unto him, then shall the Sonalso himself be subject unto him that putall things under him, that God may beall in all.

According to Scripture, the Tabernacle wasof fine linen, but was it shear to the pointof being at least translucent? Was the tentcovering it visible through the linen? Wasthe Ark visible through the veil as througha glass darkly (1Cor 13:12)? The Bible issilent on these questions, although a casehas been made that the answer to thesecould be: “Yes.” The Tabernacle was a typeof God’s family - the Body of Christ, wo-ven of individual strands of white linenyarn. And might each strand of yarn rep-resent a member in the body of Christ?

finis