This is a heifer, a female cow, signifying that this sacrifice was offered up for believers. It is red. That means it is offered up for the redemption of sin. In the Bible, red signifies the redemption of sin. Every time the Bible mentions scarlet or red, it implies sin. The woman in Revelation 18 rides on a scarlet beast and wears a scarlet robe. These refer to her sins.

Numbers 19:4 tells us what happens after the heifer is slaughtered. "And Eleazar the priest shall take some of her blood with his finger, and shall sprinkle some of her blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times." The priest did not do many things. He only sprinkled some blood before God in the tabernacle. This shows us that the death of the Lord Jesus has satisfied the requirements of God. The blood was not sprinkled on the children of Israel. It was sprinkled directly before the tent of meeting. The tabernacle is the place where God met with the Israelites. It is a type of the fellowship between God and man. Where God's tabernacle is, there God is also. Christ is the tabernacle; He is God living among men. He is full of God's grace and truth. He tabernacled among us (John 1:14). This is the fellowship. How can we have fellowship? There must be the blood, that is, sin must be judged. If there is no blood, man cannot come to God.

There are only two ways for man to come to God. Either he comes without sin, or he comes with the blood. If you are without sin, you can come to God in bold strides, and He can do nothing to you. But if you have sin, there must be the shedding of the blood (Heb. 9:22), because God must judge sin. If sin is not judged, man cannot have fellowship with God. God cannot overlook man's sins. God cannot let man's sins go by. If man has sin, he must come to God with the blood. God is a judging God. Without passing through judgment, sin cannot be removed. Judgment demands the blood. Therefore, there must be the shedding of the blood before fellowship can be recovered. The blood was sprinkled seven times. Seven signifies perfection. The death of the Lord Jesus has satisfied God; His blood is sufficient to wash away our sins. Here all the problems are completely solved. God's righteous requirements are met. God said that the work is done. This is the work of the Lord Jesus on the cross. It has been done once and is forever finished. There is no need for another red heifer to die. It is good enough for one red heifer to die. In the first part of this offering we see that the sprinkling of the blood signifies that the problem of the sinner is solved. This part of the offering is the same as all the other offerings in the Old Testament. They are all just the Passover lamb.

Now we have to consider the second part of the offering, which shows us what is to be done for the sins of the believers. Numbers 19:5 says, "And the heifer shall be burned in his sight." This is most unique, for the heifer was not simply burned, but "her skin, her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall be burned; and the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the burning of the heifer." God judged sin. After a little of the blood was sprinkled, the rest of the blood was poured into the fire. Then the whole heifer was also cast into the fire. The priest burned the whole heifer—skin, flesh, blood, dung, and all. In addition, cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet were all cast into the midst of the burning. In verse 9 we are told what happened after the heifer was burned: "A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and place them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the assembly of the sons of Israel for the water for impurity; it is a purification of sin." After the heifer was slaughtered, the blood was applied. But after the heifer was burned and became ashes, the ashes were to be applied.