Insects that have wings and legs above their feet for leaping on the earth (vv. 21-22) signify persons who can live and move in a life that is above the world and who can keep themselves from the world. Having wings enables us to fly away from anything worldly, sinful, or fleshly and to soar above the world. Having legs above the feet enables us to jump up and leave the world at any time. Believers in the Lord should be those who can jump and fly, unfettered by the world and unentangled by the earth. Only this kind of person should be the object of our contact.
In order to live a holy life, we need to consider the kind of people we contact. Contacting people is like eating. When we eat, we take in something that is outside of us. This can affect us within by being digested to become our constituent, that is, our being, our constitution. Similarly, our contact with certain kinds of people can cause us to be reconstituted and make us a different kind of person. We will receive what we contact, and what we receive will reconstitute us, making us different in constitution with a different expression of life.
Of the various kinds of people signified by the different categories of animals which are clean for eating, only Christ matches these conditions, such as dividing the hoof and chewing the cud, having fins and scales, having wings for flying and eating seeds of life as the food supply, and having wings and legs above the feet for leaping on the earth. Only Christ can match these conditions. Christ is the real cleanness. He is the reality of cleanness.
Only Christ and all that is out of Christ, those who have been transformed by the life of Christ, are clean for our food supply. This is what God’s people should contact. Nothing else should be contacted by us.
Christ divides the hoof and chews the cud (v. 3). When Christ walked on earth, His hooves were fully divided, and He chewed the cud. He was full of discernment, and He received the word of God with much reconsideration.
Christ has fins (v. 9). When He was on earth, He could move freely without being caught by worldly things. Christ also has scales (v. 9); He withstood the influence of the corrupted world.
Christ has legs above the feet and leaps on the earth (v. 21). When He was on earth, He lived and moved in a life that was above the world, and He kept Himself from the world.
Even a chapter such as Leviticus 11 is full of Christ. He is the supply in our daily life in every aspect. As the reality of all the positive things in the universe (Col. 2:17), He is all the clean living creatures. All the clean living creatures that walk on the earth, live in the water, and fly in the air are types of Christ. Christ is the One who can soar in the air and live in salt water. As long as we have Christ, we have the proper thing to contact, to eat, and to digest. In every way, He is our life supply. He is our cleanness.
“I am Jehovah your God. Sanctify yourselves therefore, and be holy, for I am holy...I am Jehovah, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt to be your God; you shall therefore be holy, for I am holy” (Lev. 11:44-45). Only Christ is able to keep us holy, as God is holy.
The animals that are clean for eating signify the persons whom God’s people may contact; the animals that are unclean and not for eating signify those whom God’s people should not contact. We may contact those who are clean, and we should not contact those who are unclean. The animals that are good for eating, signifying the persons whom God’s people may contact, are divided into four categories. First, beasts that divide the hoof and chew the cud signify persons who have discernment in their activities and who receive the word of God with much reconsideration. Aquatic animals that have fins and scales signify persons who can move and act freely in the world but resist its influence. Birds that have wings for flying and that eat seeds of life as their food supply signify persons who can live and move in a life that is away from and above the world and who take things of life as their supply of life. Fourth, insects having wings and legs above their feet for leaping on the earth signify persons who can live and move in a life that is above the world and who can keep themselves from the world.
Based on the significance of the different categories of animals that are clean for eating, only Christ matches the conditions. Christ is the real cleanness. He is the reality of cleanness. Therefore, only Christ and all that is out of Christ, all those who have been transformed by the life of Christ, are those whom we may contact. We should receive Christ as the supply in our daily life in every aspect. When we eat Him, He becomes our constitution. Then He is able to keep us holy, as God is holy.