A Scarlet Rope

February 18, 2019

When Joshua sent the spies into Jericho to scope out the city’s weaknesses, they came to the home of a prostitute named Rahab. Some scholars suggest that the word usually translated prostitute or harlot should be translated as “innkeeper,” but the bulk of the evidence indicates she was a woman who made her living selling her body. Why the spies ended up there is anyone’s guess, but perhaps it was because two young men visiting a house of ill repute would around but little suspicion, even if they were foreigners. 

Like many ancient cities, Jericho was protected by seemingly impregnable walls. The unique feature of this city however, was it being surrounded by two walls; inner and outer fortifications connected by homes built in between them, thus connecting the two structures. Rahab’s house was one such connecting habitation. She hid the two spies until things died down a bit, then lowered them down the wall from a window, using a scarlet rope. The color is a significant feature of the story, a small detail that could have been omitted except for the symbolism it suggested to the writer. 

The text doesn’t tell us, but I suspect this particular rope was the sign of her business, much like the red lights that advertise houses of prostitution today. This scarlet rope which was a sign of her profession became the sign of her deliverance as it identified her home so she and her family would be spared in the conquest that came shortly afterwards. Theologically, it points to the blood sacrifices of the Leviticus priesthood, and ultimately to the death of Jesus Christ on the cross as our Sacrifice for sin.

I find it significant that God transformed the sign of Rahab’s sin and shame into the sign of her deliverance. Often in life, we look back on the foolish and sinful choices we’ve made and want to sweep them under the rug, erasing all memory of the shame we feel. God has a different plan. He takes our sins, our mistakes and rebellion, and holds them high, showing the world how he can transform even the worst of human depravity into a beacon of salvation. He did it for Rahab; he did it for me; he can do it for you. Now THAT is something for which to be thankful!