Hope of Israel Ministries (Ecclesia of YEHOVAH):

The Law of the Red Heifer: A Type and Shadow of Yeshua the Messiah

by HOIM Staff

The law of the Red Heifer, found in the book of Numbers, chapter 19, is one of the most significant and yet least understood sacrificial laws in the Old Testament. This law, which governs the purification of those who become ritually unclean by contact with a corpse, was given to the children of Israel to be a "perpetual statute unto them" (Numbers 19:21), and, like all other sacrifices, to ultimately point them to the Messiah.

The very first animal that YEHOVAH God commanded Abraham to sacrifice was a prime, three-year-old heifer -- a prophetic offering that pointed to the crucifixion of the Messiah two thousand years into the distant future:

"So He said to him, 'Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon'" (Genesis 15:9)

Jewish tradition teaches that only Moses knew the full meaning of this chukkat, or law, which must be obeyed even though not understood. The Midrash says of chukim, "Four Torah laws can not be explained by human reason, but being divine, demand implicit obedience: to marry one's brother's widow (Deuteronomy 25:5), not to mingle wool and linen in a garment (Deuteronomy 22:11), to perform the rite of the scapegoat (Leviticus 16:26, 34), and to perform the rite of the red cow (Numbers 19)." [1]

Even the wise and venerable King Solomon purportedly said, ''All these I have comprehended," speaking of ordinances, "but as regards the section dealing with the Red Heifer, I have investigated and inquired and examined: 'I said: I will get wisdom; but it was far from me' "(see Jacob 4:14). [2]

Those who desire to grasp the true meaning of this commandment will know by study and also by faith that the law of the Red Heifer is a powerful symbol of the Messiah. In the Messiah was this law fulfilled, and only through the Messiah may we become clean and conquer death, just as only through the ashes of the Red Heifer could the children of Israel become ritually clean following contact with a corpse.

This article will show that the law of the Red Heifer is a type and shadow of the atonement of Yeshua the Messiah. YEHOVAH God's requirements for the sacrifice of the heifer will be carefully analyzed, as will the requirements that symbolize the Messiah and his ultimate sacrifice. The breadth and depth of symbolism that point to the Messiah in this law are too great to be coincidental. Like all other animal sacrifices, much is found in the sacrifice of the Red Heifer that corroborates with the Messiah and his culminating atonement for all of Israel.

Background of the Sacrifice

YEHOVAH God commanded Moses to have the children of Israel bring forth a Red Heifer "without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke" (Numbers 19:2). The heifer was to cleanse Israel from Levitical defilement (defilement from the dead) and proved a unique sacrifice for several reasons. This sacrifice, unlike other sin offerings, was a sacrifice made once for all the children of Israel (at least as long as its ashes lasted), [3] was wholly burnt, and was performed outside the camp or sanctuary.

Seven days before the sacrifice, the priest chosen to perform the rite (usually the eldest son of the high priest) [4] remained in the Temple and was daily sprinkled with the ashes of a previously sacrificed Red Heifers. [5] On the day of the sacrifice, the priest, wearing his white priestly raiment, would lead the Red Heifer outside the camp to the "appointed place," or sacrificial altar, where the elders of Israel would already be waiting.

The priest would then place the heifer into an opening in the pile of wood made from cedar, pine, and fig trees, whereupon the priest would bind the Red Heifer with its face looking to the west (toward the Temple) and slay it with his right hand while catching some of its blood in his left. [6] He then dipped his finger into the blood and sprinkled it seven times directly toward the Most Holy Place of the Temple.

After this, the priest kindled the fire and placed cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet into the midst of the burning fire. A clean priest would then take up the burnt remains and deposit them outside the camp (incidentally, the priest who sacrificed the heifer became unclean because of the sacrifice). [7] Then, when the ashes were needed for ritual purification, some of them were placed in a vessel, mixed with spring water, and, together with hyssop, sprinkled on those unclean on the third and seventh days after their contact with the dead. [8]

Functional Typology

The function of the Red Heifer was to atone for the greatest defilement according to Israelite law: death. According to the rabbis, the highest form of ritual impurity was contact with a corpse. [9] As Edersheim writes,

"From all these provisions it is evident that as death carried with it the greatest defilement, so the sin-offering for its purification was in itself and in its consequences the most marked. And its application must have been so frequently necessary in every family and circle of acquaintances that the great truths connected with it were constantly kept in view of the people. In general, the laws in regard to defilement were primarily intended as symbols of spiritual truths, and not for social, nor yet sanitary purposes, though such results would also flow from them.

"Sin had rendered fellowship with God impossible; sin was death, and had wrought death, and the dead body as well as the spiritually dead soul were the evidence of its sway. [10] Clearly, the purpose of the law of the red heifer was to purify those who had become ritually unclean through contact with death and allow them back into the presence of God, or into his temple -- in other words, to take away the defilement of death that stood between God and man."

This principle of reconciling Israel to YEHOVAH God is also the primary purpose of the Messiah's atonement. Only in and through the Messiah can Israel be made clean and again enter into the presence of YEHOVAH God. Without the Atonement all Israel would have been endlessly lost for "nobody can boast in God's presence. it is because of Him [YEHOVAH God] that you live in union with Messiah Jesus, whom God made to be wisdom for us" (1 Corinthians 1: 29-30).

Both the priest who offers the sacrifice and the unclean person made clean illustrate the symbolic functionality between the law of the Red Heifer and the Messiah. Rabbis have deliberated for centuries concerning the irony of this sacrifice, especially since those who were once impure are made pure, while those who were pure to begin with (the priest and the attendants) become impure by participating in the ritual. They admit the reasons for this transferal of ritual cleanliness are beyond their comprehension. [11] One who sees the priest in the correct way understands the typology the priest uses to symbolize the Messiah because he takes upon himself the ritual impurities of Israel and thereby becomes unclean himself. As in many of the sacrifices in the Old Testament, both the sacrifice and the priest symbolize the Messiah.

Location Typology

The Red Heifer, a type of the Messiah, was presented to the priest and taken outside the camp for slaughter because of the defilement of death. All other sacrifices were offered at the Altar of Sacrifice in the Outer Court of the Tabernacle and later in the Temple. One might ask why was the doomed animal sacrificed in a different location, and where that location might be. Jewish tradition indicates that the Red Heifer sacrifice took place on the Mount of Olives, a ritually clean place across the Kidron Valley, which is directly opposite the Temple and the City of David.

It has been stated that through the centuries when the Temples were in operation, the sacrificial blood of countless animals flowed down through the Kidron Valley between Mount Moriah (the mountain of the Temple) and the Mount of Olives. As a result, the deep valley was also known as the Valley of Death. A bridge connected the two mountains, allowing the priests to perform their sacred duties without risk of spiritual defilement from the unclean refuse of the sacrifices in the valley below. In the Mishnah we read:

"A causeway was made from the temple mount to the Mount of Olives, being constructed of arches above arches, each arch placed directly above each pier as a protection against a grave in the depths, whereby the priest who was to burn the cow, the cow itself and all who aided in its preparation went forth to the Mount of Olives." [12]

This bridge was known by several names: the Priestly Bridge, the Red Heifer Gangway, and the Narrow Way. The Messiah was the ultimate High Priest for whom the bridge was named. The Red Heifer's Gangway became the Messiah's Gangway. The Narrow Way is always YEHOVAH's way. This insight brings new understanding to the words of the Messiah:

"Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it" (Matthew 7:13-14).

An innocent Red Heifer walked this bridge in our stead  to become the substitute sacrifice for the sins of the people -- a wholly consumed offering, including its dung. This offering spoke prophetically of the total surrender on the part of the Messiah, our undefiled Elder Brother who took the sins of Israel upon himself, dying in our stead.

"He [YEHOVAH God] made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

This account accords with the commandment of YEHOVAH God given to the children of Israel to sacrifice the heifer "outside the camp" (Numbers 19:3). This location, referred to by some scholars as the Miphkad [13] altar, is where the Red Heifer was sacrificed. It is no surprise that the Messiah began his work of redemption on the same mount in a garden called Gethsemane. Since the Mount of Olives was directly east of the City of David, this garden must have been very near the altar where the Red Heifer ritual was performed, especially considering that the priest needed a full view of the Temple sanctuary through the eastern, or Shushan, gate. [14]

Another key parallel between the Red Heifer sacrifice and the sacrifice of Yeshua the Messiah is the location of the altar in relation to the Temple. The altar's location made it possible for the priest sacrificing the Red Heifer on the Mount of Olives to see directly into the giant entryway of the Holy Sanctuary, which stood sixty-six feet high and thirty-three feet wide. Inside the Holy Sanctuary hung the veil leading to the most sacred chamber, the Holy of Holies. The high priest would pass through this veil once a year on the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) to symbolically enter the presence of YEHOVAH God.

Each year, from this vantage point on the Mount of Olives, which was a mere quarter of a mile from the Temple, one could witness the slaughter of the innocent Passover lambs being sacrificed in the Outer Court. No doubt, Yeshua the Messiah -- the TRUE Red Heifer sacrifice -- could see the bloody ritual in progress as he hung on the tree. The ripped veil that separated the opening to the Holy Place could also be viewed from the Mount of Olives on that fateful day:

"And behold, the veil of the Temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth shook and the rocks were split. The tombs were opened, and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many" (Matthew 27:51-53).

It is not coincidental that the altar existed in a location where the priest could direct his attention and actions to the only place there was access to YEHOVAH's presence. The Red Heifer represents the Messiah because it sacrifices its blood so that the children of Israel can enter into the Holy of Holies, or the presence of YEHOVAH God. Yeshua the Messiah, "neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us" (Hebrews 9:12). Surely the location of the altar in relation to the Holy of Holies was designed to teach and prepare the Israelites for the One who would allow all of Israel, not just the High Priest, to enter into the presence of YEHOVAH God.

Element Typology

Many of the elements used in the sacrifice of the Red Heifer were symbolic of the Messiah. The cedar wood, hyssop, scarlet wool, ashes, and blood all typify and teach of the Messiah and his expiation for his sheep (Israel). The sacrificial elements of cedar, hyssop, and scarlet wool all have cleansing properties and were used in other sin offerings (see Leviticus 14:4).

(1) The Cedar Wood. One of the primary meanings of cedars in the Bible is strength. The cedar tree's ability to withstand harsh conditions mirrors the resilience that YEHOVAH God desires in His people Israel. In Psalm 92:12, it is stated: "The righteous shall flourish like the palm tree; he shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon." This verse emphasizes the flourishing nature of the righteous, akin to the sturdy growth of cedars, which thrive in difficult environments.

Cedars are also associated with beauty and glory. Their majestic stature and aromatic wood made them a choice material for building significant structures, including the Temple of Solomon. In 1 Kings 6:15-16, the Bible describes how the interior of the Temple was lined with cedar, symbolizing the dwelling place of YEHOVAH God and the glory of His presence. The use of cedar wood highlights the reverence and honor given to YEHOVAH God, as well as the beauty of His creation.

Cedars also have a symbolic role in the context of YEHOVAH's covenant with His people Israel. Just as the cedar tree stands tall and secure, YEHOVAH's promises offer protection and stability for His people. In Isaiah 2:12, the cedar is mentioned alongside pride and arrogance, indicating that those who are exalted will be brought low, while the humble will be lifted up. This reinforces the biblical principle that YEHOVAH God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble (James 4:6).

The wood of the cedar tree is renowned for its ability to preserve things from decay and corruption, just as the Messiah preserves us from physical decay and spiritual corruption. The inclusion of hard, insect-resistant cedar wood in the sacrifice may also have protected the holy ashes from corruption, at least during the Temple era when cedar wood was readily available.

(2) The Hyssop. Along with the scarlet wool hyssop was wrapped around a cedar stick into a little bundle and cast upon the burning pyre. The hyssop plant was known for its pleasing aroma in Bible times, and was thereby ordained by YEHOVAH God to quench the stench of slaughtered animals in the wilderness Tabernacle and later in the Temple. Hyssop was also celebrated for its numerous healing and cleansing properties -- all of which were symbolically prophetic of the Messiah's cleansing, purifying death. A very repentant King David, desperately in need of purification, begged to be purged with hyssop following his adulterous liaison with Bathsheba:

"Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:7).

We first see hyssop being used ceremonially by the Israelites just prior to the Passover meal and the Exodus. YEHOVAH God instructed His chosen people Israel to dip hyssop in the blood of the sacrificial lamb and sprinkle the blood on the doorposts and lintels of their homes. The applied blood protected the family within from the plague of death that was enveloping them. The first-born Egyptian son of every household that was lacking the blood covering died. Even the first-born son of the Pharaoh -- the crowned Prince of Egypt and future monarch -- died during the tenth and final plague:

"And you shall take a branch of hyssop and dip it in the blood which is in the basin, and apply some of the blood that is in the basin to the lintel and the two doorposts; and none of you shall go outside the door of his house until morning" (Exodus 12:22).

There was yet another powerful prophetic symbolism when the hyssop was lifted to the Messiah when he hung on the tree, referring back to the blood-covered door in Egypt, an object that has the precise shape of the Hebrew letter Chet, the eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Eight is the biblical number of new beginnings. The sages regarded the Chet as the doorway of light from heaven. When the hyssop was lifted up to the Messiah just before his death, it was lifted up to the "BLOOD-COVERED DOOR!" There is only one way that leads to salvation, and the Messiah is the DOOR to eternal life.

"Jesus therefore said to them again, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep'" (John 10:7).

The Letter Chet

(3) The Scarlet Wool. The color scarlet has long been a symbol of wealth and power, second in value only to purple dye and purple fabric. Some scholars claim the scarlet dye was derived from the kermes insect that is the probable source of the rams' skins dyed red that formed the second covering of Moses' Tabernacle (Exodus 36:19). Like the sacrificial Lamb of YEHOVAH God, the insect required crushing in order to release its vibrant essence. We are reminded of the scarlet cord of love and redemption that flows from Genesis to Revelation. The color scarlet also speaks of blood, sacrifice, and sin:

"Come now, and let us reason together," says the LORD, "Though your sins are as scarlet, they will be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, they will be like wool" (Isaiah 1:18).

Another tie comes from the prophetic words found in Psalm 22:6, which reads, "But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people." This verse prophesies that the Messiah will be treated like a worm, crushed by his people until he becomes as red as scarlet by the blood he sheds.

(4) Ashes. Although the elements of cedar, hyssop, and scarlet wool play an important part in the ritual, the ashes of the heifer become the focus of this sacrifice, for ultimately it is the ashes that cleanse the ritually unclean of Israel from defilement. The burning of the animal in its entirety -- "skin, flesh, blood, and dung" (Numbers 19:5) -- is found in no other animal sacrifice. The Israelites took this commandment so literally that after the animal was burned, they beat the ashes with rods and stone hammers to crush any fragments that did not turn to ash. [15]

The ashes of the Red Heifer were necessary for the purification and holiness of YEHOVAH's people Israel, particularly those who had become defiled by the presence of a corpse, either human or animal. The ashes, which were mixed with water from the Pool of Siloam, were the evidence of substitutionary death. It is remarkable that the Messiah told the blind man to wash in the Pool of Siloam -- an act that resulted in the man's miraculous healing (John 9:6-7).

In his book, The Temple -- Its Ministry and Services, Alfred Edershheim claims the mixture of ashes and water, known as the "water of remission" or the "water of separation," was divided into three parts. One portion was given to the Levites who guarded the entrance to the House of YEHOVAH God. The second portion was stored on the Mount of Olives (the Hill of Anointment), and the third portion was placed in the Temple. It is likely that perhaps the ashes were divided and separated to assure a ready supply in case of loss or theft. Following is a quote from Edersheim's book:

"Seven days before, the priest destined for the service was separated and kept in the Temple -- in the House of Stoves' -- where he was daily sprinkled with the ashes -- as the Rabbis' fable -- of all the red heifers ever offered."

Edersheim's account gives us a glimpse of the holiness of the offering and its divine purpose in the Temple liturgy. The ashes were particularly important to the nomadic Israelites in the desert, who could not erect the portable Tabernacle every time a man became defiled. Instead, the ashes of the red heifer were mixed with running water during the Exodus wandering and sprinkled with hyssop upon the offender.

The symbolic parallels of the ash and the Messiah are striking. The Messiah became the Red Heifer by taking upon himself all the sins of Israel. He did not suffer for only some; he took upon himself all pain, all suffering, and all sin so that we of Israel may obtain all that the Father has. He was crushed for the sins of his people just as the ashes were. His atonement is not discriminatory, nor is it bound by time or influence, but it is available to all of Israel, just as the ashes of the Red Heifer were able to cleanse all from ritual impurity.

(5) Blood. It seems inescapable that the red color of the heifer symbolized blood. The Hebrew adjective adom, from parah adumah, Hebrew for Red Heifer, is related to the Hebrew dam, the word for blood. [16] That the blood of the Red Heifer is symbolic of the blood of Yeshua the Messiah may be illustrated in several ways.

In Leviticus 17:11 we read, "For the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the souls." We learn from Paul that "almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission" (Hebrews 9:22).

"For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God" (Hebrews 9:13-14).

As blood gives us mortal life, so does the blood of the Messiah grant us eternal life. The scriptures are replete with verses teaching this doctrine. [17]

Like the priest who was to sacrifice the Red Heifer, the Messiah ascended the Mount of Olives and entered the Garden of Gethsemane in white raiment. [18] As he knelt and prayed to his Father he became "exceedingly sorrowful" and "fell on his face" (Matthew 26:38-39) in prayerful pleading. His intense agony became too much to bear. His physical body finally revolted at the indescribable and unyielding pain and anguish he was experiencing. The suffering caused the Messiah to "bleed at every pore," and "his sweat was it were great drops of blood" (Luke 22:44), possibly the condition known today in medicine as hematidrosis. His body literally, not figuratively, shed forth blood from every pore in reaction to the pain thrust upon him. [19] John Taylor summed up the Messiah's experience in the garden with these words:

"But what is the real reason for all this suffering and bloodshed, and sacrifice? We are told without the shedding of blood is no remission of sins. This is beyond our comprehension. Yeshua had to take away sin of Israel by the sacrifice of himself, the just for the unjust, but, previous to this grand sacrifice, these animals had to have their blood shed as types, until the great antitype should offer up himself once and for all.

"And as he in his own person bore the sins of all, and atoned for them by the sacrifice of himself, so there came upon him the weight and agony of ages and generations, the indescribable agony consequent upon this great sacrificial atonement wherein he bore the sins of Israel, and suffered in his own person the consequences of an eternal law of YEHOVAH God broken by His people Israel. Hence Yeshua's profound grief, is indescribable anguish, his overpowering torture, all experienced in the submission to the eternal fiat of YEHOVAH God and the requirements of an inexorable law." [20]

One cannot help but wonder if Isaiah had this event in mind when he wrote,

"Wherefore art thou red in thine apparel, and thy garments like him that treadeth in the winefat? I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment" (Isaiah 63:2-3).

Heifer Typology

Unlike most other sin offerings, the sacrificial animal in the law of the Red Heifer was not male, but female. [21] A marvelous message is manifested in this metaphor. The female sacrifice suggests that the ritual is life giving. Through women we are born and gain mortal life; through the Messiah we become spiritually reborn and gain eternal life. [22] The Messiah taught the Israelites this principle when he said, "I am come that they might have life....I am the good shepherd: the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep" (John 10:10-11).

Just as the children of Israel could not become clean from the defilement caused by death through any other means than the ashes of the Red Heifer, so can we of Israel overcome death and gain eternal life only through the atonement of the Messiah. He is the light and life of Israel -- "no man cometh unto the Father, but by [him]" John 14:6).

The heifer, like Yeshua the Messiah, had to be perfect to be worthy of sacrifice. The heifer not only had to be "without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke" (Numbers 19:2), but its horns, hooves, and even eyelashes had to be red. If the horns and hooves were not perfectly red, they would be chopped off before the heifer was sacrificed (Mishnah Parah 2:2).

If one had ridden on the heifer, leaned on it, hung on its tail, crossed a river by its help, placed rope on its back, or put one's cloak on it, it became invalid (Mishnah Parah 2:3). If a mere two black or white hairs were found on the heifer, the animal became invalid (Mishnah Parah 2:5). The heifer's physical flawlessness was symbolic of the spiritual perfection required of the Messiah to atone for the sins of Israel -- for he had to be spiritually without spot or blemish.

Another way the heifer symbolized the Messiah was that it was not compelled to leave the Temple grounds and walk to the Mount of Olives. In the Mishnah we learn the priests had to "bring her forth, by herself." [23] This foreshadowed the sacrifice of the Messiah, for the Messiah, like the heifer, went voluntarily to the Mount of Olives to partake of the bitter cup that only he knew awaited him. He was not coerced to leave the Temple room, cross the Kidron Valley, and enter into the Garden of Gethsemane. Rather, he led his disciples to the garden and voluntarily took upon himself our sins while his disciples slept. "He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth" (Isaiah 53:7).

The book of Hebrews provides us with another profound parallel between the Messiah and the Red Heifer. In chapter ten, Paul teaches that the Mosaic Law was a "shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things" (vs. 1). The animal sacrifices can never "continually make the comers thereunto perfect" (vs. 1). For if they could, why have they not "ceased to be offered?" (vs. 2). "For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins" (vs. 4).

"Then said he [the Messiah], Lo, I come to do thy will, O God...By the which will we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all" (vs. 9-10).

The priests stood daily in the Temple sacrificing animals that would never take away sins, but the Messiah, "after he had offered one sacrifice for sins for ever, sat down on the right hand of God" (vs. 12).

As Paul clearly points out, the purpose of the sacrifice of the Red Heifer was not to take away the Israelites' sins. The animal sacrifices had only the power to purify temporarily. The Messiah was commissioned and offered himself as the "one sacrifice for sins for ever" (vs. 12), thus enabling him to forgive us of Israel and allow us to be purified permanently. The sacrifice of the Red Heifer was given as a shadow of the Messiah's ultimate sacrifice; it was to point the children of Israel in the right path and help prepare them for the coming of the Messiah.

Conclusion

Like all sacrifices in ancient Israel, the sacrifice of the Red Heifer is a powerful type of Yeshua the Messiah, offering us many insights into the Messiah's intercession for all of Israel. The function, location, and elements of the law of the Red Heifer all point to the Savior, teaching and testifying of his power to reconcile Israel to YEHOVAH God and overcome the effects of sin and death. Because of the permanent propitiation made by the Messiah on our behalf, we can enter boldly "into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh....[Therefore] let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water" (Hebrews 10:19-22).

Only through the blood of our Savior, even Yeshua the Messiah, may we of Israel overcome death, enter the presence of YEHOVAH God, and dwell with Him and the Messiah forever in the Kingdom of YEHOVAH God.

Footnotes:

[1] Numbers Rabbah 19:8, as quoted in The Torah: A Modern Commentary, 1149.

[2] Midrash Rabbah, Numbers Vol. II (London: Soncino Press, 1983), 754.

[3] From the Mishnah Parah we learn that there have been a total of nine Red Heifers burned. The first was under the supervision of Moses; the second was prepared by Ezra; two were sacrificed by Shimon Ha Tzadclik; Yochanan, the High Priest, also sacrificed two; Eliehoenai, the son of Ha-Kof supervised the seventh. Hanamel, the Egyptian, burned the eighth, and the ninth red cow was sacrificed by Ishmael, son of Piabi. Maimonides is said to have written that "the tenth red heifer will be accomplished by the king, the Messiah." See Rabbi Chaim Richman, The Mystery of the Red Heifer: Divine Promise of Purity Jerusalem: Chaim Richman, 1997), 76.

[4] Joseph Fielcling McConkie, Gospel Symbolism (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1999), 95.

[5] According to the Mishnah Parah 3:11, the officiating priest was removed from his house to a chamber facing the Temple six days before the sacrifice. This room was called the Stone Chamber, so named because all services in connection with the Red Heifer had to be performed in vessels made either of baked earthenware or any material that is, like stone, insusceptible to uncleanness.

[6] Mishnah Parah 3:9.

[7] The ashes were divided into three parts and stored in three different locations. One part was deposited on the rampart, one was on the Mount of Olives, and one was divided among the twenty-four courses of the priests that took the Temple services in turn. See Mishnah Parah 3:11.

[8] See Numbers 19:11-22 for a detailed description of the law of ritual impurity resulting from contact with death.

[9] Encyclopedia ]udaica, 14:9-14.

[10] Alfred Edersheirn, The Temple: Its Ministry and Services (Peabody: Hendrickson Publishers, 1994), 279.

[11] Richman, 9.

[12] Mishnah Parah 3:6.

[13] Some scholars view the Red Heifer sacrificial altar as an extension of the altar described in Ezekiel 43:21 in which the Hebrew word miphkad is translated as "appointed place" in both the King James Version and in the Jerusalem Bible. See Karen Boren, Messiah of the Winepress (Provo, UT: Beit Parah Publishing, 2002), 52. Although there may be some relation in the names of the altars, I have not found sufficient evidence to support such a theory.

[14] This gate pointed east toward the ancient Persian capital Susa and was said to have been lower than the other gates so that the priests sacrificing the Red Heifer on the Mount of Olives could look directly into the Temple. See Mishnqyoth (Gateshead, England: Judaica Press, 1983, vol. 5), Middoth 511, and David B. Galbraith, D. Kelly Ogden, and Andrew C. Skinner, Jerusalem: The Eternal City (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1996), 189.

[15] Mishnah Parah 3:11.

[16] Baruch A. Levine, Anchor Bible: Numbers 1-20 (New York: Doubleday, 1993), 460.

[17] See Moses 6:59-60, Hebrews 13:11-12, John 6:53-54.

[18] Mishnah Parah 4:1.

[19] Some scholars think Luke was being figurative when writing, "his sweat was as it were great drops of blood." From modern scripture we know it was literal (see Mosiah 3:7, JST Luke 22:44, and D&C 19:18).

[20] John Taylor, The Gospel Kingdom: Selections from the Writings and Discourses of John Taylor, ed. G. Homer Durham (Salt Lake City: Improvement Era, 1941), 116.
 

[21] The Hebrew word parah, translated as cow or heifer, is the feminine form of par, the Hebrew word for bull. The biblical meaning of heifer should not be confused with its modern English meaning, which is a cow that has not yet had a calf. We know that a parah is older than three years, since a calf up to three years of age is an eglah.

[22] It is interesting to note that Yeshua, the name of the Messiah and the Hebrew noun for salvation, is a feminine word.

[23]. Mishnah Farah 3:7.