Red symbolizes sin that flows from our flesh like blood. Red especially represents the hateful, murderous passions that often result in spilling of blood. Red is the color of profane Esau (Gen. 25:25) and the pottage for which he traded his birthright (Gen. 25:30). Red is the color of passions stirred up by wine when it is red, sparkles in the cup, and goes down smoothly (Prov. 23:31). Red is the unstoppable warhorse that gallops throughout history with its rider who takes peace from the earth so men kill each another (Rev. 6:4). Because he represents the hatred of Satan, that murderer from the beginning, the Antichrist, is pictured as a great red dragon (Rev. 12:3). Red is also a picture of God’s wrath against sin. In the hand of the Lord there is a cup of red wine that He pours out, and the wicked shall drink its dregs (Ps. 75:8). Soon He comes from Bozrah with red garments stained with blood from treading the winepress in His fury (Is. 63:3).
God not only created red with light but made it the first color of the spectrum. This gives red surprising visibility, so that it is used to stain, mark, and set things apart, as when Rahab’s house was designated for salvation by a scarlet thread (Josh. 2:18). It also teaches that we first see Christ the Light as red, being redeemed and made nigh by His blood (Eph. 2:13). We might find it shocking today, but in the Old Testament God prominently decorated His church with red. The entire ceiling of the tabernacle was dyed bright red, and scarlet was prominently woven into all the fabrics—walls, veil, door, and ephod—a picture that the red stain of sin is removed and fellowship with God is enjoyed only by violent shedding of Christ’s blood under His fiery wrath (Ex. 26:14; Ex. 28:1ff.). God has so done. As symbolized by an Old Testament ceremony, God took His red heifer outside the camp, slew Him, and sprinkled His blood on the church of His covenant (Num. 19). Therefore, though your sins be as scarlet, they are white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they are as wool (Is. 1:18). … Red. For those redeemed and given boldness to enter into the holy place by the blood of Christ, red is a lovely, beautiful color. ~ Rev. W. Langerak
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