THE LOWDOWN ON LINEN

"What’s linen from?” asked a friend who’d read in the Old Testament about priestly garments of linen. I knew it’s made from flax, but had questions myself!  I learned it’s a flowering grass with white or delicate blue blossoms that grows in about three months to three or four feet high. Today it’s valued for its seeds, fiber, and oils (linseed oil, used as a wood preservative).

In ancient times, the stalks were uprooted and left in the field to dry in the sun. Then they were immersed in water and crushed to beat out fibers which were pulled and twisted into thread. Finally, they were woven into a cloth comfortable in hot and humid climates.

The modern linen I saw at a local fabric store had been blended with cotton to cut down on wrinkles. As I fingered it, I thought of the remarkable ancient craftsmanship that transformed a grass into everyday products.  One source said that besides regular clothing and priestly garments, it was used for nets and measuring lines. At life’s end, linen strips wrapped corpses.

The linen used for priestly garments was sun-bleached as white as possible. The basic garment was a tunic (Lev. 8:7), then came robes dyed in brilliant colors, a turban and extras like bells and breastplates. Each had a symbolic purpose. 

Clerical attire has certainly changed since Bible times, although ministers in some denominations with centuries-old roots still wear special robes to lead worship. Growing up in a liturgical church, I didn’t question how “Sunday-best” was the dress code. It was a matter of respect in coming before a holy God. Similarly in Old Testament times, the Levitical dress-code beginning with a white linen tunic expressed their respect in coming before a holy God.

Psalm 96, which addresses worship, continually mentions "ascribing" to God His worship-worthy attributes, such as His splendor, glory, majesty and strength. Verse 9 remarks, "Worship the LORD in the splendor of His holiness." Of this verse, the late theologian Dr. William McDonald remarked: “The mention of holy garments reminds us that even the clothes we wear when we worship the Lord should be appropriate to the occasion. While it may be true that reverence is primarily a matter of the heart, it is also true that we can express our reverence by our attire.” (1)

The analogy doesn’t end there. The apostle Paul explained that God clothes the repentant sinner with His righteousness—as symbolized by the white linen (2 Corinthians 5:21). When Christ comes again, He will clothe His people with garments of glory: “By the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body” (Philippians 3:21).

The book of Revelation tells of white-robed saints in heaven. Will those robes be made of linen? I don’t think so, because Heaven will be a new and different realm. Yet God saw fit to provide us “earthlings” with a crop—a product of the land—that suggests far more than something to clothe us. The process of making thread to be woven into fabric, requires being crushed and beaten. And that takes me to the Lord Jesus:  “He was crushed for our iniquities” (Isaiah 52:7).

God doesn’t waste a thing, and that includes the still-to-be-discovered truths symbolized by a simple crop: flax, made into linen.

1. Dr. William McDonald, Believer’s Bible Commentary (Nelson, 1985), p.696.