Numbers 19:18
And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave: And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:
A clean person was to take hyssop, dip it in the water of the red-heifer ashes, and sprinkle the tent, all its vessels, the persons present, and anyone defiled by touching a bone, one slain, one dead, or a grave. The sprinkling was not a bodily washing from moral defilement but a figurative, ceremonial rite pointing to cleansing from sin through Christ's blood, by which the unclean are washed, sanctified and justified, and which typified Christ presenting His blood before the Father in the heavenly sanctuary to cleanse from the defilement of sin. Although the sacrifice was made once for all for the whole people, it did not cleanse indiscriminately, but each defiled person had singly to avail himself of the sprinkling, even as Christ tasted death for all yet each sinner must individually receive that provision. The same ashes made the clean one who sprinkled unclean until evening while they cleansed the unclean one sprinkled, because the offering bore both the innocent life of the victim and the imputed sin of the offerer, revealing Christ on the cross made sin as the vilest of sinners yet by His own pure life cleansing sinners. The persons sprinkled show the Hebrew word often translated soul can mean a bodily person rather than a separate immaterial essence.
Words and Ritual Details
The rite provides for purification of those made ceremonially unclean by contact with the dead, with a clean person taking hyssop, dipping it in the water, and sprinkling the tent and everything in it. The sprinkling falls upon the tent itself, upon all its vessels, and upon the people who were present there. It also falls upon anyone who has touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave. This sprinkling after contact with a human corpse or grave addresses ceremonial uncleanness.
The ashes of the burnt red heifer were to be gathered up and carefully treasured for future use. When a man came in contact with any dead carcass he was counted unclean, his body as the Lord's tabernacle was contaminated, and if he remained in that condition he was cut off from God's people. To save him from that calamity, water from a running brook was to be added to a portion of the preserved ashes. This mixture was then to be sprinkled with hyssop upon the unclean person and upon all his belongings which had been affected by contact with him during his uncleanness.
Putting the hyssop into the water by dipping is distinguished from the subsequent sprinkling, so the two actions are not interchangeable. The Hebrew word for the sprinkling is nah-zah, which means to sprinkle and does not include the idea of immersion. The Hebrew word neh-phesh, often translated soul, is here rendered persons for those present and sprinkled, showing it can refer to a person rather than a separate immaterial soul.
Cleansing Typified in Christ
The sprinkling with hyssop was not a physical washing nor a cleansing from moral defilement, but a figurative, ceremonial rite for uncleanness after contact with a corpse or grave that pointed to cleansing through Christ's blood. It is a type of cleansing from sin through Christ, in which those made unclean are washed and sanctified and justified in the name of the Lord Jesus. The sprinkling of the water containing the red heifer's ashes upon tent, vessels, and persons was repeated until they were purified, typifying Christ presenting His blood before the Father in the heavenly sanctuary to cleanse from the defilement of sin. The hyssop used in the rite represents the lowest degree of Christ's nature, which together with the cedar representing its highest degree portrays Christ the Son of God taking human flesh and blood. The same ashes cleanse the unclean person sprinkled yet defile the clean person who sprinkles, who must wash his clothes and is unclean until evening, because the offering carries both the innocent life of the victim and the imputed sinful life of the offerer, so that the blood can convey defilement to the sanctuary and at the same time cleanse the sinner, revealing Christ on the cross made sin and suffering as the vilest of sinners yet by His own pure life cleansing sinners such as the thief.
Although the red-heifer sacrifice was made once for all for the whole people, it did not purify indiscriminately, but the sprinkling of the ash-water with hyssop upon the unclean person and all affected by him provided individual cleansing from personal impurity, meaning Christ tasted death for all yet each defiled person must singly avail himself of that provision to be freed. The water represents the washing of water by the Word, the same mode of cleansing David asks for when he asks to be purged with hyssop and washed whiter than snow. Since touching a dead body represents sin and death, the sprinkling cleansing represents being quickened when dead through trespasses and sins, quickened together with Christ by grace.
Purification here was made with water and hyssop rather than blood because the defilement came from misfortune, sickness, accidents, and other fleshly causes connected with contact with the dead, not from sin. This is an exception to the typical rule of purification by blood, and it does not conflict with the teaching that forgiveness of sin requires shedding of blood. The earthly sprinkling of the water mixed with the heifer's ashes upon the defiled sanctified unto the cleanness of the flesh and did not take place in the second apartment, the holy of holies. Its place in the argument for Christ as high priest of the greater and more perfect tabernacle shows His ministry covers the service of the heavenly sanctuary as a whole, not the special work of the most holy place alone.
Doctrine and Daily Application
A person is an intelligent individual having a body, shape and form. A clean person taking hyssop, dipping it in water, and sprinkling the tent, the vessels and the persons present shows that a person is one who acts with the body and can be sprinkled in the body. The word never means an immaterial, intangible, shapeless, formless essence, and in no case means a being without body, parts and passions, so God being a person means God has an organized shape, form and body.
The instruction forbids pressing lips against the dead and requires avoiding defiling contact with a corpse, a bone, one slain, or a grave. The spirit of the ceremonial laws given to Israel is directly against superstitious ceremonies that require kissing the dead. Those laws are the best code of health laws in the world, and following them prevents disease such as tuberculosis spread by contact with the dead.