A Scarlet Thread runs throughout the Word of God, but in the New Testament it becomes more than just a thread; it turns into the Cross, a Scarlet Rope that no power can break, a Rope offered to all mankind throughout the earth for escape from a life of sin…the Scarlet Thread. To see how this thread of life has been woven throughout the Old Testament thrills me beyond words! What a steep price was paid to turn that Scarlet Thread into a mighty Cable that could rescue whosoever-will! By turning into a cross, the Scarlet Thread became deliverance for us. We glory in the Cross!

In Joshua 2:18, we read of the harlot Rahab and the two spies sent by Joshua to spy out the Promised Land, the Land of Canaan. Jericho, where Rahab lived, was a walled city shut up; but somehow the spies were able to enter. Rahab took them in. The king of Jericho knew the spies had entered her house; but she hid them, saying they had already gone. Why? God had dealt with her heart. She told the spies: I know that the LORD hath given you the land, and that your terror is fallen upon us, and that all the inhabitants of the land faint because of you. For we have heard how the LORD dried up the water of the Red sea for you, when ye came out of Egypt; and what ye did…And as soon as we had heard these things, our hearts did melt, neither did there remain any more courage in any man, because of you: for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath. Now therefore, I pray you, swear unto me by the LORD, since I have shewed you kindness, that ye will also shew kindness unto my father’s house, and GIVE ME A TRUE TOKEN: and that ye will save alive my father, and my mother, and my brethren, and my sisters, and all that they have, and deliver our lives from death (Joshua 2:9-13).

And the men answered her, Our life for yours, if ye utter not this our business. And it shall be, when the LORD hath given us the land, that we will deal kindly and truly with thee. Behold, when we come into the land, thou shalt bind this line of SCARLET THREAD in the window which thou didst let us down by…And it shall be, that whosoever shall go out of the doors of thy house into the street, his blood shall be upon his head, and we will be guiltless: and whosoever shall be with thee in the house, his blood shall be on our head, if any hand be upon him (Joshua 2:14,18,19). Because she had protected the spies, asking that the lives of herself and her family be spared, Rahab also requested a true token of the real thing, something she could depend upon to save her household. A scarlet rope was going to save her. “The scarlet rope that you lower us down by,” the spies told her, “hang over the wall. When we attack, those who see that scarlet rope will pass over you; we guarantee it.” Nothing to protect her but the scarlet rope…Rahab put her trust in it; we have nothing to protect us but the Scarlet Rope of the blood of Jesus. There is nothing like the blood of Jesus! Nothing will protect you from the powers of darkness, nothing will wash away your sins but the blood of Jesus. The Scarlet Thread/Rope is vital throughout the Word of God.

Rehab put all of her trust, all of her faith in a scarlet rope. You must put faith in the blood of Jesus before it can cleanse you from all your sins. There is no life outside the blood. Rahab felt secure in her promise. Thank God for people today who are saying they want the real thing; they want nothing to do with “hand-shake” religion. Away with lip-service Christianity, away with formalities that do not change the heart! Oh, for people who cry out, “I want the blood of Jesus to wash away all my sins; I want the power in the blood of Jesus to cleanse me and to make me whole! I know that I will never be clean until the blood washes me. Then I will be clean, pure enough to live in God’s Heaven as the eternal ages roll!”

Thank God for the blood of Jesus! I love the blood, and I love to sing the songs about the blood. My soul is thrilled within me, and my soul shouts the praises of the Lamb of God. How did I get victory in Jesus? Through the blood, the Scarlet Thread.

Yes, the Scarlet Thread worked when it was hung out of Rahab’s window. Rehab and her family were saved from destruction. No doubt she had been a very wicked woman. The self-righteous thought God would have nothing to do with her, that God wouldn’t rescue her; but I have news for them: The blood that stained the Old Rugged Cross will work for anyone and everyone who wants it no matter how deep in sin. The blood of Jesus, the Scarlet Rope, reaches all the way down into the gutter to bring out the honest heart who wants deliverance.

Where did the Scarlet Thread originate? The Garden of Eden. Man had sinned; now he was in grave danger, separated from fellowship with his God. He needed help to find his way. How long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden before they fell, we do not know. The Bible does not tell us, but we do know death was foreign to them. What could God do? The Lord killed an animal, shed the blood of an animal. Until that time there had been no blood shed in the Garden of Eden. Now an animal was slain; the Lord took the skin of the animal and dressed Adam and Eve, covering their nakedness. As we look at the blood flowing from that dead animal, we see the beginning of the Scarlet Thread, blood that was type of the blood of Jesus to be spilled many years later for our protection so there would be a cover over our nakedness in the eyes of God. Man had tried to cover himself after he sinned; he sewed fig leaves together, but without shedding of blood is no remission (Hebrews 9:22). Without the shedding of blood, man has no covering to blot out his sins from the sight of God. The blood of the Son of God is the only way the sins of man could be washed away.

Follow the Scarlet thread, notice it carefully, appreciate its value, recognize the marvelous redemption God has provided us at such a horrendous cost to Him. We see Abraham with the Scarlet Thread on Mount Moriah where he went to sacrifice his beloved son. Isaac was bound, laid on the altar and the knife raised to take his life; but then the angel of the Lord intervened, saying, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any thing unto him: for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast not withheld thy son, thine only son from me (Genesis 22:12). Abraham lifted his eyes and saw a ram caught in the thicket—a ram provided by God—and Abraham offered that ram in place of his son. We see the blood flowing from Abraham’s sacrifice—the Scarlet Thread, blood that took the place of the blood of his own son. The blood of the ram became his protection—think about it! The Scarlet Thread—it was just a token of what was to come. To Abraham the Scarlet Thread meant the life was saved of one he loved more dearly than his own life. His eyes shining with joy and delight, his arms raised in praise and glory to God, Abraham worshiped God for sending the ram, for providing an animal. When Isaac had said to Abraham his father, Behold the fire and the wood: but where is the lamb for a burnt offering (verse 7)? Abraham had answered, My son, God will provide himself a lamb (verse 8). Prophetic words, indeed! God will provide. Yes, God did provide the sacrifice for Abraham, and one day He provided a sacrifice to end all sacrifices: Jesus His Only Begotten Son, a sacrifice to cover you, to cover me. God shed the blood; Jesus allowed His blood to be shed so we could have our deliverance from all sin, that our sins would be washed away. Precious is the blood of Jesus!

As I look to men, women, boys and girls today and see the blood of Jesus through faith applied to their hearts, I know their sins are gone. The angel of eternal spiritual death has passed over them, and eternal life awaits them.

Tracing the Scarlet Thread from the fall of man across the ages down to the Cross of Calvary, we find that it showed up in Egypt in a great way. The Lord told the Israelites to slay a lamb, to put the blood on the doorpost. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt (Exodus 12:13). God’s people were in severe bondage, the death angel went through Egypt that night, and if the blood did not appear on the doorposts, the firstborn in each family died. Only the blood could save them, the Scarlet Thread. Look at it, recognize the marvelous protection in its power! How sad on that dark, dark night in Egypt so long ago to have seen those doorposts with no blood applied, no protection from the eternal death about to strike. Great sorrow lay just ahead. Why wouldn’t the people listen; why wouldn’t they reach out for the Scarlet Thread? The Scarlet Thread would protect them. Why didn’t they take it? That night death struck the unprotected, but the death angel passed over every door that displayed the Scarlet Thread. When you have the blood of Jesus applied to your heart, you have nothing to fear, nothing to worry about. However if “handshake” religion is all you know, you are unprotected from eternal damnation. Without the shedding of blood there’s no remission of sin.

I see many who do not recognize the power in the blood of Jesus, but I glory in that wonder-working power in the blood of the Lamb! Thank God for the blood of Jesus that stained the Old Rugged Cross, the blood that made possible our deliverance!

We find the Scarlet Thread bringing deliverance again in the form of a tree. After the Israelites had seen the Lord part the waters of the Red Sea for their escape from Egyptian bondage, they crossed over only to find themselves in the wilderness. And when they came to Marah, they could not drink of the waters of Marah, for they were bitter: therefore the name of it was called Marah. And the people murmured against Moses, saying, What shall we drink? And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet (Exodus 15:23-25). The tree was a token of the Cross—the Scarlet Thread—that brought life. The blood of Jesus sweetens the waters of life. Remember the bitterness we had in our hearts and lives before we found the Scarlet Thread in the form of the Old Rugged Cross? Suddenly, that Cross removed the bitterness from our lives and gave us sweetness. Thank God for the Scarlet Thread; thank God for the Old Rugged Cross!

We find the Scarlet Thread raised up again for deliverance when the Israelites were dying by the thousands after they had been bitten by fiery serpents. No cure, no help was available. It was a time of tragedy in the history of Israel. The Lord spoke to Moses: Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live (Numbers 21:8). The Scarlet Thread appears here in the form of a cross, a pole; a token of Jesus being cursed on the tree for you and me. The people only had to fix their eyes steadily upon the Scarlet Thread. He that looketh upon it shall live. Looketh means to look and to continue to look. You cannot just glance at Jesus; you must look and continue to look as you trust in His blood, in His Name. The dying Israelites looked and lived.

You think you cannot be healed? Then you do not know the power of Calvary, the power of Jesus, the power in the blood. Nothing could help the Israelites until they looked to the serpent of brass on a tree, a token of Christ on the Cross, and instantly they were made well.

Look to the blood today, the blood that stained the Old Rugged Cross; and no power can stand before you.

On and on the Scarlet Thread weaves throughout the Bible until at last we see a manger in an ox stall. Oh dear God, there lies the One who will provide the Scarlet Rope for all mankind to be rescued, the One who will supply the Scarlet Rope that one day will put Lucifer into the bottomless pit! In Revelation 20:1,2, this Scarlet Thread is called a chain. And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years. The Scarlet Thread, the Scarlet Rope, the blood of Jesus will bind Lucifer. One angel will do it—that’s how much power is in the blood of Jesus—one angel with one chain of Scarlet Thread.

At last we see Jesus hanging on Calvary, Jesus the Son of God. He’s been nailed to a tree—oh, the suffering! But wait…see the blood flowing down? It’s the Scarlet Thread turned into a Scarlet Rope. No power can break that power; no power can overcome it. Each child of God can take that power for protection just like Job. Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? the devil asked God (Job 1:10). What was that hedge? The Scarlet Thread. Yes, the Scarlet Thread is a hedge of protection from the devil. He doesn’t dare put his hand into the blood of Jesus. He cannot cross the blood line. How can you be sure you’re saved, how can you be sure you’re going to Heaven? By knowing the power that’s in the blood of Jesus, and by knowing the devil cannot cross the blood line. He cannot step over the threshold of the blood line into your soul. All the power of Heaven is in the blood of Jesus.

We’ll be praising God the rest of this life and through all eternity for the blood of Jesus. Our first march around the throne of God will be a march of praise for the blood. Waving the blood-stained banner, we’ll be thanking God for the blood. Many looked upon that Cross and saw only a man dying, but others looked and beheld the Son of God.

What do you see today when you gaze upon the Cross? Do you see Jesus the Son of the living God giving His life’s blood for you? If so, redemption is yours—if you will accept His sacrifice. For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins (Matthew 26:28). When the blood is preached, sinners are washed, cleansed. Do you attend a church that preaches the blood, or do you find the blood-message distasteful? The blood is your only hope of Heaven; only the blood-message holds remission of sin and will cleanse you from all your sins.

In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:7). How do we have redemption? Through the blood.

Ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold…But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot (I Peter 1:18,19). “Precious is thy flow that made me white as snow! No other fount I know—nothing but the blood of Jesus!” The blood songs are wonderful, indeed!

The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin (I John 1:7). Nothing but the blood can cleanse.

Jesus Christ…washed us from our sins in his own blood (Revelation 1:5). In His own blood He washed us! Thank God for the blood of Jesus!

Do you have the blood applied to your heart? Are you a new creature in Christ Jesus? Those of you who say you cannot live free from sin do not have the blood-message or the blood applied. When the blood washes away all your sins, you have none. Why would you commit more sins after you have been forgiven of the ones you committed in the past? You confessed them. You wanted to be rid of them; they had ruined your life, almost totally destroyed you. Now you think you must commit just a few more?

The Bible says that he that committeth sin is of the devil (I John 3:8). If you are committing sin you will not enter Heaven. Some, however, have made themselves an “extra door” into Heaven. They have rationalized away the Word of God, convincing themselves that they can live in sin without paying the penalty. Christ paid the penalty for you through His blood; the Scarlet Rope is your only way of escape from this world of sin. There are no side doors to Heaven. Jesus is the only door. I am the way, He said. I am the door. The way to escape paying that penalty for sin is by accepting only the blood of Jesus, the Scarlet Rope.

Because of the blood of Jesus, we can say no to the devil, we can be upright in all our ways; we can hold holy conversations. No longer need we live in sin. We’re covered with the blood; the blood has cleansed us, washed us. We’ve had a blood-bath, and we’re pure, clean and holy. Sin contaminates; and if you sin, you’re contaminated and cannot enter Heaven.

Have you sinned? Get back to God. You think you cannot backslide? That isn’t what the Bible teaches. Do you believe “once in grace, always in grace”? That’s false doctrine—unless you live holy and do not sin. You cannot commit sin and still go to Heaven even thou you were saved at one time. Some swear, drink, lie, cheat and commit adultery and fornication and still believe they will go to Heaven because at one time they were saved. They’re going straight to hell, and they need the blood applied to their hearts. Committing only one sin destroys your salvation, but if you have backslidden there is forgiveness when you sincerely repent and are determined to never sin again. This thing of people sinning and then asking for forgiveness with every intention of committing the sin again—and expecting to be forgive again—will not work with God. There is no sincerity in that. God knows the heart; He knows whether you love Him or prefer deceit. The devil never told a bigger falsehood than that a person cannot backslide, that a person cannot fall from grace. All sin will be cast into hell.

If you do not believe a literal burning hell awaits the sinner, just take a look at the suffering God allowed His Son to endure on Calvary. Never would He have gone through all that if there weren’t a literal burning hell awaiting mankind that only Jesus could save us from by the spilling of blood. Jesus gave His precious life’s blood—we’re not redeemed with silver and gold the Bible tells us but with the blood of Jesus. For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast (Ephesians 2:8,9). Entering Heaven does not depend on how much you give to the Lord but on your obedience. You will be rewarded for your giving, but you will not be saved by it; and you will not be saved through your works.

A missionary who had worked years and years for the Lord said on her death bed: “I’m going home! I’m not going home on my works but on the blood of the Lamb!” She had preached the message, and it lived in her heart. The message of life, the blood-message, is the only message with eternal life, the only message that can guarantee eternal life. Water baptism is important, but you must be cleansed through the blood of Jesus before you are eligible for it. If you haven’t confessed your sins, seen them washed away in the blood of the Lamb, there is no need for water baptism; it would be meaningless. God sees no difference between a dry sinner and a wet one. Both will go to hell. Water will not wash away your sins, only the blood of Jesus can do that.

Trace the Scarlet Thread and then see it turn into a mighty Scarlet Rope for the deliverance of all mankind as Jesus paid the supreme price on Calvary. Then you can cry rejoicing: “What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus!”

Jesus brought the message of deliverance: You can be set free! The blood-message…the world scoffs at it, intellectuals think they’re above it, but anyone who wants it must climb. No one is above it; many have found they were in the gutter all the time—you can be in the gutter and not know it.

Perhaps you are a good moral person, well-adjusted—but if you don’t have the blood of Jesus in your soul, you’re just as lost and undone without God as the alcoholic or drug addict. The Lord will deliver you through the power in the blood. Why not let the Lord set you free? Pray with me now:

Oh, God, I want to be free! Set me free! I confess all of my sins, and I confess Jesus as Lord, Master and Savior. I believe there’s power in the blood of Jesus to wash away all my sins. I believe that my sins are washed away right now through His precious blood, and I believe that I am saved! Come on in Jesus; come on in! If you meant it, He has come. Feel His presence, His Spirit flowing as the blood of Jesus, that precious Scarlet Rope, becomes your lifeline to eternal life. There is power, power, wonder-working power in the blood of Jesus. Thank God for the blood!