2 This is the statute of the law which Jehovah hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without blemish, wherein is no defect, and upon which never came yoke; 3 and ye shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring it outside the camp, and one shall slaughter it before him. 4 And Eleazar the priest shall take of its blood with his finger, and shall sprinkle of its blood directly before the tent of meeting seven times. 5 And one shall burn the heifer before his eyes; its skin and its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall he burn. 6 And the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the burning of the heifer. 7 And the priest shall wash his garments, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterwards he shall come into the camp; and the priest shall be unclean until the even; 8 and he that hath burned it shall wash his garments in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even. 9 And a clean man shall gather the ashes of the heifer, and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the assembly of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 19:2-9
Commentary on Numbers 19:1-10
(Read Numbers 19:1-10)
The heifer was to be wholly burned. This typified the painful sufferings of our Lord Jesus, both in soul and body, as a sacrifice made by fire, to satisfy God's justice for man's sin. These ashes are said to be laid up as a purification for sin, because, though they were only to purify from ceremonial uncleanness, yet they were a type of that purification for sin which our Lord Jesus made by his death. The blood of Christ is laid up for us in the word and sacraments, as a fountain of merit, to which by faith we may have constant recourse, for cleansing our consciences.