Shellfish

Scripture references: Exodus 25:4; 26:1; Leviticus 11:9–12; Numbers 15:38; Ezekiel 27:7; Acts 16:14

The clean/unclean boundary, Leviticus 11:9–12, Shellfish, oysters, mussels, clams, scallops, have no fins and no scales. They are excluded from Israel's table. The law is comprehensive: "everything in the seas or the rivers that does not have fins and scales... is detestable to you and to your people." The shellfish of the Mediterranean coast, abundant and available, is excluded by covenant design.

Tekhelet: the holy blue from the unclean creature, Numbers 15:38, YHWH commands Israel: "Speak to the people of Israel, and tell them to make tassels on the corners of their garments throughout their generations, and to put a cord of blue (tekhelet) on the tassel of each corner." The blue cord of tekhelet was required on every Israelite's garment fringes, a daily visible reminder of the commandments. Tekhelet is produced from the Murex trunculus snail, a shellfish, unclean to eat, yet the source of the most sacred color in the covenant community. The snail that could not appear on Israel's table provided the color that appeared on the high priest's breastplate, the tabernacle curtains, and the fringes of every Israelite garment.

The tabernacle blue, Exodus 25:4; 26:1, The tabernacle itself is draped in tekhelet, "blue and purple and scarlet yarns." The ark cover, the veil, the hangings: all incorporate the blue that comes from the Murex snail. The shellfish, excluded from the covenant table, is the source of the color of the covenant sanctuary.

Lydia, the seller of purple, Acts 16:14, When Paul arrives in Philippi, he meets Lydia, "a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God." The purple trade (derived from the same Murex snail family, in a slightly different chemical process) was a major commercial enterprise of the ancient world. Lydia is a Gentile God-fearer whose trade is in the same creature that Israel used for tekhelet. Her heart YHWH opens; she becomes the first European convert. The Murex snail connects the Levitical exclusion and the Gentile mission through the color of the sacred.

The shellfish is excluded from Israel's table, yet the Murex snail (a shellfish) is the source of tekhelet, the most sacred blue of the tabernacle, the high priest's garments, and every Israelite's prayer fringes. The creature that could not be eaten was the source of the color that colored the holy. The Sanctum holds the shellfish as a witness to YHWH's use of what is excluded from one category to consecrate another.