Epistle of Barnabas 8:1-13

¹Now what do you suppose this to be a type of, that a command was given to Israel, that men of the greatest wickedness should offer a heifer, and slay and burn it, and, that then boys should take the ashes, and put these into vessels, and bind round a stick purple wool along with hyssop, and that thus the boys should sprinkle the people, one by one, in order that they might be purified from their sins?

²Consider how He speaks to you with simplicity.

³The calf is Jesus: the sinful men offering it are those who led Him to the slaughter.

⁴But now the men are no longer guilty, are no longer regarded as sinners.

⁵And the boys that sprinkle are those that have proclaimed to us the remission of sins and purification of heart.

⁶To these He gave authority to preach the Gospel, being twelve in number, corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel.

⁷But why are there three boys that sprinkle?

⁸To correspond to Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, because these were great with God.

⁹And why was the wool [placed] upon the wood?

¹⁰Because by wood Jesus holds His kingdom, so that [through the cross] those believing on Him shall live for ever.

¹¹But why was hyssop joined with the wool?

¹²Because in His kingdom the days will be evil and polluted in which we shall be saved, [and] because he who suffers in body is cured through the cleansing efficacy of hyssop.

¹³And on this account the things which stand thus are clear to us, but obscure to them because they did not hear the voice of the Lord.