Today's verse comes from the Book of Numbers. God commands Israel to attach fringes to their garments. Tassels with a blue cord remind wearers to obey every commandment.
A woman sits on the dirt floor of her home, twisting fine white wool threads between her fingers. She binds them into knots, forming a tassel. From a small clay pot she pulls a single strand dyed deep blue, threaded from the gland of a murex snail. She weaves this blue cord through the white knots. She ties the finished tassel to the corner of her wool cloak, then repeats the process on the other three corners. When she stands and throws the cloak over her shoulders, the tassels hang past her hips. They swing against her legs as she walks.
Numbers 15:38-39 commands Israelites to wear fringes with a blue cord on their garments. This helps them remember and obey every commandment. Deuteronomy 22:12 requires twisted tassels on the four corners of their cloaks. Matthew 9:20 tells of a woman touching the hem of the garment of Jesus. His garment bore the required tassels. Matthew 23:5 shows him criticizing scribes and Pharisees. They made their tassels too large to show off in public.
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