Joshua 2:15-21

Joshua 2:15-21

[15] Then she let them down  by a cord  through  the window:  for her house  was upon the town  wall,  and she dwelt  upon the wall.  [16] And she said  you to the mountain,  lest the pursuers  meet  you; and hide  yourselves there three  days,  until the pursuers  be returned:  and afterward  your way.  [17] said  unto her, We will be blameless  of this thine oath  which thou hast made us swear.  [18] 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 thou shalt bring  thy father,  and thy mother,  and thy brethren,  and all thy father's  household,  unto thee. [19] 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. [20] And if thou utter  this our business,  then we will be quit  of thine oath  which thou hast made us to swear.  [21] And she said,  According unto your words,  so be it. And she sent them away,  and she bound  the scarlet  line  in the window. 

What does Joshua 2:15-21 Mean?

Contextual Meaning

The spies gave their solemn promise to spare Rahab and her household but specified three conditions that Rahab had to meet.
1.She had to make her home known to the Israelites when they attacked ( Joshua 2:18).2.She had to assemble her family into her home before the battle ( Joshua 2:18).3.She had to keep the mission of the spies a secret ( Joshua 2:20; Joshua 2:14).
The cord Rahab was to hang out of her window and over the town wall-her house stood on the wall ( Joshua 2:15)-was scarlet in color ( Joshua 2:15; Joshua 2:18). Archaeologists have discovered houses within the ruined walls of ancient Jericho. [1] Its unusual color would have marked Rahab"s house for the Israelites. The color had symbolic significance, too, since red recalls blood and vigorous life.
"In the preaching of the Christian church, all the way back to Clement of Rome ..., this has been taken as a sign of the blood of Christ, the Lamb." [2]
There is no Scriptural statement that the cord is a type, however.
"It answered, therefore, the same purpose with the blood sprinkled upon the door-posts in Egypt, which secured the first-born from the destroying angel." [3]
God spared the lives of Rahab and her household because of her faith. Any of Rahab"s relatives that would have gathered with her before the Israelite siege would have done so because of their faith in God"s promise through the spies. If they had no faith they would have stayed in their own homes. Thus the deliverance of Rahab and her family depended on believing a promise from God. Salvation always depends on believing a promise from God (cf. Genesis 15:6; John 3:16; et al.).