Visionary has opened up some interesting and related thoughts in this thread and in the thread “Hebrew mind set”.
Whether or not she realises it (and I assume she does), the two topics are closely related, they draw our attention to some important Scripture, and they may even prove unsettling to some as (if) their implications are investigated in any depth.
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The colour red in Scripture is used to signify a number of things – sin and sinfulness, God's vengeance and chastening (censure, reproach), bloodshed (including warfare). I know of one reference where it arrears to allude to temptation.
As pointed out by Visionary, a heifer is female; and the sacrifice took place in a particular location.
Put the colour, the gender and the location together, and what do we have? A female sacrifice outside the camp, associated with reproach.
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To understand what it all means, we have to adopt a “Hebrew mind set”. And not just that. We must acknowledge that as Paul wrote in Romans 3:1,2:
1 What advantage then hath the Jew? or what profit is there of circumcision?
2 Much every way: chiefly, because that unto them were committed the oracles of God.
Paul wrote under inspiration that in in the days of his apostleship, believers of Jewish background had an advantage (a significant one for the reason he gives) over gentile believers, because
they (the Jews) had an inherent understanding of what God had revealed in the Inspired Hebrew Scriptures; that understanding was not shared by people of non-Jewish background.
Unfortunately, when the gentiles flooded the church and took it over, they launched a campaign to expunge all trace of Jewishness (including the Jewish understanding of the existing God-given Scriptures) from the Christian faith as it then was, and inserted their own philosophies instead. (That is all a matter of record. It can be easily checked out.)
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Let us consider.
Jesus was made a sin offering (often translated “sin”) for us. A sin offering notionally bore the sin and reproach of the one offering it. In Jesus' case, He was a sin offering for mankind - the effectual sin offering that the animal sacrifices had pointed to. He was executed outside Jerusalem (equivalent to the camp).
The church, the Bride of Christ, is notionally female.
The Christian walk is supposed to be one of sacrifice. (Scriptures can be provided if necessary. Modern “Christianity” often teaches otherwise.)
When the writer to the Hebrews (whom I believe to be Paul) wrote in Hebrews 13:12.13
12 Wherefore Jesus also, that he might sanctify the people with his own blood, suffered without the gate.
13 Let us go forth therefore unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach.
he was alluding to the prophetic red heifer sacrifice.
The allusion would have been understood quite naturally by the people to whom he was writing (people of Jewish background). Otherwise he would not have written it that way.
I could go on further, but that will do for now.
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But to stress the general point, I am going to suggest that when, in reply to Peter's question in Matthew 18:21
Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times?
Jesus replied
I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven.
Peter's reaction was, “Of course! That number is so obvious! I should have realised.”
Now if any Reader of this post does not know why, I propose that that is a clear symptom (even if not one of the major ones) of the expunging mentioned above, the effects of which the Christian Church has never recovered from to this day.
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Visionary has been truly visionary in the two particular threads she has started.
However in so doing, she just might have lifted the lid on what some may come to see as a Pandora's box. Especially if people start wondering about the purification aspect, and follow that through.
They will lead the world away from spiritual Egypt and Sodom and towards the promised land. We, gentiles, think we know it all. We do not. We are not the keepers of the oracles. They have had knowledge from the beginning, we have only had the knowledge for 2000 years. There are still some important keys to unlock and they have them, they just need the blinders taken off.