The Hidden Connection between the Shophar and the Red Heifer

The Hidden Connection between the Shophar and the Red Heifer – David Wills

Some have stated that the Red Heifer is a pointer to Jesus and interestingly one can see the deeper connection by taking a closer look at the Hebrew word for Heifer as used in Numbers 19:2  פָּרָה (Pharah). Hidden in this word is a pointer to another word – שׁוֹפָר (Shophar) that in english versions of the bible is translated as Trumpet.

Importantly, Hebrew constructs words from 3 consonants and then adds prefixes and suffixes to it, noting the vowels are a modern addition to help people pronounce the words and to help differentiate words that may have the same consonants. As such, it is common to find words that contain two or three of the same root consonants to either carry a similar meaning or be connected in some way.

From this perspective, it is worth noting that words for Heifer and Shophar (or Shofar  - alternate spelling) or the Trumpet, share two of the root consonants as follows:

Heifer - פָּרָה (Pharah).

Shophar / Trumpet – שׁוֹפָר (Shophar)

The Hebrew word פָּר (Phar) is actually the word for the sacrificial Ox seen in several places throughout the Old Testament. From this we can see that the word for the special Trumpet in the bible known as the Shophar carries within its construction the same word that is used for both the sacrificial Ox and the sacrificial Red Heifer (that is required to cleanse the priests, who would make the sacrifices on the behalf of the people in the temple).

 The Shofar, that is better known as the Ram’s horn, first appears in scripture in Exodus 19:16 in direct reference to when God’s people who had just been rescued from slavery in Egypt (a picture of the world) were about to meet their God.

¹⁶ Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. ¹⁷ And Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. Exodus 19:16-17 (NKJV)

Significantly, the Shofar was a special Trumpet made from a Ram’s horn, as opposed to the other ceremonial ones that were fashioned from silver. As such, it brings to mind the account of Abraham and Isaac on mount Moriah when Abraham was prevented from sacrificing his son, as God had provided a substitutionary sacrifice that was a picture of Him sacrificing His own Son (Yeshua / Jesus) in our place. This was all symbolised by God providing a Ram that was caught by its horns in a Thicket, a picture both of man being entangled in Sin (noting that thorns were a symbol of the fall and the curse) and of God’s sacrifice of His son in our place.

Importantly, as you take a closer look at the Hebrew word for Shophar / Trumpet – שׁוֹפָר (Shophar) we see that the word for Heifer is prefixed with two other letters, the שֹ (Shin) and the ו (Vav). The letter Shin שֹ is actually the one letter that many Jews put on the Door Posts of their home, as a symbol of God Almighty, or El Shaddai and the letter Vav ו represents a nail that joins two things together and is also used as such grammatically, with it often being translated as ‘and’ , as it connected two phrases together.

From this understanding, we can now see the deeper significance hidden  in the construction of the word for the Trumpet (Shophar / Shofar) that would first be seen in scripture when it was announcing God’s presence with His people at Mount Sinai (when it was sounded in Exodus 19) – Through the use of the Shophar / Shofar God was literally telling us that El Shaddai, God Almighty represented by the letter Shin שֹ was connecting Himself as symbolised by the Letter Vav ו by being nailed to the cross in our place to become the sacrifice, as represented by the word for Heifer (Phar – pronounced as far) פָר that is included in the word  - שׁוֹפָר remembering that Hebrew is written from right to left.

So when God first appeared to the Israelites on Mount Sinai, which means the Mount of Thorns (a symbol of the curse of sin) that is also known as Mount Horeb, which means Wilderness, and the Shophar (Ram’s horn) was blown, He was reminding all of the people that He was making a way for them back to Him by literally becoming the sacrifice for their Sin.

Man because of Sin had been expelled from the Garden of Eden (Paradise), going out to the East into the Wilderness to be separated from God’s presence, but in an awesome display of Love and Grace God come out to the East into the wilderness, a place of Thorns, to rescue us by making a way for mankind to come back into relationship with Him, never to be separated again, by becoming the perfect sacrifice in our place. In this way, any who would put their Trust in Him and in His Sacrifice that was fulfilled in Jesus would be saved from the curse of sin and its resultant death.