And on the seventh day he shall purify himself— That is, the person who sprinkled the unclean, as Numbers 19:21.
Such is the law concerning the red heifer, &c. upon which Calmet thus concludes his observations.
We have already remarked, by the way, that the sacrifice of the red heifer was a figure of the passion of Jesus Christ. To be more particular, after Saint Austin and Theodoret: the red heifer, according to them, points out the flesh of Christ, which is taken from an earthly substance. This sacrifice is free from spot and imperfection; to denote the infinite sanctity and innocence of our blessed Lord:—Its sex specifies the infirmity of the flesh wherewith he was clothed. The red colour figures out his passion. The victim was never to have been under the yoke; to signify the liberty with which Jesus Christ suffered humiliations and death, and the power which he possessed of laying down and resuming life when he would. It is Eleazar, not Aaron, who sacrificeth this heifer: which may represent the abrogation of the priesthood in the family of Aaron, to make room for a new and more excellent priesthood. The red heifer is led out of the camp, and wholly consumed by fire: Jesus Christ dies without Jerusalem, Hebrews 13:11-12 and as there was nothing but purity in his adorable person, he offered it whole and entire to his Father; and the heifer consumed by fire, delineates the resurrection and ascension of the Saviour.