Striped Sheep in Genesis 30 Foreshadow Jesus
Isaiah Describes Jesus as “Striped”
Isaiah prophetically described Jesus when he wrote:
“He was pierced for our transgressions and crushed for our iniquities. The discipline needed for our correction fell on Him. By his stripes [bruises, wounds] we are healed.”
—Isaiah 53:5
I always thought that “striped” was a weird way to describe Jesus, but after recently reading Genesis 30, I saw a cool connection.
Jacob Took the Striped Lambs
In Genesis 30 Jacob decided to leave his uncle Laban’s farm that he’d been working on so he build up his own wealth. He approached Laban and proposed that Jacob could keep all the animals that were striped, speckled, spotted, and black, while Laban could keep the white ones. (Interestingly enough, Laban’s name literally means “white.”)
Later on, God asked His people to make sure all the lambs they sacrificed to Him were “spotless.” So maybe Jacob was generously offering to take the less desirable animals when he volunteered to take the striped one.
Jesus Came from Jacob
Since Jacob was one of Jesus’s ancestors, I thought it was cool how he took the striped lambs when Jesus would be described as both striped and a sacrificial lamb.
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