Isaiah opens his book with a shocking picture: God’s people have broken covenant, their rituals are empty, and their hands are stained with blood. Then, in one of the most hopeful verses in all scripture, God invites them:

“Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool” (Isaiah 1:18).

It’s more than poetry. For Isaiah’s audience, these colors were drawn from everyday life, yet carried layers of social, economic, and religious meaning. When we see how Isaiah used them, we understand not only his warning but also the astonishing promise of God’s mercy.