In Exodus 39, the work of the tabernacle is finished, but not before the priestly garments are made. They are made with that twined linen used in the tabernacle, of gold, blue, purple, and scarlet.

My husband and I had the “three-strand cord” as the theme for our wedding. It’s a verse from Ecclesiastes about how a three-strand cord is not easily broken or quickly torn apart.

Twined linen means these threads are twisted about each other. In these colors, I see the symbolism of marriage with God in the center. The scarlet is red, and red and blue make the purple, the two becoming one. And the gold of course is our holy, perfect God.

When God is intertwined with our lives, it gives strength to our lives. When intertwined with our marriage, it gives strength to our marriage.

Our marriage has been tried. But the Lord has been my refuge and has not only kept us together but grown us so close. Our marriage is a huge blessing to us. We’ve had people we don’t know come up to us in the community and tell us what an inspiration our marriage is to them! All they see is us out and about together.

How does that happen? When I was letting my heart grow cold and hard towards my husband, the Lord melted it and poured out His love in my heart until I knew I did love my husband.

When I was keeping a count of wrongs done by my husband, the Lord reminded me that my debt was paid by Christ and so was my husband’s, so my husband had no debt he owed me.

He worked in each of our hearts to love and serve each other purely because we knew our needs are met in Christ and not in each other.

Our beautiful marriage is just a hint of the goodness of the perfect unity we have and will have with Christ. It will be the perfect marriage of Christ and the Church, and we will be the one body of Christ we were always intended to be.