1. Revelation 19:8 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Of what significance is the fact that the bride may dress herself “with fine linen, bright and pure”?

Revelation 19:8 (ESV)

8 it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure” for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

The priests of the Old Testament were to wear linen when they laboured in the tabernacle (God’s presence as he dwelt in the Most Holy Place; see Exodus 28:42; Leviticus 6:10; Leviticus 16:4). Similarly, the seven angels who exited the sanctuary of heaven were “clothed in pure, bright linen” (Revelation 15:4). Passages as these direct us to the fact that those who would be in the presence of God require a mode of dress that reflects purity, as befits God’s holiness. The bride of the Lamb—true and holy God as she knows him to be—dresses herself in a fashion befitting his identity. That dress is not one she herself chose but one her bridegroom has given to her. The fact that she puts this dress on expresses her appreciation for what Christ has obtained for her.