In the Bible, the word linen occurs 104 times in 90 verses, and the word flax occurs 11 times in 10 verses. Flax is the plant that is processed to make the fabric linen. The flowers from flax plants are a pure pale blue, a priesthood color found in the Old Testament. The High Priest wore a blue priesthood robe each day he worked within the Tabernacle or House of the LORD, switching to a white linen robe on one day only, “the Day of Atonement”, the most holy of all holy days on God’s Bible calendar. Flax flowers are 15–25 mm in diameter, with 5 petals, a number tied to life, covenant-making, and the grace of Christ in scripture. In addition to white, other flax flower colors include those of the Tabernacle veil, blue, purple, and scarlet.

Flax was such an important crop that Bible prophets mention its destruction five different times in scripture, including during the first Passover in Exodus (see Ex. 9; Isa. 19:19, 42:3; Hosea 2:9 & Matt. 12:20). This is because it was considered a common, staple commodity along with wool, bread, oil, etc.

The straw that the Israelites used to make bricks, in their slavery to the Egyptians, was that of the flax plant. It featured a strong crystalline structure for the clay bricks.

Linen was the preferred fabric for kings and priests in the Middle East anciently, including that for underwear, bed sheets, and burial clothing. At the time of the Prophet Ezekiel, fine linen was being exported from Egypt and Syria (Ezek. 27). Linen underscored comfort, naturalness, health, and wellbeing. It retains a smooth surface with a mat luster and feels pleasant to the touch. The more linen is washed the softer and smoother it becomes.

Royalty in Egypt, Israel, and Persia (Esther 1 & 8) made use of linen for garments, bedding, and décor. The tombs of the Pharaohs in Egypt show that linen was used for burial cloth, and flax seeds were considered crucial to the afterlife and thus found in tombs. Colorful walls in Egyptian temples had paintings on them of the flowering flax. Egyptian mummies were embalmed using strips of linen cloth. And like Israelite priests and kings, Egyptian kings and queens wore mostly linen as it was considered a symbol of purity. The Biblical account of Joseph in Egypt shows that he wore fine linen garments and was embalmed (mummified) with linen strips of cloth after his death (Gen. 41-42 & 50). In The New Testament Both were wrapped in linen strips or bands at their burial, rather than a sheet like covering. Christ and Lazarus were “bound” hand, foot, and face with “grave clothes”. Our LORD Jesus was released from death by Father and His own power, and specifically from the binding strips or bands of white linen wrapped tightly around Him. In similar manner the LORD Yeshua loosed the bands of death that held Lazarus captive (see John 11:44), making him “free indeed” (John 8:36).

Linen had several ancient uses beyond clothing, including wicks (light) for candles (Matt. 12:2). Some Jewish sources note that priests used portions of their worn linen garments, tearing them into strips as wicks for candles (see Isaiah 42). The ancient measuring tool known as the plumbline was made of flax. It was used for measure (a form of judgment) in Ezekiel 40:3. The English words line, linear, and lineage are from the Latin word for flax. Flax seeds 5 along with barley and wheat berries are among the oldest known food staples. Daniel utilized a healthy natural diet of seeds, nuts and fruits, etc., that added greatly to his wisdom and beauty (see Dan. 1:12). Flax is used to produce linseed oil, the carrier for colorful pigments in the oil paints used by painters worldwide. Note also that the highest quality “rag” based papers used for fine art prints today (made on high-end ink-jet printers) comes from the flax plant and its fibers. Rag papers feature excellent color reproduction and very long life.

Today, linen fabrics have been replaced by a number of man-made synthetic fabrics like acrylic, nylon, and polyester. Cotton, which is also based on a natural plant, was introduced with slavery in early U.S. history.