Dressed to the Nines (in Righteousness)
Today I read Isaiah 59 through 63, and one image stuck with me: the idea of being clothed in righteousness. Isaiah 61:10 says, "I am overwhelmed with joy in the Lord my God! For he has dressed me with the clothing of salvation and draped me in a robe of righteousness. I am like a bridegroom dressed for his wedding or a bride with her jewels."
The language is poetic, and what caught my attention was the metaphor of clothing. It made me wonder: Why use garments to talk about something like righteousness? Why not a building, a tree, or a path? What is it about clothes that make this metaphor work?
Fashion Choices With Deeper Meaning
Clothing is personal. It’s what we wear directly on our bodies. It’s visible, but it’s also intimate. And it’s changeable. We get dressed and undressed every day, choosing outfits depending on the occasion, mood, or even weather. Maybe that’s part of the point—righteousness isn’t a distant concept here. It’s something worn, something lived in.
There’s also the comparison to a bridegroom and a bride. Those aren’t everyday clothes. Wedding garments suggest something set apart, intentional, celebratory. It raises another question: Is righteousness being presented as a kind of special occasion experience, or something more permanent? If the clothing metaphor works both for daily wear and for ceremonial dress, maybe the text is blurring the line between the two—saying this isn’t just for show, but also not to be taken lightly.
What You Wear Says a Lot
Another thought I had is how clothing can be a form of identity. Uniforms do this. So do certain cultural outfits or fashion choices. When Isaiah talks about a robe of righteousness, it isn’t just about being good or moral. It might also be about being recognized—being seen as someone who belongs to a particular way of life. But that leads me to wonder: Who decides what counts as righteousness? And what happens when that definition changes across time or culture?
From Robes to Bloodstains
Later in Isaiah 63, there's a sharp contrast. In verse 3, it says, "I have been treading the winepress alone; no one was there to help me. In my anger I have trampled my enemies as if they were grapes. In my fury I have trampled my foes. Their blood has stained my clothes." Now the clothing is stained—not with righteousness, but with blood. It's a jarring image compared to the robe of righteousness. What does it mean to move from celebratory garments to ones marked by conflict?
I'm not sure what to do with all these contrasts, but I keep coming back to the idea that what we wear in these passages is more than decoration. It says something about how we’re seen and how we move through the world. Whether the clothing is celebratory or stained, it seems to reveal something deeper about the person wearing it.