The Sandal Covenant

So far, we’ve seen how the blood covenant represents our basic servant/master relationship with God. It’s like drinking the Cup of Sanctification—the first in the betrothal process. It gives us citizenship in God’s Kingdom, but not a lot of intimacy with him. The covenant of salt draws us into the courtyard of the tabernacle where we become friends with the Lord. We participate in the salt-sprinkled sacrifices and the shared meal of communion as we wrestle with God over the terms of our relationship and drink the Cup of Bargaining. Today, we advance from friend to son as we explore the sandal covenant.

Origins of the Sandal Covenant

In Old Testament times, a sandal became symbolic of inheritance or property. A person would step out the boundaries of his land and then tuck a worn-out sandal under a rock to mark each corner. This is essentially what Abram did when God told him to, “Arise, walk in the land through its length and its width, for I give it to you” (Genesis 13:17). He drew the borders of the perpetual inheritance God was giving him with his footsteps.

Because the land was to be passed down from father to son, the sandal or inheritance covenant is deeper and more intimate than either of the two we’ve already talked about. Servants, after all, don’t inherit property. Neither do friends. But sons do (and through them, their wives).

In the tabernacle, while friends of God entered the courtyard with shoes on their feet, the priests and Levites ministered in bare feet. Nowhere did the Lord designate footwear as part of their ministry garments (See Genesis 28). Instead, like Moses before the burning bush, they removed their sandals to indicate they were standing on holy ground. The land around the altar and inside the holy place was sacred territory yet their covenant with God allowed them a share in his holy inheritance.

Betrothal and Sandals

This may make more sense if we look at the role of the sandal covenant in the betrothal process.

We’ve already seen that the second cup—the Cup of Bargaining—established the details of the couple’s ketubah—their marriage contract (see my previous post). When that was accomplished they shared their third cup of wine called the Cup of Inheritance. This brought them into an even more intimate relationship by establishing them as co-heirs of the bridegroom’s estate. Should either of them die at this point, the other would inherit, even if they hadn’t yet gone through the marriage ceremony.

After drinking, the bridegroom would remove his bride’s sandal and wash her feet, as though setting aside her inheritance (which likely wasn’t much of anything) so she could walk in his.

Ruth and Sandals

The sandal-passing business in Ruth’s story was all about inheritance. Though a Moabitess by birth, she came into the family of Israel through marriage. She and her mother-in-law Naomi had both lost their husbands. Nevertheless, their husbands’ property was still theirs by right. Unfortunately, Naomi’s husband Elimelech had sold his land before moving the family to Moab (because of the famine, he may not have been able to finance their relocation any other way).

But there was a law in Israel that tribal land could not be sold in perpetuity. A person could either buy it back or wait for a Jubilee year when all land reverted to its original owner (Leviticus 27:24). When Ruth and Naomi returned to Israel, however, they had no means to redeem their husbands’ ancestral land. Neither did they have any way to support themselves until another Jubilee was announced.

To protect such women, the Lord created a role called “kinsman redeemer.” The closest male relative of a dead husband could step in and redeem the inheritance for his widow. Boaz was ready to take on this role, but someone was more closely related to Elimelech than he was. When the closer relation refused his option to buy back the land for Naomi, he handed a sandal to Boaz. This symbolically transferred the right to redeem Elimelech’s inheritance to Boaz. (see Ruth 4:4–6)

Believers and the Sandal Covenant

Inheritance certainly has its benefits. But it also carries responsibilities. An estate requires effective management and the heir and coheir share the duties of administering it together. The shoeless Levites and priests in the tabernacle were doing this by ministering around the altar and in the holy place. Similarly, in a marriage situation, husband and wife don’t just sit around reveling in their financial blessings, they take on the responsibilities of managing it and tending to the little flock that is their family.

If we share a sonship relationship with God, we’re in a position to enjoy his blessings but we’re also expected to take on some of the responsibilities of overseeing his affairs. As co-heirs in the Lord’s estate, we represent him in the world. A son who projects a false image of his father does more damage than a person with a servant or friend relationship can do. Our responsibility in the sandal covenant is to be faithful stewards of our Father’s estate.

We can’t leave this exploration of the sandal covenant without addressing the story in John 13 where Jesus removes his disciples’ sandals at the Last Supper. Here was the Great Bridegroom committing his inheritance to his bride. Afterward, he sat down and shared the bread of communion (the salt covenant) with his friends around the table. Then he served his servants with the cup of his blood. Son, friend, servant. All three covenants appeared in this simple scene.

I think Klein and Spears wrap up this exploration of the sandal covenant along with its mates of the blood and salt covenants well in their book Lost in Translation by writing, “In view of all this, when we take Communion we also need to recognize, every single time, what He did on the cross. But it’s equally important to remember that we’re making a re-commitment to pursue Him; to wrestle with Him; to be His friend and manage His estate.” (Klein, p. 61)

With this, we complete three legs of a covenant stool—blood, salt, and sandal (servant, friend, and son). Next time, we’ll set the crowning covenant upon the stool as we explore the greatest and most intimate relationship of all–the marriage covenant.

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