V. “WINGS” AND “TENTS” AS REFERENCES TO THE “TALIT”

It is important for the reader to note that the Hebrew words, “tents” and “wings” are often a direct substitute for the word “talit”. A good example is found in Tehillim (Psalms) 91: 1-4. Here the Scriptures say:” He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, who abides under the shadow of the Almighty---He covers you with His feathers, and under His wings you take refuge.” This passage is not just a picture of a bird lovingly caring for its’ young. It is primarily a picture of a worshiper wrapped in his “secret place”, his “personal Tabernacle”, who experiences a wonderful sense of intimacy and security in his Creator through the use of his talit as he worships. Now let us look at some other scriptural references to the talit.

In Bemidbar (Numbers) 24: 2-5, Bil’am was on Mt. Pisgah overlooking the camp of the Israelites and he observed the glory of the Lord directly above the Tabernacle in the wilderness. He also saw the throngs of Israelite worshipers around the Tabernacle with their talit over their heads worshipping. The Scriptures say: “and Bil’am lifted up his eyes and saw Yisra’el encamped according to the tribes. And the Spirit of Elohim (Mighty One) came upon him.” And he said: “How beautiful are your tents, O Ya’aqob (Jacob); your dwellings, O Yisra’el (Israel) .” In the former verse the word, “tents” in the original Hebrew is “o’hel” meaning a “distance covering” or what we would call a tent. “O’hel” is from the word, “ahal” which means something obvious. Thus, Bil’am was speaking of the actual physical tents that they lived in. However, in the latter part of the verse, the Hebrew word translated “dwellings” is “mishkan” which means “dwelling place” a reference to the spiritual dwelling place of the nation of Israel. At this point, Bil’am was speaking of the talit which the men who were worshipping were wearing as they stood outside the Sanctuary.

I Shemu’el (I Samuel) 24: 4 tells the story of how young Dawid (David) cut off one of the tzitzit of King Sha’ul (Saul) and thus, showed the King that his authority was going to be taken away from him. Dawid and King Sha’ul, both knew that the power of the King’s authority was from Yahweh (G-d) and that the symbol of Yahweh was the king’s tzitzit on his talit. It is interesting to note that the Hebrew word used to describe the “skirt” of Saul’s talit is the word, “kanaf” which means “edge, extremity, wing tip, border, corner, or tip”. (Compare this to the use of the same Hebrew word in Ruth 3: 9.)

There are many other references to the talit scattered throughout the Messianic Writings (the New Testament) as well as the Tanak (the Old Testament). On one occasion our Messiah was weeping over the city of Jerusalem and He said: “Yerushalayim, Yerushalayim (Jerusalem, Jerusalem), killing the prophets and stoning those who are sent to her. How often I wished to gather your children, the way that a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would not” [Mattithyahu (Matthew) 23:37]. To paraphrase the literal meaning of the verse, we could say: “how I would have taken you under My talit, into My personal Tabernacle, and you would not.” Once the reader realizes that the words, “tents” and “wings” are frequently a reference to the talit, the meaning of each of these references becomes more beautiful and significant. (See Psalms 36:7; Psalms 57:1 and Psalms 61:4)