The lower numbers, being foundational to all the higher numbers, may carry symbolisms which we would not expect of larger numbers. We don’t normally ask, for example, the meaning of a number like 271. But smaller numbers, when used conspicuously, do seem to be symbolic.
The number three is used frequently, and we suggest in many cases it may be used because there are three parties to the atonement: God, man, and Jesus our redeemer. “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). It has also been suggested that three represents a complete experience with a beginning, middle and end.
The number three appears conspicuously respecting our Lord’s sacrifice and redemptive work. Jesus was three days in the grave, the price of his betrayal was thirty pieces of silver; he was anointed for his death with 300 pence worth of spikenard; and at Pentecost when his sacrifice was applied to the church, the number of believers swelled to 3,000 persons.
In each case these references are apparently significant, judged by their repetitious use. The three days in the grave are specifically prophesied (John 2:19) and linked with the type of Jonah (Matthew 12:39,40). The price of betrayal was predicted in Zechariah 11:12, “so they weighed for my price thirty pieces of silver.” The spikenard Mary used on Jesus as he sat at their table was referred to in Song of Solomon 1:12, “While the king sitteth at his table, my spikenard sendeth forth the smell thereof,” and its specified value therefore the more prominent. The three thousand enlivened through the spirit at Pentecost have their counterpart in the three thousand who died at the giving of the law (Exodus 32:28). “The letter killeth, but the spirit giveth life” (2 Corinthians 3:6).
This grouping – 3, 30, 300, and 3,000 – is even more striking when we recognize the same sequence in one of the Old Testament narratives, specifically an experience of Samson. Samson had a riddle which challenged his adversaries for three days (Judges 14:14). The reward for its solution was 30 changes of garments (verse 13). The punishment on his enemies involved 300 foxes (Judges 15:4), and Samson was apprehended by 3,000 of his fellows (Judges 15:11).
This is not simply a repetition of numbers; the themes involved have to do with the atonement brought to us by Christ during the Gospel age. The riddle posed by Samson – “Out of the eater came forth meat, and out of the strong came forth sweetness” (Judges 14:14) – referred to a slain lion which bees had used to contain a reservoir of honey. The lion represents our Lord Jesus, the “Lion of the tribe of Juda” (Revelation 5:5), from whose death we have redemption and the sweet call of the divine nature pictured by the honey. The 30 changes of garments represent the justification all may receive who identify and accept their Savior. The two subsequent narratives refer to other judgments during the Gospel age, and the theme is extended in Revelation where the judgments during this first age of redemption frequently involve the number three. (Compare for example trumpets one through four where a “third part” was affected in each case.)
When Abraham viewed Moriah afar off where Isaac was to be offered, it was on “the third day” (Genesis 22:4). The letter of the Law, symbolic of the later spirit of the Law, was received by Israel on “the third day” and even on “the third month” (Exodus 19:11,1). Offerings under the law were to be fully consumed by “the third day” (Leviticus 7:17; 19:6). Defiled ones were sprinkled on “the third day” (Numbers 19:19). All these examples have something to do with atonement or reconciliation.
But why three? It is good to recognize a common theme in the use of a number, but the deeper question is why a particular number is appropriate for the theme. In this case, perhaps three is used because there are three parties to the atonement: God, man, and Jesus our redeemer. “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus” (1 Timothy 2:5). It has also been suggested that three is experiential, representing a beginning, middle and end to an experience.