A red door is a symbol of hospitality, refuge, and safety. But where do these meanings come from?

The   original   red   door   is   mentioned   in   the   Bible’s   book   of   Exodus.

Egyptian pharaohs enslaved God’s people for hundreds of years until God sent Moses to lead His people out of Egypt. On the night of their rescue, God’s wrath passed over the people who obeyed God and painted their doorframes with the red blood of a flawless, sacrificed lamb. While the Egyptian slave drivers experienced God’s wrath, God’s people received grace and rescue.

Today, people are also slaves. Some people are slaves to approval, some are slaves to themselves or to their past, and others are slaves to addiction. Two thousand years ago, Jesus came to earth as the perfect lamb to rescue us out of slavery. The perfect red blood which he shed during His death on a cross is the blood that marks our homes and our lives; it is His blood that guarantees our freedom from sin’s power and penalty.

Jesus   is   both   our   Moses   leading   us   out   of   slavery   and   our   “red   door”   saving   us   from   God’s   wrath.

We are a “red door” people who are marked by His story and rescue. As His disciples, we are committed to learning the gospel story and allowing God to transform our lives through Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection. (Luke 22:14-20)

Modern houses have red doors as a sign of welcome and hospitality. Red doors invite the community to come over and share life through stories, games, or meals. We are a red door family inviting the world to share life with us,

  just   as   Jesus   invited   us   to   share   life   with   Him.

(John 17:22-23)

In the past, red doors on church buildings advertised safe havens for people who were hurting, broken, or lost. A red door people are a servant people who welcome and serve those in need through lives of love, sacrifice, and service. (James 1:27)

Culturally, a red door is a symbol that a home is mortgage-free and without debt. Jesus died to pay the debt which we accumulate through selfishness and sin – a debt against God. Jesus’ death and resurrection make us missionaries who are called to joyfully live as a red door people. As missionaries, we proclaim to the world that we know the loving Savior who paid off our entire debt against God even though we did nothing to deserve it. (Colossians 2:13-15)