Hyssop, an herb in the mint family with cleansing, medicinal, and flavoring properties, was prolific in the Middle East and was used in a variety of ways. In the Bible Hyssop is also used symbolically for purification and was good for ‘sprinkling.’ When the Israelites marked their doorposts with lamb’s blood in order for the angel of death to pass over them, God instructed them to use a bunch of hyssop as a “paintbrush” (Exodus 12:22). This was probably because hyssop was sturdy and could withstand the brushing or sprinkling, but it also likely signified that God was marking His people as “pure” and not targets of the judgment God was about to deal out to the Egyptians.
Hyssop also appears at Jesus’ crucifixion, when the Roman soldiers offered Jesus a drink of wine vinegar on a sponge at the end of a stalk of hyssop (John 19:28–30). This was, in fact, Jesus’ last act before He declared His work on earth finished and gave up His spirit. While the hyssop stalk may have been used for purely practical purposes (i.e., it was long enough to reach to Jesus’ mouth as He hung on the cross), it is interesting that that particular plant was chosen. It is possible that God meant this as a picture of purification, as Jesus bought our forgiveness with His sacrifice. Just as in the Old Testament blood and hyssop purified a defiled person, so Jesus’ shed blood purifies us from the defilement of our sin.
Fuller comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “fullian” which means ‘to whiten.’ Cloth was washed in a variety of substances such as ashes from certain plants, chalk, alkali, to turn it white. This was quite smelly so done outside of the city; a process of putting the cloth and whitener in a shallow ‘bath’ and trod upon with the feet in many instances. There was also the need of space to dry the cloth thus ‘fuller’s fields.’ Again this signifies purifying and at Jesus’ transfiguration our Lord’s rainment is said to have been white “so as no fuller on earth could white them” ( Mark 9:3 ).