Biblical meaning of blue dress in a dream

Biblical symbolism of the colour blue in dreams, what that means in practice, with real dream examples.

Have you ever wondered what the colour blue means as a dream symbol?

In this article we will take inspiration from the bible to investigate the spiritual meaning of blue in dreams, and what that means for us in practical terms.

We will explore its meaning in positive and negative contexts, with some real dream examples too!

I approach dream interpretation from a biblical perspective. My belief is that our dreams can come from God, and understanding them is best understood within the context of an ongoing relationship with Him.

The symbolic nature of dreams

Firstly, if you have just come across this post and are new to dream interpretation, it is worth mentioning that dreams are symbolic in nature. You might find it helpful to read Understand your dreams: A bible-based introduction to dream language and my 3-step dream interpretation method to give you a foundation.

Secondly, remember that dreams are personal, so the meanings that I suggest may not apply to your specific dream. But please feel free to use my ideas as a springboard to thinking and praying about dreams yourself. Don’t take my ideas as gospel, but rather let them help you start to think metaphorically.

Introducing the colour blue!

Blue is one of my favourite colours. Here in the UK we are currently enjoying walks through woods filled with gorgeous blankets of bluebells. Blue makes me think of summer skies and open fields, and deep blue tropical seas.

Blue is also a calming, peaceful colour. It suggests trust, strength and reliability when used in colour schemes – probably explaining its popularity in flags and logos around the world.

But there are also some negative associations with blue. This is a cultural thing, because we talk about ‘feeling blue’ – often imagined with grey skies and rainy days. And blue can be a cold colour.

Consider the context

As with any dream symbol, each colour can potentially have both positive and negative meanings. The context, feeling and atmosphere of a dream will give us clues to help us determine whether to interpret it in a positive or negative way. 

There are so many different shades of blue, and in English we have specific names for many of them! For example, we have baby blue, royal blue, midnight blue, navy blue, ice blue, cyan, sky blue, turqouise, and so on!

Blue is a diverse colour – so let’s unpack what it could mean.

Symbolism of blue in the bible

The bible is a great resource for dream interpretation as it contains so much symbolic language. I carried out a search for the word blue in the bible. There is some uncertainty about the exact nature of the colour.

There are no mentions of blue in the New American Standard Blible (NASB), but numerous mentions in the New International Version (NIV) and King James Version (KJV).

A blue dye

The Hebrew word translated in the NIV as blue is tekêleth which some believe comes from the name of a Mediteranean shellfish – the animal from which the bluish dye was obtained. The NASB translates this word as ‘violet‘, or a ‘bluish‘ colour like hyacinth (from NASB footnote).

Blue would have been an expensive dye to obtain (similar to scarlet and purple in that respect). All of those colours would have also been associated with royalty and prosperity.

• Esther 8:15, NIV When Mordecai left the king’s presence, he was wearing royal garments of blue and white, a large crown of gold and a purple robe of fine linen.

Blue in the biblical tabernacle

Most of the biblical references to blue relate to the construction of the tabernacle, in conjuntion with scarlet and purple.

The tabernacle was a large tent, primarily built to carry God’s presence with the people of Israel; it housed the Holy Place and the ark of the covenant.

It was an old-testament example of ‘heaven on earth‘ – a mobile place to meet with God – who chose to dwell in their midst and travel with them.

Blue was used in:

• Curtains of the tabernacle (Exodus 26:1, NIV)
• The High Priest’s waistband, robe and turban (Exodus 28:8, 28:31, 28:37, NIV)
• The High Priest’s breastplate (Exodus 28:6, NIV)
• Pomegranetes on the bottom of the High Priest’s robe (Exodus 28:33, NIV)
• Tablecloths and coverings (Numbers 4:12, NIV)

So the abundance of blue in the tabernacle would have been a constant reminder to the Israelites that this tent actually represented heaven on earth.

A foreshadow of Christ

The tabernable was a foreshadow of Jesus Christ, who – the bible tells us – literally represented heaven on earth. He was Immanuel, God with us. He was a walking, talking tabernacle!

• John 6:51, NASB [Jesus said] “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven…”
• Hebrews 4:14, NIV Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess.

The blue clothes of the Israelite High Priest also point to Jesus, our ‘great high priest’, who came down from heaven, died, rose again, and ascended into heaven.

Carriers of God’s presence today

The Israelitites were also told to make tassels with blue cord on their garments – and continue to do this for generations to come. What an awesome reminder of their heavenly origins – and ours too! We are spiritual beings.

• Numbers 15:38, NIV Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘Throughout the generations to come you are to make tassels on the corners of your garments, with a blue cord on each tassel.

So this whole tabernacle scenario was also a foreshadow of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, and the new covenant that Jesus established. Each of us is like a mini-tabernacle – a carrier of God’s presence.

• John 7:38-39, NASB [Jesus said] “The one who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’”  But this He said in reference to the Spirit…

God’s Holy Spirit dwells in our innermost being, and it is in that place – deep within – that every one of us can connect with God.

The abundance of blue in the tabernacle points us to our relationship with God through the Holy Spirit.

Sapphire in the bible

There are mentions of the colour sapphire in the bible. Sapphire is a blue coloured gemstone, and, again, speaks of heavenly things:

In Exodus, the elders of Israel seemed to enter heaven itself when they ascended the mountain with Moses. The pavement appeared like saphhire; the colour of the sky.

• Exodus 24:10, NASB and they saw the God of Israel; and under His feet there appeared to be a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the sky itself.

In Ezekiel’s heavenly vision, he saw what appeared to be a sapphire throne:

• Ezekiel 10:1, NASB Then I looked, and behold, in the expanse that was over the heads of the cherubim something like a sapphire stone, in appearance resembling a throne, appeared above them.

This confirms the biblical typology of blue representing the heavens.

Positive context: Blue as revelation and communion

In a positive context, blue represents communion with God and heavenly revelation.

Blue is the colour of the sky, which in symbolic language represents the heavens, so anything that comes from heaven can be represented by blue.

Blue as communion with God

Blue reminds us of our relationship with God, sometimes called communion with God.

COMMUNION: an act or instance of sharing …  intimate fellowship or rapport 

Merriam-Webster.com/dictionary

Communion is all about intimacy and oneness with God. Blue reminds us that:

• We are meant to walk daily in relationship with our Creator
• God’s presence is within us
• Heaven is in our heart

Blue as revelation from heaven

In a positive context, blue is most commonly the colour of revelation, by which I mean new understanding or realisation of a previously unknown fact. We have a saying that something comes ‘out of the blue’ for something unexpected, like a sudden idea or turn of events.

REVELATION: … something that is revealed by God to humans … an act of revealing to view or making known.

Merriam-Webster.com/dictionary

Unsurprisingly, blue is often associated with the prophetic, or prophetic revelation.

This links nicely from the concept of communion with God, because true revelation flows out of our relationship with God, as we hear His voice within our heart.

What this means in practice

So in practical terms, if something in a dream is a positive blue colour, it usually indicates that it is coming from God, or from the heavenly realms.

It could be an idea, a prophetic word, a prophetic gift, or just an indication that you are receiving something from heaven.

This can be quite helpful in dreams, particularly when wondering if you’ve heard from God correctly on something: The positive presence of blue is a pretty good indication that you have.

That is why I love the colour blue so much!

Positive examples of blue in dreams

Negative context: Blue as sadness or depression

Sometimes blue appears in a negative context. We can tell this from the context of the dream. It could feel sad or unpleasant, or we might think it is a horrible shade of blue. Or maybe the object has the potential to hurt us.

The negative meaning of blue is usually sadness, or depression (feeling down). This is a cultural thing, maybe reflecting the cold feeling that blue sometimes has – and we even talk about having ‘the blues’. You would probably pick up this meaning from the atmosphere of the dream, and from what is going on in your life.

Sometimes God just allows us to have a dream like this to show that He understands how we feel. Or it could be to help us connect with what is going on below the surface of our lives – and to find a way forward.

But it also carries an invitation to talk to Him about it, or take some appropriate action.

When I’m feeling blue
All I have to do
Is take a look at you
Then I’m not so blue

A Groovy Kind of Love – Phil Collins

God always brings hope, and the potential for restoration and change.

A real dream example: Overcoming depression

I would like to share a dream that a relative of mine had when she was going through a period of clinical depression.

It is not specifically about the colour blue, but I hope this will convey the essence of how God could use a dream to give you hope in such a situation.

The following is written in her own words, and shared with permission:

Dream testimony

Many years ago I was clinically depressed and seeing a psychiatrist regularly. After several sessions with him, I had a dream:

I was standing on railway lines in a very deep cutting with steep sides. I tried to climb out but the sides were grassy and full of rubble, and I repeatedly slid down to the bottom.

Eventually I set off walking along the track. After a while the cutting sides started to get lower and less steep. I kept on walking and eventually there were no sides and I was on a flat open grassy area.

When I finally emerged from the cutting, I was struck by how normal everything looked. There were family groups scattered about doing very ordinary things. It was gentle, summery, and with no drama.

When I told the psychiatrist about the dream he was completely amazed and said, “Through your dream you have worked out your own healing path. Just keep going steadily on.”

Maybe nowadays I would see God’s hand in this.

More possible meanings of blue

There are so many different types of blue. Sometimes the name will give the meaning away. For example, if you dreamed of something being ‘royal blue’ (in dreams you often just know things like that), then the royal part might be the main thing.

Blue for boys: In some cultures, blue is symbolic of a baby boy (as pink is for girls). Boys and men can be symbolic of leadership or responsibilities, so a baby blue could be about a new leadership role.

Baby blue: Alternatively a baby blue could be about some new revelation that we need time to process and mature in. It could also be a new prophetic gift that needs to be nurtured.

Darker blue: I have found that sometimes the deeper the blue colour, the more mature the revelation. I.e. new revelation is a lighter (baby blue), but the longer I have lived out that revelation in my life, the darker blue it appears in my dreams.

Navy blue: A very dark blue (like navy) can be blue mixed with a little black (which is mystery). This can indicate some revelation that you haven’t understood fully yet (e.g. some dreams or visions that you are still trying to understand).

Cyan: Cyan is a very specific colour. When this appears in dreams, then it represents our own will.

Black and blue: This is a specific refrence to bruising, which is a bluish colour. In this context, blue could symbolise some kind of hurt.

Conclusion

In a positive context blue usually represents the heavens, communion with God, or heavenly revelation.

In a negative sense blue generally symbolises feeling sad or depression.

Here are a few closing thoughts:

• The colour blue in a dream could represent any number of things. The above ideas should give you a good starting point. 
• I believe that only God can tell us what the colour means in a specific dream, so you could try asking Him!
• Consider the atmosphere and context of the dream to see whether the colour is being used in a positive or negative sense.
• In addition to the meanings that I have shared, remember that it could mean something personal or culturally significant to you, that isn’t mentioned here.

And, of course, dreams themselves are a great way to receive revelation from heaven. So if you start taking notice of your dreams, you may find that you start dreaming of blue!

Dreams are a great way of receiving revelation from heaven!

And finally… have fun interpreting those blue dreams! If this article has helped you interpret a dream, please leave a comment below!

I hope you have found this article helpful. If you want to know more, do subscribe to my emails below to receive regular dream interpretation tips.

The purpose of this blog is to provide solid biblical foundations for interpreting dreams, change mindsets in the church, and encourage others to make their own dream journey with God. I am primarily a writer and bible teacher – who loves dreams, and I hope you will be inspired to learn to interpret your own dreams.

It is not currently my aim to routinely engage in dream interpretations or provide training, except through writing blog posts. You can read my most up to date position on interpreting dreams here:

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