A bed for the very poor was a mere thin straw mat or cloth pad rolled out on the ground with no more than a stone for a pillow (Genesis 28:10-11; John 5:9 ) and an outer garment for cover. For the more fortunate poor, a multi-purpose, one room, mud house served as protection from the elements, and as a kitchen, work space, and sleeping quarters. For the very few affluent, households and palaces contained many rooms including kitchens, living rooms, libraries, and bedrooms with elaborately decorated beds (Esther 1:6; Proverbs 7:16-17; Amos 6:4 ). A bed of iron attracted attention (Deuteronomy 3:11 ). Sometimes the bed was a symbol of both the highest and the lowest moral codes of mankind. The bed is a symbol that there is no secret place secure from deception (2 Kings 6:12 ). In Isaiah 28:20 , the bed that is too short and the cover too narrow is a symbol that there is no escape from judgment. The Scripture teaches that marriage is honorable among all people, that the marriage bed should be kept undefiled, and that God will judge the adulterer and the sexually immoral (Hebrews 13:4; Revelation 2:22 ).
Lawson Hatfield