After the flood, Noah planted a vineyard, got drunk, and lay naked and exposed in his tent — and his son Ham, instead of covering him, exposed his shame further. The sermon traces humanity’s fascination with and fear of nakedness back to Eden, where Adam and Eve first hid from God, and to God’s own response: clothing them with garments of skin, the first act of covering in Scripture.
That covering points forward to Christ, who was crucified naked so that our shame could be covered by His righteousness. Zechariah’s vision of Joshua the high priest standing in filthy garments while Satan accuses him pictures the same gospel: God removes the shameful garments and clothes His people in clean ones. The atonement is, at its heart, a covering — forgiveness and reconciliation given freely to those who cannot cover their own shame.