Cleansed in Blood

This verse came up this week in my study: Psalm 51:7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean: wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.

• The use of hyssop reminded me that the children of Israel used hyssop to wipe the passover blood on their doorways - so I imagined Christ's blood cleansing with the hyssop.
• Then the cross reference on the word hyssop in that verse went to Numbers 19:18 that describes ritual purification using water and hyssop to clean: And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:
• The phrase "whiter than snow" reminded me of the scripture mastery Isaiah 1:18 Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.  Isaiah knew the psalms well - it is possible he was bringing this one to the mind of his readers.
• In context, this verse is in a psalm of pleading for mercy and deliverance, and the offer of praise and a broken heart (v. 17) for He delighteth not in burnt offerings v. 16.

Many people (myself included) are intrigued by the idea that Christ's blood has a cleansing power, when we normally think of blood as staining.

Burnt offerings replaced our punishment - one was guilty, but something else (and then Someone Else) took the penalty in one's place.  The symbolism in the ram in the thicket was that it replaced the sacrifice of Isaac.  God offered a replacement.  God offered His Son as a replacement.

One other thought:  Thorns, briars, noxious weeds are all introduced with the Fall to inflict and torment man. A friend of mine pointed out on Sunday that if the thorns, briars, and noxious weeds represent people (fallen people) ... then perhaps man in that verse should actually be spelled Man. In a sense - WE are the thorns/etc. that pierced/afflicted our Christ.  Spilt blood is/was the consequence of Adam and every transgression and sin thereafter.  The Lord our Redeemer suffered the pain of all men that all men might repent and come unto Him.  (And how great is His joy in the soul that repenteth!!!)  See Doctrine & Covenants 18:10-13 

Putting it all together:  Could we say, it is not that spilt blood cleanses us (although it is)...  it is that Someone Else's blood was spilt instead of our own, and thus we can be made free/clean?

He suffered godly punishment, and Lives.  His s