What color should altar cloths be?
It is important to understand that when one celebrates the Lord's Supper, Christ is not being offered again or in any sense being re-sacrificed. Christ has already made the once-and-for-all sacrifice for every one of the sins of his elect. It was a sufficient loving sacrifice (Heb. 7:27; 9:12, 26, 28; 10:10, 12; 1 John 4:10). It is finished (John 19:30). Because of the total sufficiency and absolute finality of Christ's eternal sacrifice, an altar — and therefore a colorful altar cloth — is necessarily excluded from genuine worship before God.
I said above that there was an intimate union during the Lord's Supper, but you may wonder how it can be intimate if Christ is in heaven and we are still on earth. First, Christ is very God of very God and is not bound/limited by space, distance, or even walls, etc. (John 20:26; cf. Mark 16:12, 14; Luke 24:36). Second, believers are "in Christ" (Rom. 8:1; Eph. 1:4, et. al.) [1] and therefore in union with him (Eph. 2:6; Col. 3:1). God is transcendent (apart from), but he is also immanent (existing within). So, location doesn't make a difference, but there is truly a genuine, intimate, mysterious union taking place at the Lord's Supper. Please see "How can I be seated with Christ in the heavenly places if I'm still sitting upon the earth?" below.
Dr. Joseph R. Nally, Jr., D.D., M.Div. is the Theological Editor at Third Millennium Ministries (Thirdmill).