Definition (house style)
Towla (Hebrew: תּוֹלָע) is the Hebrew word for the scarlet worm (Kermes biblicus), an insect whose females have historically provided crimson dye. In Ps. 22:6 the suffering psalmist uses the word of himself: “But I am a worm [towla] and not a man, a reproach of men, and despised by the people.” Read christologically — in a psalm beginning with “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Ps. 22:1; cf. Matt. 27:46) and ending with universal worship — this verse points to Christ as the ultimate towla-sacrifice.
The typological image: the towla mother permanently attaches herself to a tree trunk to protect her eggs, dies, and with her body stains the surrounding wood crimson — precisely as Christ gave himself upon the cross to bring forth life through his death.
Usage per author
Jones
Jones analyses the towla type in Jonah 4:7 and Ps. 22:6 as parallel christological pointers to the cross as a life-bearing act:
“This was no ordinary worm. The Hebrew text calls it a towla, a worm from which crimson dye was extracted in ancient times. When the female of the scarlet worm species was ready to give birth to her young, she would attach her body to the trunk of a tree, fixing herself so firmly and permanently that she would never leave again. The eggs deposited under her body were thus protected until the larvae had hatched. When the mother died, the crimson fluid stained her body and the surrounding wood red. Is this not a perfect picture of Christ, who gave his life to bring many sons to glory?”
[Jones, The Laws of the Second Coming, ch. 12]
Jones connects this to Ps. 22:6: the prophetic self-identification with the towla reveals the pattern of self-giving-for-life that finds its antitypical fulfilment in Christ. The crimson also corresponds to the scarlet thread in the purification rituals of Lev. 14 and Num. 19.