blue

Hello Rabbi,
 
The Torah commanded us to “make a thread of blue.” When a modern-day person reads this, he would probably understand that the intention is for the thread to be dyed a certain color, regardless of what chemical compound the dye is made from. This also fits with the sermon of Chazal that says: “Blue is like the sea, the sea is like the firmament, the firmament is like the throne of glory.” If we want to liken the tzitzits by their color to something, what difference does it make what the dye is made of?
On the other hand, the Sages understood that the reference was to a color produced by a certain snail, and determined that God will punish anyone who plants a “tree without a tree” in his buds. This makes sense, especially since scholars claim that from a linguistic perspective, the abstract concept of “color” is relatively new. The Bible almost never describes the world in colors (black, red, blue), at most there is a comparison to something whose color is known.
 
What do you think makes more sense, the interpretation that the command is for the specific chemical compound, or for the type of paint alone?