The Stranger Things rope lights hack uses Firebase, Twilio, and Zapier to bring the iconic interdimensional telephone to life in a home setting. The project is powered by a Twilio phone number that sends messages to Firebase, which then triggers the display of corresponding letters on the rope lights using hardware tinkering. This allows users to send text messages to their Twilio number, and the corresponding letters will be displayed on the lights, providing an easy way to communicate like the characters in the show.