Reflections of Christ in the Tabernacle
Chapter IX
The Shewbread
And he made the table of shittim wood: two cubits was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof:
And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made thereunto a crown of gold round about.
Also he made thereunto a border of an handbreadth round about; and made a crown of gold for the border thereof round about.
And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings upon the four corners that were in the four feet thereof.
Over against the border were the rings, the places for the staves to bear the table.
And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold, to bear the table.
And he made the vessels which were upon the table, his dishes, and his spoons, and his bowls, and his covers to cover withal, of pure gold. (Exodus 37: 10-16)
Looking at the table of shewbread, we see the glory of God and His Son, Jesus Christ. As the ark of the covenant was made from acacia wood, and overlaid with pure gold, so too, was the table of shewbread. The acacia wood speaks of the humanity of Christ in His earthly sojourn, and the gold speaks of His Deity, and the righteousness of the Triune God. As to the dimensions of the table; it’s height was 1 ½ cubits (a cubit is approximately 18″) this was the same height as the ark of the covenant; giving us another link between the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ at the mercy seat in the ark of the covenant, and communion and fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ in the shewbread. We are brought into relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ on both the grounds of His sufferings in the flesh, and also in the pouring forth of His precious blood for our sins. Christ as the antitype of the mercy seat has severed us from the world, and our sin, so that we might have the continuing fellowship with God the Father through Him.
On the night that He was betrayed, the Lord Jesus Christ took the bread, and said, “Take, eat; for this is my body.” (Matthew 26:26) Then also, He took the cup, and in like manner said, “This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.” (Matthew 26:28) The mercy seat was the place of atoning blood, and the table of shewbread was a place of communion and fellowship for the nation of Israel, just as Christ is our table of shewbread.
We have fellowship around the Lord Jesus Christ when we remember Him in His death, and when we come before the Lord to remember Him with the bread and wine. We remember His sufferings at Calvary, and that it was Christ in His lowliness, and in His humanity who suffered for our sins. The bread and wine do not become the actual flesh, or the actual blood, but it is a substance given to us that we would remember the Lord’s death, as He said, “until I come.” We should go, afresh every week, to that point in time at Calvary to remember that our Lord Jesus Christ died for our sins according to Scripture, and that He was buried, and rose again. This remembrance should cause such joy in our hearts that we should break into song and worship before the Lord.
The other dimensions of this table os shewbread was 2 cubits in length, and 1 cubit in width. The 12 cakes or loaves of bread on the top of the shewbread were made from fine flour, and were brought to the priests by the nation of Israel. It was their only part in fellowship and communion in the holy place, and all the other remaining duties belonged solely to the priesthood. Frankincense was then placed on these loaves by the priests.
Around the top of this table was a golden crown which surrounded the 12 cakes or loaves of bread which speaks to us of the 12 tribes of Israel. This crown was a crown of security, it kept the loaves in place as “the smoke by day and the fire by night” protected Israel. “And the Lord went before them by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and night.” (Exodus 13:21) This crown expresses the security of not only the Israelites in that day, but also the security of the believer today in Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ said in John 10:28, “And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.” We have here a striking picture of the nail-pierced hands of Calvary, and the sovereign hands of God the Father. “My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand.” (John 10:29) Both the Lord Jesus Christ, and God the Father have brought us to the place of salvation. (John 6:44) We know that if Christ had not come as Immanuel, “God with us,” there would have been no salvation. Here we have the nail-pierced hands of Calvary, and the sovereign hands of God the Father — and the Lord Jesus Christ gives unto them eternal life. Eternal life cannot be given, and then taken away, it is once and for all. If you have come to know the Lord as your Savior then you possess life for ever and for eternity.
For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,
Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38, 39)
There are three (3) crowns mentioned in the tabernacle. The first crown can be seen as we enter into the tabernacle. This crown is around the perimeter of the table of shewbread, and speaks to us of the crown of thorns that the Lord Jesus bore on Calvary. “He came unto His own” to be crowned King of Kings, “and they received him not.” (John 1:11) Instead of crowning Him their King they allowed the Romans to place a crown of thorns on His head. “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.” It is with this crown that we recognize Him as the lowly, suffering Savior. He should have a crown of gold encrusted with jewels fitted for a King, a diadem, and a regal crown, but instead He wore the crown of the curse for us.
The second crown is on the altar of incense, and speaks of the rule of the Lord Jesus Christ during the millennial kingdom; when He will rule not only as the King of Kings, but as a Priest after the order of Melchizedek. (Hebrews 7)
The LORD shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion: rule thou in the midst of thine enemies.
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth.
The LORD hath sworn, and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek. (Psalm 110: 2-4)
The third crown is on the ark of the covenant, and here we see Him as Creator of all things, and upholding all things by the Word of His power. (Hebrews 1:3) We see Him wearing the royal diadem over the entire universe, and He has upon Him the heavenly crown of sovereignty.
We see much of the Lord Jesus Christ not only in the table itself, but also in the bread, as the bread of life. “And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35)
The fine flour speaks of His purity because it was without leaven; thus, we see His sinlessness. The flour was to be pure, fine flour; tempered in an over, and here is the judgment of God upon the Lord Jesus Christ for our sins. He was sinless because He was the Lord from glory. “The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven.” (1 Corinthians 15:47) (Romans 5:17) We are reminded of the words of John the Baptist, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” The Lord Jesus Christ humbled Himself, and became obedient unto the death of the cross that He might redeem us unto God by His blood.
©Copyright 2007, Michael Haigh
Article may be used, but not for gain. “Freely ye have received, freely give”
All Scripture references are from the Authorized King James Bible. (KJV)