One of the most interesting studies that can be made of the Bible deals with “types,’ that is persons, events, and things that prefigure something greater to be found in later times. Because Christ is the Bible’s focus, most Old Testament types are seen to be a figure of Jesus Himself. While many types are obvious and have a readily observable correspondence (such as the story found in Genesis 22 of Abraham the father taking his son, Isaac, to Mount Moriah to be offered in sacrifice), the Bible is such a wonderful book in to which the Holy Spirit has woven intricate details, that even seemingly unimportant details are found to point to our Lord and to aspects of our salvation in Him. With that in mind, let us consider one of those apparently minor details which is indeed found to reveal to us a precious truth.
During the days of Moses, God gave a specific design for the place where His glory would be manifested. This structure was the tabernacle and later the temple. The most important part of the tabernacle was the Holy of Holies. No one other than the High Priest was allowed to enter the Holy Place and even the High Priest could enter only one day a year. In the Holy of Holies was the ark of the covenant and above the ark of the covenant, between the two cherubim, was the presence of God in the form of the Shekinah glory.
Outside the structure, both figuratively and literally, was mankind. And between the man who was outside and God manifested in the Holy of Holies was the chamber called the Holy Place. The Holy Place contained three pieces of furniture, each representing an aspect of Christ. Figuratively then, man can only approach God through those aspects of Christ represented by the altar in the outer court (i.e., by a sacrifice), and the three pieces of furniture in the Holy Place. Of these three pieces of furniture, in this study we will focus on only one: the table on which the showbread was placed.
God’s instructions to Moses were as follows:
You will also make a table of acacia wood…
And you will put the shewbread on the table before me continually.
- Exodus 25: 23, 30
The term “the showbread” translates the Hebrew words laquem ha panim (לֶחֶם הַמַּעֲרֶכֶת) which literally means “bread of the face” but is the Hebrew way of expressing “the bread that is seen.”
But the question is who sees the bread? Does God look at man “through the bread?” Or does man draw closer to God by figuratively looking at the bread?
An event from the Old Testament may help us to resolve the question. 2 Samuel relates the story of David’s fleeing from the presence of Saul. During their flight, David and his men traveled to where the tabernacle was located at that time (a place near Jerusalem called Nob).
David came to Nob, to Ahimelech the priest; And Ahimelech was surprised at his meeting, and said to him: How come you alone, and no one with you? And David answered Ahimelech the priest, The king entrusted me with a matter, and said to me, Let no one know anything about the matter to which I am sending you, and what I have entrusted to you; and I pointed out to the servants a certain place. Now, then, what do you have at hand? Give me five panels, or whatever you have. The priest answered David and said: I have no common bread at hand, I only have sacred bread...
So the priest gave him the sacred bread, because there was no other bread there but the showbread...
1 Samuel 21:1-4, 6.
If you know the rest of the story, you will remember that in the next chapter, Saul discovered that the High Priest had given the bread to David. As a result, Saul had the High Priest killed, along with the other priests. The highlight of this whole story is this:
The High Priest had given the bread at the cost of his own life.
In other words,
When giving the bread, the giver died.
That brings us to the statement of the Lord Jesus in Luke 22:19:
And he took the bread and gave thanks, and broke it and gave it to them, saying, This is my body, which is given for you; He did this in memory of me.
Just as the High Priest in David’s day would die in providing the bread, so our Great High Priest would die in providing the bread (His own body) for our redemption.
There is another important point that needs to be mentioned. In John 6:35, Jesus said:
I am the bread of life; He who comes to me will never hunger; and he who believes in me will never thirst.
Jesus (in verse 40) goes on to mention:
And this is the will of him who sent me: That everyone who sees the Son…
Isn’t it curious that God wants us to see the Son? However, the use of this particular verb makes a lot of sense when we remember that the meaning of showbread is the Bread that is seen.
Jesus ends his great statement by stating:
May everyone who sees the Son and believes in him have eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day.
Salvation consists of seeing that the Great High Priest died for us and trusting in His wonderful redemptive work.
So while at first glance, the bread found in the book of 1 Samuel may be considered no more than a small detail, what great teaching is found in this detail!
Jim is an elder at Freeway Bible Chapel, a missionary to Central America, and co-founder of Renew In Knowledge. Check out this link o read Jim’s popular study series on the Seven Churches of Revelation.
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