The Table of Shewbread

Make a table of acacia wood-- two cubits long, a cubit wide and a cubit and a half high.Overlay it with pure gold and make a gold molding around it...Put the bread of the Presence on this table to be before me at all times.

Exodus 25:23-24

The Ark of the Covenant, containing the law and bearing the mercy-seat, or atonement covering, was the only piece of furniture within the Most Holy Place. As Exodus 25 contintues to describe and to prescribe the elements of furniture which constituted the Tabernacle, it moves outwards into the Holy Place, which contained three items. They are described by God in Exodus 25 and Exodus 30: the Table, the Candlestick and the Altar of Incense.

Three general features of the Holy Place are worth bearing in mind. First, it was a place of gold. All three items were made o gold. To enter into the Holy Place was to be surrounded by gold. Underneath the canopy and behind the curtains was a dazzling array of golden furniture. To the outside eye, there was no attraction. But to those permitted to enter, there was beauty and splendour. So it is with the Christ whom the Tabernacle typified. To the natural man, there is no beauty that he should be desired. He remains without form or comeliness, as a root out of a dry ground. But to those who enter the Holy Place, who see him by faith, for whom he is bread, and light, and incense, he is "altogether lovely".

And as Christ is, so his people are. How unattractive we appear to an unbelieving world! The church remains despised and rejected, and God's people the off-scouring of all things, according to the apostle. But to Christ, in whom we are complete, there is another view: "Behold the daughter of the King, all glorious is within!" (Psalm 45). The real beauty is inside. And although the Tabernacle was unattractive to look at, nonetheless it remained glorious to the Israelites because of its hidden beauty. So it is with the church, indwelt by the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, it was a fragrant place. As we shall note, there were two sources of this fragrance: an altar and a table. Outside were the smells of the wilderness, and the smells of sacrifice. But within the Holy Place there was fragrance which captured the senses of all those who ministered there. There is a perfume within the Holy Place that speaks of the attractiveness of the finished work of Christ to those who are in communion with him. What was true of the Beloved in Psalm 45 was true of the priests as they ministered in the Holy Place: "Of aloes, myrrh and cassia a smell thy garments had", only the fragrance of the priests' garments was not from palaces of ivory, but from the Holy Place of the Tabernacle in the wilderness. In the Song of Solomon 4:6, the Beloved says to his Bride: "Until the day break, and the shadows flee away, I will get me to the mountain of myrrh, and to the hill of frankincense". There is a sense in which that describes the Holy Place for us. It was a provision amid the shadows of the wilderness where God's blessing would be enjoyed.

Thirdly, it was a place of silence. Outside there were the noises of the wilderness: within the camps, around the courtyard; the noise of people and animals, of sacrifice and slaughter, of singing and of praise. But inside the Holy Place the only speaking was the symbolic testimony of the golden furnishings; as A.W. Pink puts it, "The voice of man was still, but the voice of the golden vessels therein mutely, yet eloquently, spoke of Christ." The word of God spoke to the people through the holy furniture of the Holy Place; and there God's word was received and its blessing appropriated. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing the Word of God.

The Holy Place was the place where the priests ministered daily. They represented the people, and were set apart for that purpose. They prepared the Table and ate its bread. They tended the lamp, which cast its glow upon the Holy Place. They looked after the altar of incense. And as they did so, they stood between the Most HOly Place and the Courtyard, between the place where the glory cloud of the Presence was, and the place where the court of the People was. Only the priests could minister between Presence and People, between Cloud and Court. Theirs was a ministry of mediation. All that the priests did, as well as the place where they ministered, speaks to us of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the cloud, and yet he stood in the Courtyard. He came from within the veil, in order to effect the work as Mediator which devolves upon him. The Holy Place with its furnishing speaks of him; and reminds us that no man comes to the Father but by him.

The Table and Its Significance

Moses was commanded to make a table, made of wood and overlaid with gold. In the Bible a table speaks of fellowship. That is illustrated for us in the story of Mephibosheth who was brought to David's table. Revelation 3:20 describes the blessing of salvation as a supper. Where there is a table there is communion; Paul puts it starkly when he says "You cannot drink the Lord's cup and the cup of demons; you cannot be partakers of the Lord's table and of the table of demons" (1 Corinthians 10:21). That there should be a Table in the Tabernacle is again a symbol of gracious provision and of glorious salvation. Having lost communion with God, man has no access to God's presence. But salvation restores what sin has lost. In the Book of Revelation, where so much of the symbolism of the Tabernacle finds its ultimate expression and fulfillment, the crowning glory of Heaven is to be called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

Immediately we are struck by the similarity between the Ark of the Covenant and the Table of Shewbread. Both Ark and Table were made of acacia wood overlaid with gold. Both were of the same height (the only articles in the Tabernacle of which that was true). Both were surrounded and ornamented with a gold crown. Both had rings and staves for carrying. Both had something placed on them: the Ark had the mercy-seat and the Table had the bread of the presence.

The Ark and the Table, therefore, speak to us of the twin aspects of our communion and fellowship with God. The Ark tells us of the ground of that fellowship: atonement on the basis of righteousness. The Table speaks of the substance of that fellowship, and the effect of Christ's atonement: communion and fellowship with God through our feeding upon Christ. We feed upon Christ on the basis of his finished work at Calvary. He gives his flesh as a sacrifice for sinners; we feed on his flesh and we have life in us. There is perhaps some significance in the dimensions; for, although the Table was the same height as the Ark, it was shorter in its breadth and length. Although we feed wholly upon Christ and his finished work, there is always a great deal more about that work to be discovered by us. Faith feeds fully upon the crucified Saviour, and continues to wonder at the riches and the fulness of that saving work and power.

The Israelites complained against God and said, "Can God prepare a Table for us in the wilderness?" (Psalm 78:19). He prepared here a glorious Table for them, which spoke of the blessing of the covenant relationship into which grace had brought them. And although the wilderness remained a lonely and a dangerous place, they had justification for singing "you have prepared a table for us in the presence of our enemies" (Psalm 23:5). And although the meaning of these words is far wider than the Table of Shewbread, it applies gloriously to the Tabernacle and its provision.

The Bread and Its Significance

The Table was the place where bread was placed in the presence of God. Leviticus 24 speaks of this. The "bread of the presence" or the "shewbread" (Gaelic lit. "bread of revelation") consisted of twelve loaves made of fine flour, baked and then placed in two rows on the Table. Pure frankincense was then sprinkled on the bread, which remained in the presence of the Lord for seven days. Each Sabbath day the bread was renewed and eaten by Aaron and his sons, by the priestly family, in the Holy Place.

Bread is the staff of life. It is what we need to sustain us and to maintain us day by day. For that reason, Christ appropriates to himself the image; he is the bread of life come down from Heaven (John 6). And, as Paul expands on that imagery, he reminds us that we participate in the life of Christ: "for we, being many, are one bread and one body, for we are all partakers of that one bread" (1 Corinthians 10:17). Truly, our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. The image of bread, then, is an image of life, of provision, of sustenance, of daily need, of enrichment. The Table within the Tabernacle is suggestive for the following reasons:

(1) The bread was specifically prepared for this purpose

It was necessary to prepare the bread week by week for the service of the Tabernacle. The bread required fine flour, beaten small; it required baking and it required to be presented within the Holy Place. It was made in the camp and then presented in the Tabernacle. Similarly, the Bread of Life in the Person of Jesus Christ, was specifically prepared for the express purpose of our communion with God - prepared in the covenant of redemption, prepared in the school of suffering where he learned obedience, prepared on the cross - so that there might be full and rich provision made for us in the Gospel. He was set apart for our redemption and our salvation, that there might be a table spread for us in the wilderness, a feast of fat things, of fat things full of marrow, and of wines on the lees well refined.

(2) The bread was made into twelve loaves

The bread upon the Table was presented before the Lord as twelve loaves of equal size and weight, made in exactly the same way. Clearly the number of loaves was significant, and equally clearly the number bore a relationship to the twelve tribes of Israel. The one golden table bore the twelve baked loaves. But the bread was not so much a symbol of the twelve tribes: it was a symbol of representation - the Christ who is the bread as representative of all the redeemed. There is order in the work of redemption. Christ bears and represents his own. He is the covenant head and Mediator, and he effects the great work of salvation on the basis of the fact that what he is doing he is not doing for himself. He is the bread, the new, living manna, who stands before God as the representative of his people.

Let us also remember that such representation is a cardinal feature of the Tabernacle and its service. The priest carried the names of the twelve tribes on his shoulder plates, on his breastplate and on the mitre, or head-dress. The communion we enjoy on the basis of the finished work of Christ is fellowship through representation. And how beautiful to note that the tribes, of such unequal size, where represented in equal manner on the Table! He stands before God on behalf of all of his people, and none of them have a monopoly! There is, therefore, a unique relationship between the two parts of the Tabernacle proper: the Most Holy Place represented the presence of God among his people, between the cherubim over the mercy seat; the Holy Place represented the presence of the people before their God.

(3) The bread was placed in order upon the Table

"Set them in two rows, six in each row, on the table of pure gold before the LORD" is the command of Leviticus 24:6. The God of the Tabernacle is a God of order, whose covenant with his people is "ordered in all things and sure". By placing the loaves side by side on the golden table, their place in the sight of God was represented. And there the loaves remained, week by week, in the presence of God continually. It was of his own people that God said "I have engraven you on the palms of my hands, and your walls are continually before me" (Isaiah 49:16). He sees us, and knows the way that we take. There is nothing that is hidden from him. Each loaf was in the presence of each other loaf, just as the tribes were pitched beside one another around the Tabernace. Each could know only a little of what the other experienced. But the God of the covenant sees and knows all His own.

(4) The bread was made fragrant with incense

In addition to the fragrance provided by the altar of incense, the bread itself was made fragrant by the sprinkling of frankincense upon the two rows of loaves. The representative bread was not only in the presence of God, but had a fragrance which was not native to the bread. It did not come from the flour or from the baking, but from the additional sprinkling of pure frankincense. God's people are made fragrant by their likeness to Jesus Christ. The communion has an effect. Listen to how Christ describes his church: "A garden inclosed is my sister, my spouse; a spring shut up, a fountain sealed. Thy plants are an orchard of pomegranates, with pleasant fruits; camphire, with spikenard, Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices" (Song of Solomon 4:12-14).

(5) The bread was renewed each Sabbath

Just as the Sabbath pattern was established by the manner in which God created the world, so it was confirmed by the Lord in the wilderness. The manna was gathered each day, except that special provision was made for the Sabbath. No bread came from God on the Sabbath, but bread had to be placed on the table before God on the Sabbath. Every day God placed bread before his people. Every Sabbath the people placed their bread before him. Or, to put it otherwise: although they were in God's presence every day of the week, they placed themselves in his presence in a particular way on the Sabbath. God has nowhere negated the Sabbath principle, although he has changed the Sabbath day. We are in God's presence constantly. But each Lord's Day we place ourselves in his presence in a special way, renewing our vows as we renew our worship.

(6) The bread was the provision for the family of priests

On the Sabbath day, the priestly family of Aaron ate the bread of that week. The priests saw the bread every day as it stood in God's presence. Then they took it, and handled it and ate it. There was provision for those who ministered before God. There was provision for Christ as he ministered as representative of his people and Mediator of the covenant: "My meat and drink is to do God's will and finish his work" (John ...) The Lord's portion was his people. As he ministered and served, so he ate. There is provision for us as we serve the Lord as kings and priests in this earthly house of our tabernacle. We will be given strength each day. John begins his first epistle with the words: that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life... We serve the God of the Word and we serve the Word of God; and as we do so, it is that word which will nourish our souls and give us new life.

There is, however, another important principle here, which Paul states in 1 Corinthians 9:13-14 -- "Do ye not know that they who minister about holy things live [from the things of] the temple? And they who wait at the altar are partakers with the altar? Even so hath the Lord ordained that they who preach the gospel should live by the gospel". Just as the priests in the Old Testament were fed by the bread upon the Table, as well as by what was sacrificed, so there is to be provision made for those who preach the Gospel. They are to be provided for from the church to whom they minister. This became the pattern in the New Testament, and ought to be our first priority as a church today.

(7) The bread was continually on the Table. This was true even through the wilderness march; God said that when the camp was to move forward, a covering of blue cloth was to be placed over the table, with the plates, spoons, bowls and other accessories, and the bread was to be upon it continually (Numbers 4:5-7). The representative symbols were present before the Lord as the camp moved. The golden crown enclosed the bread, secured it, and prevented it from falling off the Table. All our hope and confidence is in the one who is the representative of his people, and upon whose head there is set a crown of purest gold. It is the sovereignty of the Christ of the Gospel that is the ultimate guarantee of the safety and security of his people.

© Iain D. Campbell 2002