And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.
The command to keep showbread on the table continually was part of the specifications for building the tabernacle and of the service instructions given to Moses on the mountain during his forty days and nights there. That chapter was repeated with Exodus 24, 26 and 27 to fellow tentmakers while working quickly and skillfully with the hands for personal benefit and for theirs. The lesson gives supreme honor to God and shows that the skill, genius and wisdom brought into tabernacle work are given by God to be used for His glory, with diligence and thoroughness in business as fervent service to the Lord.
On earth the table stands in the holy place, which is the sanctuary's first apartment, on the north side of the tabernacle. It stood in an apartment without windows, where the lamps of the candlestick illuminated it, and its gold-plated appearance contributed to the sanctuary's splendor. The showbread was to be kept continually before God as a perpetual offering and formed part of the daily service.
Twelve cakes were placed on the table each Sabbath in two piles and sprinkled with frankincense. Each Sabbath the old loaves were replaced, the frankincense from them was burned on the altar as a memorial before God, and the holy bread removed from the table was eaten by the priests. It is called the bread of the presence because it remained before God, and it acknowledged that people depend on God for temporal food and spiritual blessings received through Christ's mediation. The manna and the showbread pointed to Christ, the living bread who is in God's presence for humanity.
The table has a counterpart in heaven in the holy place or first apartment of the temple in the holy city, standing with the altar of incense and the candlestick with seven lamps behind the first veil and in front of the second veil that leads into the holy of holies. In that heavenly first apartment a censer is also present, and all the furniture looks like purest gold and reflects the image of the one who enters there. The table is likewise present in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, and the earthly sanctuary's furniture resembles the heavenly furniture.
The command to keep showbread on the table continually was part of the specifications for building the tabernacle and of the service instructions given to Moses on the mountain during his forty days and nights there. That chapter was repeated with Exodus 24, 26 and 27 to fellow tentmakers while working quickly and skillfully with the hands for personal benefit and for theirs. The lesson gives supreme honor to God and shows that the skill, genius and wisdom brought into tabernacle work are given by God to be used for His glory, with diligence and thoroughness in business as fervent service to the Lord.
On earth the table stands in the holy place, which is the sanctuary's first apartment, on the north side of the tabernacle. It stood in an apartment without windows, where the lamps of the candlestick illuminated it, and its gold-plated appearance contributed to the sanctuary's splendor. The showbread was to be kept continually before God as a perpetual offering and formed part of the daily service.
Twelve cakes were placed on the table each Sabbath in two piles and sprinkled with frankincense. Each Sabbath the old loaves were replaced, the frankincense from them was burned on the altar as a memorial before God, and the holy bread removed from the table was eaten by the priests. It is called the bread of the presence because it remained before God, and it acknowledged that people depend on God for temporal food and spiritual blessings received through Christ's mediation. The manna and the showbread pointed to Christ, the living bread who is in God's presence for humanity.
The table has a counterpart in heaven in the holy place or first apartment of the temple in the holy city, standing with the altar of incense and the candlestick with seven lamps behind the first veil and in front of the second veil that leads into the holy of holies. In that heavenly first apartment a censer is also present, and all the furniture looks like purest gold and reflects the image of the one who enters there. The table is likewise present in the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary, and the earthly sanctuary's furniture resembles the heavenly furniture.