“And you shall set the showbread on the table before Me always. You shall also make a lampstand of pure gold …” (Ex. 25:30, 31).
Two prominent objects in the tabernacle, other than the ark, were the table with the showbread, and the golden lampstand. The table always was to be spread and furnished with the “bread of faces”—twelve loaves, one for each tribe, set in two rows of six (Lev. 24:5). In any royal house, there is a royal table. This ornate table would be the table of the Lord, and would signify Israel’s dependence on the Lord, for He alone was the one who supplied their daily bread.
The bread was designed to be a thankful acknowledgement of God’s goodness to Israel both in the wilderness, where He supplied them manna, and in Canaan, where He gave them the “corn of the land.” It was also a token of their communion with God. This bread on God’s table, being made of the same corn as the bread on their own tables, was eaten together as a pledge of friendship and fellowship.
This table served as a type of the spiritual provision that is made in the church by the Gospel of Christ. Though only the priests ate the showbread in the tabernacle, all Christians, as priests unto the Lord, partake of the bread of life, which is the body of Christ. All who attend the table of the Lord, where they are spiritually nourished, will be satisfied with the goodness of it. Christ has a table in His kingdom at which all believers will eat and drink with Him forever (Luke 22:30).
The next thing ordered was a rich candlestick or lampstand, made of pure, solid gold. The tabernacle had no windows by which to let in the light of day, and thus symbolized the comparative darkness of that dispensation; the “Sun of Righteousness” had not yet risen, nor had the “Day Star from on High” yet visited His church. Yet, God did not leave Himself without a witness, or them without instruction. The Law was a lamp and a light, and the prophets were branches from that lamp, which gave light to the Old Testament church. The Word of God itself was the candlestick, a light shining in a dark place. The Spirit is compared with the seven lamps that burn before the throne, and the churches are golden candlesticks, the lights of the world. The treasure of this light is now put into earthen vessels, and the branches spread out as the Gospel goes into the world. This light is not to be hidden, but is to shine from a hill so that all may hear the Gospel.
God warned Moses in the midst of these instructions not to deviate from His rules. When it came to the worship of God, little was left to Israel’s imagination. Has this changed for the church today? How do we discern what aspects of worship can change? Pray that you will worship in spirit and in truth.
