Exodus 25:23-30

THE TABLE OF SHOWBREAD

"And thou shalt make a table of acacia wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt make unto it a border of a handbreadth round about; and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about. And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof. Close by the border shall the rings be, for places for the staves to bear the table. And thou shalt make the staves of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them. And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and the spoons thereof, and the flagons thereof, and the bowls thereof, wherewith to pour out: of pure gold shalt thou make them. And thou shalt set upon the table showbread before me alway."

As would be revealed to Moses later, this Table of Showbread would occupy a place in the north end of the sanctuary, balancing the candlestick which would appear at the south end. The twelve loaves arranged in two rows symbolize the providence of God toward both Israels, the fleshy, and the spiritual. Of course, various writers are remarkably skillful in finding things said to be represented by these articles of furniture. Macknight suggested that the table represented the abundant provision from the earth of food for man and beast, and of the candlestick wrote, "It represents the seven planets!"[2] Of course, he wrote that before men discovered the eighth and ninth planets! It is our view that here we have "copies of heavenly things"; and therefore it seems appropriate to view this table as a type of "the Lord's table" (Luke 22:29,30). Its location "in the sanctuary" is like that of "the Lord's table" in his kingdom. Its burden of the "bread" is typical of Christ, "the bread which came down out of heaven," attested by the bread and the wine representing the flesh and blood of the Son of God.

In this table, no less than in the case of the candlestick, there appears to have been an overruling providence in certain changes and decorations made by the Jews, thereby providing even further startling symbolism of the genuine spiritual realities typified. For example, Josephus described the decorations of this table made by Ptolemy. It was elaborately covered with a grapevine, described thus:

"(It) had tendrils of the vine, sending forth clusters of grapes, that you would guess were no wise different from real tendrils; for they were so very thin, and so very far extended at their extremities, that they were moved by the wind, and made one believe that they were the product of nature, and not the representation of art.[3]

How strange indeed it is that Christ the True Vine, and the fruit of the vine so sacred to his followers should thus have been so gloriously depicted upon that ancient table, and that (apparently) without any Divine commandment, but merely after the fancy of men. Surely God was in those things pertaining to his kingdom. How often God must have overruled the deeds of men to channel them in courses after His own will!