The Ark and the table of bread listed in this passage (25:10-40) were constructed with shittim wood (from the Hebrew, shittah), which is the wood of acacia tree that grows in desert regions. The Egyptians referred to this tree as the “tree of life.” The Septuagint calls it “incorruptible wood,” as the wood can strengthen with age. Once constructed, the furniture was covered with pure gold. The Ark of the Covenant, called in Hebrew Aron Habrit, was a box that held a gold pot containing some manna, the rod of Aaron, and the tablets of the Law written on stone (see Heb. 9:4). The lid on the Ark was called the mercy seat, or kapporeth in Hebrew, and was a thick plate of gold with two cherubim, constructed of one sheet of gold, sitting on top of this lid (see v. 17-22). The Ark was the lone piece of sacred furniture in the Holy of Holies in both the tabernacle and Solomon’s Temple. Once a year, the high priest sprinkled blood on the east end of the mercy seat and God communicated with the high priest from between the wings of the cherubim (see v. 22).
The Jewish commentator Rashi explains that the Ark consisted of three boxes. The primary box was made of acacia wood. The second box was larger than the first and made of gold; the primary box was placed inside it. The third box was also gold, but smaller than the other two, and it was placed inside the wooden box. Thus, the main box was covered with gold from the inside out (Source: The Chumash, Stone Edition, Shemos/Exodus, page 477). A gold rim encircled the top of the Ark. The Ark was carried by four priests who placed its wooden staves on their shoulders. The four priests carrying the Ark may be an earthly picture of a heavenly reality, as Ezekiel saw four cherubim bearing the throne of God upon their shoulders (see Ezek. 1).
The Table of Showbread
The English word showbread in Hebrew is lechem (bread) and panim (face), called the “Bread of Face” or “Bread of Presence.” This table held two columns, stacked with six loaves of bread on each column. The bread contained two omers of flour and was mixed with frankincense (see Lev. 24:5-7). The bread, baked each Friday, remained on the table for one week and was replaced on the Sabbath. The priests were permitted to eat the replaced bread, but only in the holy place. The table of showbread was positioned at the northern wall of the temple, inside the holy place, directly across from the golden menorah. The twelve loaves are representative of the Word of God, as the Word is compared to bread (see Matt. 4:4; 6:11; 7:9; John 6:31-51). The New Testament contains twelve major doctrines that are parallel with the twelve loaves:
Salvation (Acts 4:12)
Justification (Rom. 5:1)
Water baptism (Matt. 28:19)
Sanctification (1 Thess. 4:3)
Baptism in the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:11)
Laying on of hands (Heb. 6:2)
Second Coming of Christ (Acts 1:11)
The resurrection of the dead (Heb. 6:2)
Judgment of the righteous at the Bema (Rom. 14:10)
Judgment of the unrighteous at the white throne (Rev. 20:11-15)
Eternal life for the righteous (John 3:15)
Eternal punishment for the unrighteous (Rev. 20:14)
The Golden Lampstand (Candlestick)
The seven-branched golden menorah provided light for the holy place at the tabernacle and the temple. According to Jewish history, it weighed about a hundred pounds. The temple menorah had seven branches that stayed lit by a supply of olive oil. The base was a three-legged tripod and the top contained cups, knops, lilies, and flowers, totaling sixty-six ornaments. Each lamp held about “six eggs” of measured oil, enough for one day. It was believed to hold a log (approximately half a pint) of oil. According to the Temple Institute in Jerusalem, the menorah was roughly six feet tall. The greatest controversy surrounding the menorah exists over the basic structure, shape, and direction of the branches. Some suggest they were curved or rounded at the bottom, and others believe they rose diagonally out of the middle of the main shaft.
Each day the menorah had to be cleaned. Each cup was refilled with oil, and gold tweezers were used to remove the old wicks and relight the new wicks for the light. According to Josephus, the seven branches represented the seven original planets.
The mystical Jewish interpretations for the menorah are endless. The lamp served as the light for the holy place but symbolized the divine illumination of the human intellect. The golden seven-branched light was made from one talent of gold (see Exod. 25: 39), which was 3,000 shekels or approximately 2,400 ounces. If the price of gold were to be $1000 per ounce, this menorah would be valued at $2.4 million.
To read about the significance of tabernacle furniture, see the articles “The Sacred Furniture Is a Picture of the Messiah” and “Cross Imagery Hidden in the Old Testament” in Exodus in Depth.
Where sacrifices and offerings were concerned, there was a difference between sins against God and sins against other human beings. When an Israelite sinned against God, he presented a sin offering. If he sinned against a fellow man, he presented a guilt offering called the asham, an offering of compensation or restitution. This offering forgave theft, false oaths, extortion, or lying. The asham was presented to God, but its purpose was to remove guilt associated with the mistreatment or sin against another person. God required restitution for a sin or trespass against a fellow human (see Exod. 22:3, 5-6).
The Old Testament word restitution (see Exod. 22:3) is shalam (not shalom) and means to “make amends, to finish, or to make good again.” Making restitution involves making wrongs right in relationships with others. Other offerings, such as the fellowship or peace offerings, were voluntary offerings presented to God in appreciation for His goodness.
Under the New Covenant, our spiritual blessings can be placed on “hold” if we walk in disobedience to God’s Word by holding grudges and harboring unforgiveness in our hearts toward our fellow man. When believers walk contrary to the truth, God can and will restrain the fullness of His blessings from their lives until they repent and turn from their disobedience. Jesus said it this way:
“Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift.” (Matt. 5:23-24)
In western culture, we think of an altar as a wooden structure at the front of a church and the word gift as a monetary offering. In Christ’s day, the altar was the brass altar at the temple, and the gift comes from a Greek word used for sacrifice. In the Matthew 5 reference above, Christ was referring to the guilt offering when a person has wronged another; the Savior revealed that God would not accept this offering at the altar unless the offender made amends with his offended brother. To Christ, the spiritual attitude of the heart was more important than the public presentation of the sacrifice. James also indicated that believers should “confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed” (James 5:16).
OCTOBER 16, 2021 Exodus 25:21-22 You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark, you shall put the testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the testimony. […]
Abraham takes Isaac to the very land where, many years prior, Abraham had met the king-priest Melchizedek (see Gen. 14). Isaac asks his father, “Where is the lamb?”
Abraham reveals that God will “provide himself a lamb.”
However, a ram and not a lamb replaces Isaac. When the ram appears, Abraham calls the name of the place
Jehovah-Jireh, meaning “the Lord will see to it.”
Moses writes, “In the mount of the Lord it shall be seen” (Gen. 22:14). What will be seen in the mount of the Lord? I believe that, by revelation of the Holy Spirit, Abraham saw something that is not actually recorded in the story. He knows a lamb would one day appear on the mountain to bring redemption. That lamb is Christ. This is what Christ spoke of when He said, “Abraham rejoiced to see my day; and he saw it” (John 8:56).
The act of circumcision became the sign of the Hebrew covenant beginning with Abraham and continuing to this day among the religious Jews. Circumcision is a removal of the foreskin on the Jewish male child, eight days after birth. From the days of the patriarchs, when a son of Abraham marries and consummates his union with his wife, the seed (sperm) in the man’s loins passes through the “mark” of the covenant; thus, the seed is marked by the covenant before it ever enters the woman. This may be why God continually uses the word seed when describing future generations of Hebrews who have not been born (see Gen. 12:7; 13:16; 17:8). God marks the seed while still in the loins of the father (note Heb. 7:9-10).
This passage describes the miracle of the manna, a heavenly form of sustenance God provides for the Israelites during their forty years in the wilderness.
Manna was a small, round substance (see Exod. 16:14)
Manna appeared like a hoar (white) frost on the ground (see Exod. 16:14)
Manna looked like a coriander seed (see Num. 11:7)
Manna was the color of bdellium, similar to the color of a pearl (see Num. 11:7)
Manna tasted like fresh oil (see Num. 11:8)
Manna also tasted like wafers made with honey (see Exod. 16:31)
Manna was called “angels’ food” (see Ps. 78:25)
Manna was called the “corn of heaven” (see Ps. 78:24)
Christ says He is the “living bread which came down from heaven,” comparing Himself to the manna in the wilderness (see John 6:23-51). The manna represented salvation, as it nourished the people of Israel in the wilder- ness; without it they would have perished. Manna was crushed and beaten before it was eaten (see Num. 11:8), just as the body of Christ was beaten and bruised for man’s redemption (see Isa. 53:4-5).
The phrase hoar frost (v. 14) is unique. The root word for hoar frost in Hebrew is kephowr, a word akin to the word kippur. Yom Kippur is the Hebrew phrase meaning “Day of Atonement,” the sixth appointed season of Israel’s seven feasts. It was the day when the high priest entered the Holy of Holies and sprinkled the blood on the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant to “atone” for himself, the priests, and the people. The word atone- ment is mentioned eighty times in the English Bible; the Hebrew word is kaphar, meaning “to cover, to appease and to purge,” is used seventy-five of those eighty times. It is a word used to describe what happened once a sacrifice was offered before God. When the Lord saw the blood being poured out, the sacrificial blood was cover- ing the sin and purging the conscience of the offender. Many blood offerings were atonement offerings for sins and transgressions.
How unique that manna fell from heaven, covering the ground like a frost. It was as though God was looking ahead in time when the true bread from heaven, Christ, would come down and spill His blood on the ground to atone for all mankind, providing the eternal covering for all who would receive this eternal Bread of Life.
Balaam makes four major predictions called “parables” (see Num. 23:7, 18; 24:3, 15, 21, 23), which are actually prophecies concerning Israel.
The First Prophecy (23:9-10)
Balaam’s first prophecy predicts that Jacob (Israel) will become a countless multitude as plentiful as dust. God gave Abram (Abraham) a similar prediction when He said Abram’s seed would be numerous as dust (see Gen. 13:16). Balaam says Israel will “dwell alone” and not be “reckoned among the nations.” From AD 70 to 1948, Israel did not exist as a nation; thus, other nations did not recognize her. Since 1948, the Jewish state has often stood alone as enemies have risen from within and without, and Israel has conducted six major wars. The “fourth part of Israel” may allude to the division of the camps into four sections around the tabernacle. From the mountain, Balaam could not even count one-fourth of the number of people in one section of the camp.
The Second Prophecy (23:21-24)
Balaam states that Israel has maintained its spiritual integrity, avoided perverseness, and is destined to become a ruling nation. He mentions a great lion and a young lion, a statement similar to Jacob’s final words of blessing to his son Judah. Jacob predicted Judah would be as a lion and that the ruler would come from Judah (see Gen. 49:9-10).
The Third Prophecy (24:5-9)
The promise of blessing on those who bless and cursing on those who curse Israel (v. 9) is the same promise given to Abram (Abraham) at the beginning of the Abrahamic covenant (see Gen. 12:3). The phrase his seed shall be in many waters (v. 7) may allude to the Jewish people who will eventually dwell throughout the world. As in the second prophecy, the lion emblem represents Judah, the tribe of David, and Jesus Christ.
The Fourth Prophecy (24:17)
The prophecy “a Star out of Jacob” is believed to be what the wise men allude to when they search for the infant Christ Child and report, “We have seen his star in the east” (Matt. 2:2). The word Sceptre used in Numbers 24:17 relates to rulership; Jacob used the word when he predicted that the sceptre would not depart from Judah until Shiloh (a name used to identify the Messiah) comes (see Gen. 49:10). Christ’s birth, accompanied by a unique cosmic sign, occurred in Bethlehem of Judea (see Matt. 2:1).
OCTOBER 14, 2021 Exodus 25:10-11 “And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it.” Of all the furnishings that […]
OCTOBER 15, 2021 Exodus 25:10-11 “And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it.” As I mentioned in yesterday’s […]
