We're now done with the feasts, and in today's study, we're taking a look at 2 items in the Tabernacle. But first, let's do a quick recap of the Tabernacle and its structure. The Tabernacle is a picture of God “dwelling” with His people, it can be divided into 3 main parts:
Outer court, with the outer curtains, bronze altar, bronze basin. This was the only place that the people could enter, and it was where the sacrifices were made.
Holy Place with tabernacle tent, veil, showbread table, altar of incense, golden lampstand. This was only admissible to the priests, and only after ceremonial cleansing.
And the last thing, the Holy of Holies which was separated from the Holy place by the cherubim veil aka the curtain, behind which was the ark of the covenant.
Taken from the ESV Study Bible
It might feel strange to look at the Tabernacle after all the feasts, but this could also serve to remind the Israelites not to neglect their regular worship of God. We may also be tempted to skim over passages like these, but we remember 2 Tim 3:16, that these passages are also God-breathed, and when we read it, we too, need to pray for wisdom and understanding.
(A) The Lampstand of Pure Gold: God provides light for His people, that they might be interceded for (Lev 24:1-4)
From Lev 24:2, we know that this set of instructions was given by God to the people through Moses. The people were told to provide pure oil for the lamps of the golden lampstands from beaten olives so that the light may be kept burning regularly. This was to be outside the veil of the testimony, in the tent of meeting, and Aaron was also to arrange it from evening to morning (Lev 24:3). Although only the priests could enter the holy place, notice that the people were also involved in this practice. The people were to provide the items for this, by supplying the oil. Each person in Israel was involved in these activities.
What was the practical purpose of this lampstand? The lampstand was the only source of light in the Holy Place. After all, there were 4 layers of cloth and skin covering the entire structure, and it would have been really dark. The lampstand was to provide light for the priests to carry out their duties. The light would therefore shine on the altar and the table of the showbread and enabled the priests to fellowship with God and intercede on behalf of the people.
(B) The Bread of the Presence: God provides bread for His people that He might commune with them (Lev 24:5-9)
Next, a series of instructions were given to the people regarding the bread for the tabernacle (Lev 24:5-9). They were to:
Take fine flour to bake twelve loaves. Two tenth of an ephah was to be in each loaf
These 12 loaves were to be split into 2 piles and placed on the table of pure gold
They were to put pure frankincense on each pile so the bread can be a memorial portion as a food offering.
What significance did this have? This symbolized a meal that the people had prepared for the Lord in his home. Our passage explicitly says that the bread of the Presence came “from the people of Israel as a covenant forever” (Lev 24:8). This was a symbolic gesture that was carried out in perpetuity to show the people’s thanksgiving to God and their commitment to him as their Covenant Lord. Furthermore, The twelve loaves symbolized the twelve tribes of Israel, indicating that all Israel had given to the Lord. All the people in covenant with God could claim a share in the blessing of God as loyal covenant members. They were a community that were the recipients of God’s redemption and provision.
A command was also given to Aaron and his sons in Lev 24:9. They were allowed to partake of the memorial portion in a holy place. This can be contrasted with Lev 2:1-3, where expensive frankincense was used on the memorial portion of a normal grain offering. This made the memorial portion the most expensive portion, which was reserved solely for God. The priest did not get to partake of this, because this prized portion was burned up on the alter as the share of the offering devoted to God.
However, in this situation, God provided for the priests too. By eating the bread, not only did the bread benefit the priests as their weekly stipend, but it also indicated that the offering had been shared by God with his people. The priests represented the people before the Lord. The gift of the bread to the priests showed that the Lord and his people enjoyed a communal meal together. It symbolized their fellowship. It further indicated that the Lord was the provider of the bread that the people had received from the goodness of God who had enabled them to derive their sustenance from the fertile land.
(C) Pointers to Christ: the light of the world and the bread of life
What do these all mean? How do these images in the Holy Place point us to Christ? In John 8:12, 12:46, Jesus declares Himself to be the light of the world, and whoever believes in Him no longer remains in darkness. As light, He keeps the darkness away and shows us the path. Like how the lampstand holds light to allow the priests to do their work, Jesus is also the light that illuminates the darkness and allows us to function and conduct our ministry. Christ, too, is the light through whom we can fellowship with God.
What about the Bread? Jesus declares Himself to be the Bread of Life (John 8:48), and as the bread that is broken for sinners (Matt 26:26). In Leviticus, bread was provided just for the priests, and was a mark of communion and fellowship with God. But Christ was offered as a provision for all, to allow communion and fellowship with God.
When we look at the previous two headers, it isn’t difficult to simply substitute “light” and “bread” with Christ – God provided Jesus Christ who interceded for us, that we may commune with God. Just as the lampstand was placed in God’s dwelling place so that the priests could approach God, Christ, the light of the world, came so that man could get out of spiritual darkness. Just as the bread was offered to God who then fellowshipped and communed with the priests, Christ was offered as a sacrifice that through Him we might fellowship and have a relationship with God. The parallels might seem straightforward but let's not gloss over it. What kind of a God is this?
God so desires our fellowship that He was willing to come to earth from heaven to be the light of the world and our bread of life to give eternal life to all those who would partake in it. Jesus’ broken body is our only access to fellowship with God. Today, just as in the day the Israelites had the tabernacle, God still desires to have fellowship with us. He still desires to sit down for a feast with His people! But our God in His holy nature demands that we be holy, and thus to cleanse us set up the entire sacrificial system with the Tabernacle at the heart of it. But that wasn’t the extent of His love. Far from it.
We know how the tabernacle was symbolic of God dwelling amongst the Israelites. In John 1:14 we see just this! “And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth.” Jesus came to call sinners like us to Him, to make us right with God by dying for our sins. He died so that we could enjoy everlasting fellowship with God. He became the everlasting bread and the everlasting light – Aaron’s sons didn’t even need to “arrange things regularly anymore”! He alone fulfilled these laws, and he alone made us right with God. When we sing “the power of the cross” we sing this line – “curtain torn in two”. Christ’s death on the cross did exactly that, literally and symbolically. Because of His death, we can now fellowship with God.
How can we respond to such a God? What does this mean for us practically? This passage may be abstract, and Christ as Light and Bread might also be very familiar truths. We are easily tempted to gloss over them. But we need to do the hard work of thinking, even pausing and thinking about it for hours and hours on end. For starters, here are some very practical application:
1. Trust in the Gospel
When we talk about faith we always talk about how strong our faith is, but forget that the strength of our faith isn’t the main point. The lyrics to a hymn we commonly sing reminds us of the point of our faith and hope -- "My hope is built on nothing less, than Jesus' blood and righteousness". It's wholly and securely anchored in Christ. The more important thing is the strength of what we have faith in.
2. Rest in the Gospel
Because of who we trust in, we have no reason to doubt. We’ve learnt about how the priests have messed up before – if they were the ones interceding for us, we might not be able to rest - understandable. But we have the ultimate High Priest not only interceding for us, but dying in our place – it really doesn’t get better than that. We do not trust in our unchanging faith, but we are secure and restful in HIs unchanging grace.
3. Treasure this Gospel
Know what the gospel is worth and know what we are worth because of it. Reading this passage and comparing our lives with the lives of the Israelites, it is not difficult to come to the conclusion that we "have it easier". Can you imagine being an Israelite in those days, with a daily routine involving sacrifice for your sin, baking bread for an offering, and basically having to do a lot just so you aren’t consumed by a Holy God? Today we have our bibles on our phones, our offerings are GIROed, and our idea of sacrifice is waking up early on Sunday to go to Church – where we commune with God. Sometimes it feels like we’re doing God the favor doesn’t it? We don’t treasure the gospel because it cost us nothing, but we forget that it costs us nothing because it cost Christ everything. Meditate on this and cling to this Gospel, because there is nothing less worthy, and nothing less precious
This is the God with whom we have been reconciled to. How does this change the way you live today, tomorrow and everyday?