The Table for Bread and the Golden Lampstand (Exodus 25:23-40)

23 “You shall make a table of acacia wood. Two cubits shall be its length, a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. 24 You shall overlay it with pure gold and make a molding of gold around it. 25 And you shall make a rim around it a handbreadth wide, and a molding of gold around the rim. 26 And you shall make for it four rings of gold, and fasten the rings to the four corners at its four legs. 27 Close to the frame the rings shall lie, as holders for the poles to carry the table. 28 You shall make the poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold, and the table shall be carried with these. 29 And you shall make its plates and dishes for incense, and its flagons and bowls with which to pour drink offerings; you shall make them of pure gold. 30 And you shall set the bread of the Presence on the table before me regularly. [God would dwell in the “back” room of the tabernacle and the “front” room would have special furniture in it like one would find in a house. An important item is a table for meals, a dining table symbolizing that God did live among his people. There are similarities between the ark and the table. The table was smaller (36” by 18”). The items that represent God dining with his people, items that had cultic use, were made of pure gold, representing the best for God. Most of the food given to God was given outside in the tabernacle courtyard, burned on the altar and symbolically given to him through the rising of smoke. The bread of the Presence, by contrast, was served inside the tabernacle closer to the ark and the very presence of God. There were 12 loaves being constantly replaced, most likely loaf by loaf, so that bread was always present. The bread stayed on the table as they traveled. All other offerings were periodic. This one was continual—a never ceasing adoration, appreciation, and intercession by the Israelites day and night. Are there ties between this and communion bread?]

31 “You shall make a lampstand of pure gold [that only the priests would need for seeing as nonlevitical worshipers stayed outside but could see it through the doorway. At night it would have a glowing presence in the camp]. The lampstand shall be made of hammered work: its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it. 32 And there shall be six branches going out of its sides, three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side of it; 33 three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on one branch, and three cups made like almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch—so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. 34 And on the lampstand itself there shall be four cups made like almond blossoms, with their calyxes and flowers, 35 and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out from the lampstand. 36 Their calyxes and their branches shall be of one piece with it, the whole of it a single piece of hammered work of pure gold. 37 You shall make seven lamps for it. And the lamps shall be set up so as to give light on the space in front of it. 38 Its tongs and their trays shall be of pure gold. 39 It shall be made, with all these utensils, out of a talent of pure gold. 40 And see that you make them after the pattern [God’s design, not Moses’] for them, which is being shown you on the mountain. [The lampstand was floor-standing, made to look like an olive tree but with almond tree features that not only gave life but symbolized the tree of life. It had three branches coming off of the trunk on two sides, providing for seven supports for lamps. Each branch had three flower-like cups (almond blossoms) with four cups for the center trunk, meaning there could have been as many as 22 places where oil lamps could be. Only seven seemed to be lit at one time. So why does a lampstand made to look like an olive tree have almond blossoms on it? First, olive trees/branches symbolized Israel. Olive oil was one of Israel’s most abundant products and was the fuel for the seven lamps. The olive branch symbolized peace and God’s favor (Gen 8:11). Second, the almond tree is associated with the God’s/Moses’/Aaron’s almond wood staff that represented God’s protection and faithfulness in the exodus and in battle. Eventually the staff is placed in the ark after it budded (Numbers 17). Ultimately, the tabernacle pointed people to heaven, the eternal home of God in which his redeemed people were intended to dwell without distance from him (Rev 11:19 and 21:1-22:5) as members of his household (John 14:1-6). The tabernacle actually oriented the Old Covenant people toward the New Covenant.]