Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 37:10-16

10 And he made the table of shittim wood: two cubits was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof:

11 And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made thereunto a crown of gold round about.

12 Also he made thereunto a border of an handbreadth round about; and made a crown of gold for the border thereof round about.

13 And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings upon the four corners that were in the four feet thereof.

14 Over against the border were the rings, the places for the staves to bear the table.

15 And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold, to bear the table.

16 And he made the vessels which were upon the table, his dishes, and his spoons, and his bowls, and his covers to cover withal, of pure gold.

Today covers the creation of the table of shewbread. Reading these verses, I had the thought occur to me that this whole account must be a summary of the entire work done, not necessarily a sequential log of what order all that work was accomplished in. It seems most likely that several instruments for the tabernacle were being worked on simultaneously. One man could be turning shittim wood into boards, another man could be fitting those into the structure of the table, another man could be carving the staves, and a fourth man could be making the golden dishes. And, simultaneously, even more men working on the ark, the candlestick, the laver, etc.

God often leaves those sorts of logistics to the individual. Sometimes He might give a specific process to follow, but often He only mandates an end result, a clear vision of what one needs to accomplish, and then man must determine his own methodology to divide that labor and bring the vision to reality.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 25:29-30

29 And thou shalt make the dishes thereof, and spoons thereof, and covers thereof, and bowls thereof, to cover withal: of pure gold shalt thou make them.

30 And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.

As with the Ark of the Covenant, after hearing the dimensions and materials of the table, we are then given its purpose, which is to hold the shewbred and all of the dishes related to it. We do not hear much of the shewbread in these verses, but the full details of how it was used is given in Leviticus 34:5-9:

And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the Lord. And thou shalt put pure frankincense upon each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, even an offering made by fire unto the Lord.

Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the Lord continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. And it shall be Aaron’s and his sons’; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the Lord made by fire by a perpetual statute.

The twelve loaves of bread is clearly a symbol of the twelve tribes of Israel, each of which would have access to the rites and rituals of the tabernacle, which was where the table of shewbread was kept. The shewbread was also made without leaven, calling to mind the haste with which Israel departed Egypt, and also symbolizes a state of purity and incorruption. The bread would be accented with frankincense, which was a sweet-smelling resin, sometimes burned as incense. Every sabbath the bread would be replaced with fresh loaves, and all of it was to be consumed by the priests, part of their nourishment by the hand of providence.

There are many overlapping symbols and images in all of this. The bread is the Israelite people. They are to remain unleavened, meaning uncorrupted by foreign philosophies and idolatry. They are to be refreshed regularly, upon every sabbath day. They are also to provide for the priests nourishment, so that the priests can provide for their spiritual refreshing. Also, they are to bring up a sweet fragrance to the Lord, which is the doing of good works and the words of sincere prayer. Finally, they are to rest upon a solid foundation, symbolized by the table, which is the ethical and moral bedrock defined by the commandments of Almighty God.

From these symbols we see the basis, the practice, and the outcome of living the Hebrew gospel. It is an amazing wealth of symbolism contained within a simple, repetitive practice.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 25:26-28

26 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.

27 Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table.

28 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.

The similarities between the table and the ark continue in these verses, where we hear that the table was also to be borne by staves when transported. And as with the ark, those staves were to be made of shittim wood and overlaid with gold.

The place of attachment for those staves seems ambiguous at first. “On the four feet” seems to suggest that they were at the very bottom of the table, the entire thing teetering in the air above the heads of those who carried it. But also it is supposed to be “against the border,” which in the previous verses seemed to be at the top of the legs, around the board that made that surface of the table. An examination of the original Hebrew seems to clear up the confusion, though. The word used there is רָ֫גֶל (regel), which depending on the context is sometimes rendered “feet,” but other times rendered “legs.” And, indeed, other English translations of this verse render it as “the four legs,” not “the four feet,” which definitely seems more realistic and consistent.

Carrying the ark with staves seems quite practical to me, as that is perhaps the simplest way to convey it for people. Carrying the table, particularly given that it was a small table, seems less practical. If I were the carrier, I would sooner place a small table over my shoulder and carry it that way, but obviously that treatment would be far less respectful. Reverence, not practicality, is clearly the top priority here.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 25:23-25

23 Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

24 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about.

25 And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about.

We now shift from the Ark of the Covenant to the descriptions for a table. As with the ark, we start with the materials and dimension. The width is to be double the breadth, and the height will be halfway in between. I may be reading too much into this, but it occurs to me that each side could be used to measure the others. The breadth folded over the length should reach exactly halfway across. The breadth folded over the height should leave just enough that the remainder could be folded over exactly half of the height. The height folded over the length should leave just enough to cover exactly half of the breadth. Like the Godhead, three separate sides, but each able to measure and define one another.

Also, the height of the table, a cubit-and-a-half, is exactly the same height as the Ark of the Covenant, showing that they are a pair. The other dimensions of the table, however, the length and the breadth, are each smaller than the corresponding sides of the ark. It is not a very large table, and it will only be used for a specific purpose.

Just like the heights, the material and ornamentation of the table exactly matches that of the ark. Shittim wood to make the shape and body, with pure gold overlaid everywhere. There is also to be a border that hangs a little ways down from the top slab, and it is to be ornamented with a golden crown, just as with the ark.

Consistency of design immediately speaks to consistency of purpose. Not to say that both the ark and the table would perform the same function, obviously they wouldn’t, but ark that stores and the table that bears would be united in a common purpose of ultimate spiritual observation. One would only have to see them to know these two are organs of the same body.