The keys to unlock the Old Testament priceless treasure is the New Testament. It is estimated that there are 1600 direct Old Testament quotes in the New Testament. The New Testament builds on the Old Testament.  The Old Testament writers, “were given words from the very mind of God, and were frequently moved to write far more truth than they appreciated – 1 Peter 1:10-12, 2 Peter 1:20-21.

Exodus:

Inside the Holy Place

1). A Table with twelve loaves of equal size known as the showbread – Exodus 25:23-30, 37:10-16, Leviticus 24:5-6.

– Each loaf represented one of the twelve tribes of Israel whether great or small.

– This displays God’s grace which is equally distributed because of Christ’s merits.

**The ‘bread of presence’ signifies God’s presence with his people (Exodus 25:30).

– As the bread fed the priests, so Jesus the bread of life, is food for our souls (John 6:25-59).

– We feed on him by reading his word (Job 23:12, Psalms 119:103, 1 Peter 2:2-3).

– The bakers used the finest flour to make the twelve loaves (Leviticus 24:5-9).  Christ is the bread of the very finest floor – no imperfection in him.

2). The lampstand– Gave light to the priests in the Holy place and pictures Christ as the light of the world (John 1:6-9, 8:12).

– He gave sight to a man born blind from birth; he gives sight to sinners blinded from birth by Satan (John 9:1-4, 2 Cor 4:4).

– Christ shines through believers (Matt 5:14-16, Phil 2:14-16).

– The lampstand was made of gold – perhaps to signify Christ as the divine king; and was constantly light by pure oil – a symbol of the Holy Spirit (Exodus 27:20-21)

– The lampstand had six branches plus the central one making seven. Number seven speaks of completion, representing the entire church of God, throughout all history and drawn from all ethnic groups (Rev 7:9)

– Christ’s church is represented as a lampstand in Zechariah 4 and Revelation 1

– Zechariah sees seven branched lampstands into which flows oil from the two olive trees, whereas John sees seven separate lampstands. The former signifies he unity of the universal church and the latter, the independence of each local church.

– The two olive trees indicate the Holy Spirit who equips the church from her task of reflecting the character of God, the light in a dark world. The church cannot exhaust the oil of God’s sustaining grace.

– The lampstand is made of gold to denote that the church is pure through Christ’s blood.

– John sees the risen Lord Jesus Christ – the prophet, priest and king “among the lampstand” (Rev 1:13). He directs each church, he knows the success and the sorrows of every church and member (Rev 1: 2-3).