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Exo 25:23-40  Instructions About the Making of the Table of Shewbread and the Golden Candlestick

[Study Aired October 17, 2022]

Exo 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. 

Exo 25:24   And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about. 

Exo 25:25   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. 

Exo 25:26   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. 

Exo 25:27   Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table. 

Exo 25:28   And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them. 

Exo 25:29   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.

Exo 25:30   And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me always. 

Exo 25:31   And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. 

Exo 25:32   And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side:

Exo 25:33   Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick.

Exo 25:34   And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers. 

Exo 25:35   And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick. 

Exo 25:36   Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. 

Exo 25:37   And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it. 

Exo 25:38   And the tongs thereof, and the snuff dishes thereof, shall be of pure gold.

Exo 25:39   Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.

Exo 25:40   And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.

Introduction

Part One – What does the Table of Shewbread Signify?

The last part of Exodus chapter 25 focuses on instructions regarding the making of the Table of Shewbread and the Golden Candlestick. To appreciate today’s study better, we need to understand spiritually what the Table for Bread or the Shewbread and the Golden Candlestick signify. 

The Table for Bread or Shewbread is located on the right (North) side of the Holy Place within the Tabernacle. The primary purpose of the Table was to hold the Shewbread which was set before the Lord. Every Sabbath, the priests would replace the loaves from the previous week with a new batch of bread. Twelve loaves of bread were arranged into two rows of six, and these loaves represented the twelve tribes of Israel. 

Lev 24:5  And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. 

Lev 24:6  And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD. 

Lev 24:7  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. 

Lev 24:8  Every sabbath he shall set it in order before the LORD continually, being taken from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant. 

Lev 24:9  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 Shewbread represents our Lord Jesus Christ who is the bread of heaven or the heavenly manna. 

Joh 6:32   Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. 

Joh 6:33   For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven, and giveth life unto the world. 

Joh 6:34   Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. 

Joh 6:35   And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.

Apart from the Shewbread, other items placed on ‘the table for shewbread’ are vessels of plates, dishes, jars and bowls. The plates and the dishes were likely used to hold the frankincense. The jars and bowls were apparently used for offering.

Num 4:7  And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon:

The plates, dishes, jars and bowls symbolize the elect as shown in the following verse:

2Ti 2:20   But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour. 

2Ti 2:21   If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master’s use, and prepared unto every good work.

A Table is used often in the Bible to indicate where people gather to eat as shown by the following verses: 

2Sa 9:11   Then said Ziba unto the king, According to all that my lord the king hath commanded his servant, so shall thy servant do. As for Mephibosheth, said the king, he shall eat at my table, as one of the king’s sons.

1Ki 2:7  But shew kindness unto the sons of Barzillai the Gileadite, and let them be of those that eat at thy table: for so they came to me when I fled because of Absalom thy brother.

The Table of the Shewbread is not different – it is where the priests eat the Shewbread in the presence of the Lord. Aaron and his sons, representing the priesthood, were those alone privileged to eat the bread in the presence of the Lord in a holy place every Sabbath day. Aaron and his sons symbolize the elect who are privileged to eat the bread of heaven, that is, the words of the Lord in the presence of the Lord. So, the Lord’s commandment for Moses to make a Table for Shewbread is to show us how the Lord prepares us to be given eyes to see and ears to hear. 

Mat 13:16   But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear. 

Mat 13:17   For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

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