The Loaves

The loaves which were placed upon the table may be viewed in two ways: first, as a type of Christ who is food for His people (John 6:32-35), as the loaves were food for the priests in the sanctuary — next, as a type of God’s people accepted in Christ in all His perfection before God. Thus the loaves represented God’s earthly people, Israel, who in turn were a type of Christians, God’s heavenly people.
We learn from Leviticus 24:5-9 that these loaves were to be made of fine flour which would mark the evenness of character and perfection of ways that marked the Lord Jesus in His lowly path on earth — a path which was ever to the glory of God.
Leaven, always a type of evil in Scripture, was excluded from all the offerings “made by fire” (Lev. 2:11). The fittingness of no leaven in the loaves can readily be seen, for thought of evil cannot be connected with Christ who is “the bread of life,” and who is the food for His people.
The priests were to eat the bread in the sanctuary; now the believer feeds upon Christ in the sanctuary of God’s presence. He cannot enjoy both Christ and the world. If Christ is the object of his heart, he has lost his relish for the world with its unsatisfying pleasures and vanities (Col. 3:1-3). If he seeks enjoyment in the world, the sanctuary is not his place; Christ in whom he professes to believe does not satisfy the heart.
The loaves were twelve in number, placed in two rows of six each. In this connection we can see how they were used as a type of Israel. The twelve tribes were represented in the twelve loaves, and being held, and that securely, by the table which was a type of Christ, their acceptance before God stands out to our admiring gaze; and this is seen again in the “pure frankincense” which was to be poured on each row, for this speaks of the sweet fragrance of Christ to God. How blessed it all is! “Accepted in the beloved” — loved as He is loved! Dear reader, Do you know what it is to have the “pure frankincense” poured upon you, and can you rejoice in that word, “As He is, so are we in this world”? (1 John 4:17).