When we think of the Tabernacle or the Temple, most of the time we think about a series of curtains with two distinct rooms containing the holy place in the front and the holy of holies in the back. The first was reserved for the priests, but the holy of holies was only for the High Priest.
But apart from the Ark of the Covenant, do you know what’s actually in those two rooms?
I’ll admit that I lose track of what’s actually there every so often. If you asked me now, I could probably only name a few, but one of them, according to Exodus 25:30 is the table of showbread.
Bread is an interesting thing to place inside of a holy place. For starters, it doesn’t really last. Most bread becomes moldy after a week or so, which is probably why God told the priests to replace it every week (Leviticus 24:8).
Secondly, it’s just so…ordinary. There’s literally nothing special about bread at all. You can buy a loaf for less than two dollars at just about any store on the planet.
Showbread isn’t just ordinary bread, though. According to Leviticus 24, it was made of “fine flour” and according to exact specifications. Then, when the cakes were finished, they were placed in two rows of six on the table (that was also, just like the Ark and the dishes on the table, covered in gold).
When it came time to replace the showbread, nobody but the priests were allowed to eat it. The only recorded exception to this rule comes from 1 Samuel 21 when David ate the consecrated bread on the run from Saul. In this instance, the bread was eaten as a way to simply keep them alive, provided that David and his companions were already pure.
Regardless of the opulence of the bread, the meaning behind this table and its contents was fellowship with God. Remember that although grain was a gift, the creation of bread came from man’s hands. To give bread back to God was a form of sacrifice. The literal word for showbread is “bread of the face,” indicating that they placed this offering directly in the face of God.
Bread isn’t enough for man to live on, however (Matthew 4:4). We need the real food that comes from God, so it’s only fitting that while the physical bread was laid in the holy place, the Word of God written on tablets resided in the most holy place. That’s where real nourishment takes place.
