Exodus 37:10-16 – God wants our fellowship

The Ark was the most important piece of furniture in the Tabernacle. It was placed in the Holy of holies. The material that was used to make it, the mercy seat, and all three items placed in the Ark, they all show us something about God. Having revealed to us some of the nature of God through the Ark of the Covenant, we are now given a glimpse of other aspects of God through the Table of Shewbread described in Exodus 37:10-16. Like the Ark, this table was also made of acacia wood overlaid with gold.

This table was about three feet tall, three feet in length and one and a half feet in width, with gold trimmings around its edge. It also had four gold rings cast on its four corners to hold the two poles for the purpose of transportation. Besides this table, golden plates and dishes and bowls and its pitchers for the pouring out of drink offerings were made.

What does this Table of Shewbread tell the Israelites and us today? It showed them that the one who provided for them was God. In much the same way it now tells us that God is our provider. As the 12 loaves were offered to God, so also must the 12 tribes be offered to God. Like them, the bread that was given as an offering to God teaches us that we too must offer ourselves to God. We give ourselves in totality to God to serve Him and His purpose.

The bread also showed the Israelites that they were intricately bound to God by covenant. In Leviticus 24:5-8 referring to the shewbread the Israelites were told, “Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it; two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake. You shall set them in two rows, six to a row, on the pure gold table before the Lord. You shall put pure frankincense on each row that it may be a memorial portion for the bread, even an offering by fire to the Lord. Every sabbath day he shall set it in order before the Lord continually; it is an everlasting covenant for the sons of Israel.”  It was to be an everlasting covenant, meaning a binding relationship between God and them. A covenant always included a meal, so the Table of Shewbread tells us that God wants to fellowship with us and commune with us. He wants to sit with us at the table in fellowship. He not only provides but He also wants to have an intimate fellowship with us. Do not neglect time with God. He yearns for the time that we will come to Him and share fellowship with Him. May the desire David expressed in Psalms 27:4 be our desire too. May we pray like him saying, “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.”