The Showbread Table had a crown made of gold, unlike the Burnt Offering Altar. Back there in the Outer Court, all was about washing, judgement and death at the bronze-coated Laver and Burnt Offering Altar. Here in the Holy Place, all is about life, food, light and fragrant incense. Therefore "we see Jesus who was made a little lower than the angels, because of the suffering of death" in the Outer Court, but at the Showbread Table (and at the Golden Incense Altar) in the Holy Place we see Jesus "crowned with glory and honour" (Hebrews 2:9).

On the Showbread Table were placed twelve loaves of unleavened bread, one for each of the twelve tribes of Israel. The loaves were replaced every week freshly on the Sabbath (Leviticus 24:5-9): fresh food in the house of God for the priests, Aaron and his sons. Peter tells us that those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ (I Peter 1:8), who have tasted that the Lord is gracious (I Peter 2:3) are not only a spiritual house, but also a holy priesthood, a royal priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (I Peter 2:5,9). As priests, we are ministering to the Lord through faith in Jesus' blood and the anointing of the Holy Spirit. Our food, in addition to some of the offerings, is the fresh bread on the golden Showbread Table: Jesus as the Bread of God who came down from heaven to give LIFE to the world (John 6:33), crowned with glory and honour.

The twelve loaves represent the whole people of God, in God's house (the church, I Timothy 3:15), in fellowship with one another (I John 1:7).

The loaves of unleavened bread remind us of the Lord Jesus saying "I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger" (John 6:35). This unlimited supply of heavenly food, fresh every week, is to be the portion of the priests in the light from the Lampstand (Colossians 1:12). Every day we need to come to Him (John 6:37), see the Son and believe in Him (John 6:40); He is the living Bread, that came down from heaven to give us His life, life IN us (John 6:51,53). This life is brought to us firstly as the Spirit who gives life (John 6:63) and secondly, as the words of eternal life (John 6:68). Today, Jesus Christ can only give His life to us through His word and by His Spirit. The black-and-white word of the scriptures alone is not enough for life (John 5:39-40). We must come to Him in the word AND in the Spirit.

The Showbread is also called the Bread of the Presence. To eat Christ as the Bread of Life, we (the priests) must be in the presence of God, who is Spirit (John 4:24). The Showbread is for all the priests, in fellowship with one another in God's presence.

Based on the parable in Luke 11:5-8, we need the Bread of Life not just for ourselves (as in the daily bread in Luke 11:3), but also for our needy friends, who come to us on their journey. Jesus makes it clear: people in the world are hungry, but the flesh profits nothing (John 6:35,62). Jesus came that He might give life to the world, so that those who believe in Him may have eternal life (John 6:33,47). Therefore, we should ask, seek and knock in prayer (Luke 11:9), until He gives us as much Bread of life as we need for ourselves and for our friends (Luke 11:8). Our heavenly Father delights to do this! (Luke 11:13).
 The Lampstand was made of solid, pure gold, beaten out of a single piece. It was placed towards the left side of the Holy Place, the South side. Exodus does not give us either the dimensions or the pattern of the Lampstand, but we do know it had branches and that the bowls were to be formed like almonds in blossom. The lampstand was therefore like a tree of gold. "In Him was life and the life was the light of men" (John 1:4).

The Lampstand was lit permanently, to give light inside the Holy Place. "The true light which enlightens every man was coming into the world" (John 1:9).

The priests in the Tabernacle were responsible, evening and morning, for topping up the seven lamps with oil and trimming their wicks. Jesus said "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life" (John 8:12). Therefore, the lampstand points us to Jesus Christ Himself, the light of the whole world.

We need the Lord's light; in His light we see light (Psalm 36:9). It was when God commanded His light to shine in our hearts that we began to see how excellent it is to know Jesus Christ, compared to all other things (II Corinthians 4:6). We also began to see how greatly blinded and deceived we had become by the god of this world and by our own lusts (II Corinthians 4:4 Titus 3:3).

We not only need to see His light, we need to walk in His light (I John 1:5-7; Ephesians 1:18; 5:5-8). This will involve the Lord shining on many things that do not reflect Him. We should confess anything shined on in our conscience to our Advocate in heaven, Jesus Christ the Righteous, who gave Himself for our sins (I John 1:9; 2:1-2). This kind of inner working is the functioning of the light of life: the priests trimmed the wicks of the lamps in the lampstand and re-filled the bowls with oil and the light burned brightly again (compare Revelation 1:12-13).

Once our conscience is clear and we are walking in the light, we are then the light of the world, as Jesus said in Matthew 5:14-16. We can shine for the Lord in the midst of this dark and dirty generation (Philippians 2:15).

This is the experience of the Light in an individual way, but the lampstand has seven lamps (seven is the number of completion). Therefore, the lampstand is composed of multiple lamps (people) having similar experiences: the local church (Revelation 2:1-7, for example)

The lampstand was formed by beating a solid lump of gold. First the central stem was beaten out. Then from the central stem the branches were beaten out. This shows us Christ and His members in His body (I Corinthians 12:12). When Jesus came He was the unique Light of the World. Then Peter, James and John were 'beaten out', established in Christ (II Corinthians 1:21). We know that the three lamps on either side were lit from the lamp in the central stem, when the lampstand was set up. This indicates that Christ 'lit' Peter, James, John and the other early disciples and they began to follow Him, the Light of the World.

Then after His death and resurrection, the Lord Jesus came to them and breathed the Holy Spirit into them (John 20:22) and poured out the Holy Spirit upon them (Acts 2:33). Peter was on fire. Stephen caught the flame, then Philip; they came together with many others to be the church in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1), the lampstand there, beaten out of one source, the Lord Jesus Christ. The lampstand is all gold: it is God's work. "Work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who operates in you both the willing and the working for His good pleasure" (Philippians 2:12-13).

By the time of the apostle John, in the book of Revelation, there are seven churches in Asia (Revelation chapters 1 to 3) that are still the objects of Christ's care and attention. There is one church in each of seven cities (1:20) and it is still God's work: the Son of Man, Jesus, is walking in the midst of the seven churches, which are seven golden lampstands. They are not plastic, they are gold. They are answerable not to men, but to Jesus, the Son of Man in His priestly role.

Christ speaks to each church in turn. At the start of the letter to each church, one or more of the characteristics of Christ in John's vision (in chapter 1) is/are applied directly to the situation of that church. Whatever the Lord Jesus Christ is, it is for His churches, His lampstands, to experience. At the end of the letter to each church, the Spirit is there, applying what has been said to those who have an ear to hear (Revelation chapters 2 and 3).

The aged apostle John is not there as organisational head; he is in exile because of the word of God and because of the testimony of Jesus (1:9). Christ is the Director, the Boss. He is tending the lampstands (1:13). John is a brother and companion in tribulation with those he writes to (1:9).

Eventually, at the end of the book of Revelation, the New Jerusalem will be one enormous golden lampstand, not requiring any more trimming. There will be no darkness to combat any more, just the flowing of the river of water of life, with the tree of life, from the throne of God and the Lamb (22:1-2). This will be the consummate Tabernacle of God with men, having the glory of God; He will dwell with us for ever and we will be His people and He will be our God (21:3). How we look forward to that day! "Surely I am coming quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus! (22:21)