Opposite the lampstand in the Holy Place of the Mosaic tabernacle is the table for bread.

“And you shall make a table of acacia wood, two cubits long and one cubit wide and one and a half cubits high.  And you shall overlay it with pure gold and make a gold border around it.  …  And you shall make its dishes and its pans and its jars and its bowls, with which to pour libations; you shall make them of pure gold.”  Exodus 25:23-24,29  NASB

On this table, overlaid with gold and just a little over two feet in height, there were dishes, jars, and bowls for libations (drink offerings) made of gold.  Twelve loaves of bread were placed on this table every Sabbath.

“Then you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it; two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake.  And you shall set them in two rows, six to a row, on the pure gold table before the LORD.  And 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.”  Leviticus 24:5-8

The table was to hold bread continually, and the application of frankincense seems to remove concern about whether this bread was leavened or unleavened.

It is easy to give spiritual meaning to the gold-plated table and the beard, for Jesus stated clearly that He is the bread of life.

“I am the bread of life.”  John 6:48  NASB

This table with bread is similar to the lampstand; that is, Jesus as the bread of life is supported by the church.  This table with bread and drink also suggests the last supper of Jesus with His twelve disciples when bread and wine were shared around a table.

And as they were reclining at table and eating  …  And while eating, He took some bread, and after a blessing He broke it; and gave it to them, and said, “Take it; this is My body.”  And He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them; and they all drank from it.  And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant, which is to be shed on behalf of many.”  Mark 14:18,22-24  NASB

Note that Jesus and the apostles were gathered around a low table (reclining at table and eating).  So we get a clear connection with the table of bread and drink in the Holy Place in the Mosaic tabernacle and the last supper.

Jesus not only satisfies hunger as the bread of life, but he also satisfies thirst as the living water.

Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If any man is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink.  He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water.’ ”  John 7:37-38  NASB

Just as the natural body needs food and drink, Jesus offered Himself as food and drink for our (spiritual) body.  In other words, Jesus is our source to sustain (spiritual) life.

Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me shall not hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst.”  John 6:35  NASB

The bread and drink offered by Jesus were also characterized as His flesh and blood.

Jesus therefore said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life; and I will raise him up on the last day.  My flesh is true food, and My blood is true drink.  He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him.  As the living Father sent Me, and I live because of the Father, so he who eats Me, he also shall live because of Me.  This is the bread which came down out of heaven; not as the fathers ate, and died, he who eats this bread shall live forever.”  John 6:53-58  NASB

That humanity would eat bread (of life) was foretold by God Almighty long ago to the man Adam in the garden of Eden.  In His curses in the garden (Gen 3:17-19), God Almighty decreed the three spiritual phases of humanity by the sequence of what humanity would eat: 1) thorns and thistles, 2) plants of the field, and 3) bread.  The thorns and thistles phase started with the man Adam and ended with the flood.  The plants of the field phase started with Noah and his sons.  The third phase of bread had a fulfillment in the natural when Abram/Abraham’s descendants, the Israelites, received manna, the bread from heaven.  However, with Jesus, we have the fulfillment in the spiritual of the bread phase.  So as promised, humanity can now eat the spiritual bread of life through Jesus.

“I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.  This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.”  John 6:48-50  NASB

Humanity gains eternal life by eating the spiritual bread from Heaven.   In addition, we know that eating spiritual food means doing the will of the one offering the food.  Therefore, those who eat of the bread from heaven will do the will of God Almighty.  As many can attest to, doing the will of God Almighty is difficult, and the phrase by the sweat of your face associated with bread in God Almighty’s curse is quite descriptive of that endeavor.

In the garden of Eden the man Adam and the woman Eve were offered a choice of spiritual food, described as fruit of trees, which they could eat.  We face the same choice, but it is now presented in terms of the type of bread one eats.  We have seen that there is good bread, the bread from heaven which brings eternal life.  There is also bad bread which brings death.

Clean out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, just as you are in fact unleavened.  For Christ our Passover also has been sacrificed.  Let us therefore celebrate the feast, not with old leaven, nor with the leaven of malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.  1Corinthians 5:7-8  NASB

So, there is unleavened bread that leads to eternal life and leavened bread that leads to death.

And the disciples came to the other side and had forgotten to take bread.  And Jesus said to them, “Watch out and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  And they began to discuss among themselves, saying, “It is because we took no bread.”  But Jesus, aware of this, said, “You men of little faith, why do you discuss among yourselves because you have no bread?  Do you not yet understand or remember the five loaves of the five thousand, and how many large baskets you took up?  Or the seven loaves of the four thousand, and how many baskets you took up?  How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread?  But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”  Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.  Matthew 16:5-12  NASB

Leavened bread, spiritual food tainted with sin, is the counterfeit offered by Satan of the true bread from heaven, which is unleavened and provides eternal life.  If we eat the leavened bread, we are doing the will of Satan, which results in death.  On the other hand, if we eat the unleavened bread, the bread from heaven, we are doing the will of Jesus Christ and God Almighty, which results in life.

Moses, the provider of bread and water for the Israelites in the desert, is a type for Jesus, the provider of spiritual bread and spiritual water for humanity.

Jesus therefore said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread out of heaven, but it is My Father who gives you the true bread out of heaven.  For the bread of God is that which comes down out of heaven, and gives life to the world.”    John 6:32-33  NASB

The following chart displays that which occurred with Moses as a pattern for what God Almighty did in Jesus’ first coming.

Both Moses and Jesus had life-changing events.  Moses’ life was changed when he had to flee the consequence of killing the Egyptian taskmaster.

And he went out the next day, and behold, two Hebrews were fighting with each other; and he said to the offender, “Why are you striking your companion?”  But he said, “Who made you a prince or a judge over us? Are you intending to kill me, as you killed the Egyptian?”  Then Moses was afraid, and said, “Surely the matter has become known.”  When Pharaoh heard of this matter, he tried to kill Moses.  But Moses fled from the presence of Pharaoh and settled in the land of Midian; and he sat down by a well.  Exodus 2:13-15  NASB

Jesus’ life was changed when he was baptized by John the Baptist.

And after being baptized, Jesus went up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove, and coming upon Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased.”  Matthew 3:16-17

Immediately after the life changing event, each spends 40 years/days in the wilderness.  After fleeing because of Pharaoh’s wrath, Moses spent 40 years in the wilderness before being called by God Almighty in a burning bush.

“AND AT THIS REMARK MOSES FLED, AND BECAME AN ALIEN IN THE LAND OF MIDIAN, where he became the father of two sons.  And after forty years had passed, AN ANGEL APPEARED TO HIM IN THE WILDERNESS OF MOUNT Sinai, IN THE FLAME OF A BURNING BUSH.”  Acts 7:29-30  NASB

After His baptism by water, baptism by the Spirit, and adoption as a son, Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness before beginning His ministry.

And He was in the wilderness forty days being tempted by Satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels were ministering to Him.  Mark 1:13  NASB

Before they returned from the wilderness, both were attacked by spiritual forces.  Moses was attacked by God Almighty while journeying to Egypt.

Now it came about at the lodging-place on the way that the LORD met him and sought to put him to death.  Exodus 4:24  NASB

No reason is stated directly for this attack on Moses that would bring him death of the body.

Similarly, in the wilderness after His baptism, Jesus was attacked by Satan, who would bring Him death.

And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led about by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, while tempted by the devil.  And He ate nothing during those days; and when they had ended, He became hungry.  Luke 4:1  NASB

It is interesting that Jesus, the bread of life for humanity, was tempted with bread by Satan.

And the tempter came and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”  Matthew 4:3  NASB

Here we have the suggestion that Satan’s counterfeit for the bread of life is but a stone.

Both men were aided in the wilderness after the attacks.  The attack on Moses ended when Moses’ wife Zipporah circumcised one of their sons.

Then Zipporah took a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and threw it at Moses’ feet, and she said, “You are indeed a bridegroom of blood to me.”  So He let him alone.  At that time she said, “You are a bridegroom of blood” — because of the circumcision.  Exodus 4:25-26  NASB

So, it appears the issue was that Moses had not followed God Almighty’s covenant of circumcision implemented with Abraham.  The fact that the wife performed the circumcision suggests that Moses was unwilling or incapacitated in some way.  Regardless, the circumcision ended the attack.

While Moses was aided by his wife, Jesus was aided by angels.

Then the devil left Him; and behold, angels came and began to minister to Him.   Matthew 4:11  NASB

After the spiritual attacks, both Moses and Jesus returned to the place of a significant event of their youth.  Moses returned to Egypt and confronted Pharaoh.

And afterward Moses and Aaron came and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ‘Let My people go that they may celebrate a feast to Me in the wilderness.’ ”  Exodus 5:1  NASB

Jesus returned to teach in the temple.

Jesus answered him, “I have spoken openly to the world; I always taught in synagogues, and in the temple, where all the Jews come together; and I spoke nothing in secret.”  John 18:20  NASB

Through Moses and Jesus, God Almighty supplied daily bread.  Through Moses, God Almighty provided daily bread for the physical body.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.”  Exodus 16:4  NASB

Through Jesus, God Almighty provided daily bread for the spiritual body.  Jesus in the Lord’s Prayer taught us to ask for daily bread.

Give us each day our daily bread.  Luke 11:3  NASB

And Jesus is that daily bread.

“I am the bread of life.  Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and they died.  This is the bread which comes down out of heaven, so that one may eat of it and not die.”  John 6:48-50  NASB

In addition to bread, both Moses and Jesus supplied water.  Moses brought forth water from the rock for the children of Israel.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and take in your hand your staff with which you stuck the Nile, and go.  Behold, I will stand before you there on the rock at Horeb; and you shall strike the rock, and water will come out of it, that the people may drink.”  And Moses did so in the sight of the elders of Israel.  Exodus 17:5-6  NASB

Jesus supplied spiritual water for the people.

Jesus answered and said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water shall thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life.”  John 4:13-14  NASB

God Almighty performed wonders and signs through both Moses and Jesus.  There were miracles during Moses’ ministries.

“This Moses whom they disowned, saying, ‘WHO MADE YOU A RULER AND A JUDGE?’ is the one whom God sent to be both a ruler and a deliverer with the help of the angel who appeared to him in the thorn bush.  This man led them out, performing wonders and signs in the land of Egypt and in the Red Sea and in the wilderness for forty years.”  Acts 7:35-36  NASB

Jesus performed wonders and signs as well.

“Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a man attested to you by God with miracles and wonders and signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know-”  Acts 2:22  NASB

Both Moses and Jesus met with God Almighty in a cloud upon a mountain.  God Almighty came to Moses upon Mount Sinai.

So he cut out two stone tablets like the former ones, and Moses rose up early in the morning and went up to Mount Sinai, as the LORD had commanded him, and he took two stone tablets in his hand.  And the LORD descended in the cloud and stood there with him as he called upon the name of the LORD.  Exodus 34:4-5  NASB

God Almighty came to Jesus in a cloud upon the Mount of Transfiguration.

And six days later Jesus took with Him Peter and James and John his brother, and brought them up to a mountain by themselves.  And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.  And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.  …  While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and behold, a voice out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; hear Him!”  Matthew 17:1-3,5  NASB

Meeting with God Almighty caused their faces to shine.  Moses’ face was still shinning when he came down from the mountain.

And it came about when Moses was coming down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the testimony were in Moses’ hand as he was coming down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him.  Exodus 34:29  NASB

But if the ministry of death, in letters engraved on stones, came with glory, so that the sons of Israel could not look intently at the face of Moses because of the glory of his face, fading as is was, how shall the ministry of the Spirit fail to be even more with glory?  2Corinthians 3:7-8  NASB

Jesus’ face shone like the sun, and His clothing became white and shinning.

And He was transfigured before them; and His face shone like the sun, and His garments became as white as light.  Matthew 17:2  NASB

Both Moses and Jesus offered to give up their life as atonement for the sins of their followers.  Moses offered to give his life for the people of Israel.

And it came about on the next day that Moses said to the people, “You yourselves have committed a great sin; and now I am going up to the LORD, perhaps I can make atonement for your sin.”  Then Moses returned to the LORD, and said, “Alas, this people has committed a great sin, and they have made a god of gold for themselves.  But now, if Thou wilt, forgive their sin – and if not, please blot me out from Thy book which Thou hast written!”  Exodus 32:30-32  NASB

There is a progression.  Isaac, did not offer himself as a sacrifice, but was offered as one by his father (Gen 22:9-10).  Moses offered himself as a sacrifice for others, but was not accepted.  Finally, Jesus offered Himself as a sacrifice for the sins of others, and His sacrifice was acceptable.

For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, in order that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit;  1Peter 3:18-19  NASB

Both Moses and Jesus introduced a new covenant to their followers.  Moses introduced the covenant of the Law.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write down these words, for in accordance with these words I have made a covenant with you and Israel.”  Exodus 34:27  NASB

Jesus replaced the covenant of the Law with the blessing/covenant of the Spirit.

Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God, who also made us adequate as servants of a new covenant, not of the letter, but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.  2Corinthians 3:5-6  NASB

After death and resurrection, each of them visited humanity.  Moses visited with Jesus and the three apostles at the transfiguration.

And behold, Moses and Elijah appeared to them, talking with Him.  Matthew 17:3  NASB

Jesus, after His death and resurrection, appeared several times to different groups.

And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him.  Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they shall see Me.”  Matthew 28:9-10  NASB

Thus, Moses is a pattern for Jesus during His ministry.

Though there is much to compare with Moses and Jesus, there is one important contrast.

Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.  Hebrews 3:5-6  NASB

Moses, the mediator of the Law in the Old Testament, was a servant of God Almighty.  Jesus, the mediator of the new blessing/covenant of grace, was a Son of God Almighty.  Likewise partakers of this new covenant of grace have the opportunity to become sons of God Almighty.

And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father!”  Therefore you are no longer a slave, but a son; and if a son, then an heir through God.  Galatians 4:6-7  NASB

For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.  Romans 8:14  NASB

Three times (divine completeness) during His ministry Jesus offered bread to His followers.  The first two occasions were when Jesus fed a multitude with loaves of bread and fish.  In Mark 6, Jesus feed the five thousand.

And they reclined in companies of hundreds and of fifties.  And He took the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up toward heaven, He blessed the food and broke the loaves and He kept giving them to the disciples to set before them; and He divided up the two fish among them all.  Mark 6:40-41  NASB

In Mark 8, Jesus feed the four thousand.

And He directed the multitude to sit down on the ground; and taking the seven loaves, He gave thanks and broke them, and began giving them to His disciples to serve to them, and they served them to the multitude.  Mark 8:6  NASB

Notice how the bread is distributed.  Jesus gave the bread to the disciples who then served the bread to the people.  This provides a pattern in which apostles, disciples, ministers, and leaders are a conduit for bringing the bread of life to the people.

The third occasion for sharing bread was when Jesus had His last supper with the disciples.  On this occasion Jesus shared bread and wine and offered Himself as the bread of life (Mark 14:18,22-24).  This gives us a new perspective for the previous two times when Jesus provided bread.  Though it was not stated in the story, we may view Jesus feeding bread to the multitudes as Jesus offering Himself as the bread of life to humanity.