This piece of furniture stood on the north side of the holy place, the right side as the priest entered from the courtyard. The priests placed twelve loaves (large pieces) of unleavened bread in two rows or piles on this table where they remained for seven days.447They substituted twelve fresh loaves for the old bread each Sabbath (Lev. 24:5-8). The term "bread of the Presence"(v. 30) means these loaves lay before God's presence in the tabernacle. The Israelites did not offer this food for Yahweh to eat, as the pagans offered food to their gods.448
They did so "as a symbol of the spiritual food which Israel was to prepare (John 6:27; cf. 4:32, 34), a figurative representation of the calling it had received from God."449
"The twelve loaves constituted a perpetual thank offering to God from the twelve tribes for the blessings that they received from Him day by day."450
"By its opulence as by the containers and the food and drink placed continuously upon it and periodically renewed, this Table announces: He is here,' and there as one who gives sustenance."451
Perhaps the bread signified both God's provisions and Israel's vocation. Israel was to be a source of spiritual food for the world (19:5-6).
". . . the table and the bread of the Presence have been taken as a type of the church which stands in Christ's (the ark) presence."452
