The connection of these instructions with what precedes is this. The Israelites were not only to offer themselves to Yahweh on special days of the year, but they were to worship and serve Him every day of the year. The daily refueling and burning of the lamps and the uninterrupted presentation of the showbread to Yahweh represented the daily sanctification of the people to their God.268
The Israelites donated the oil for the lamps (vv. 1-4).
It symbolized them ". . . as a congregation which caused its light to shine in the darkness of this world . . ."269
In this offering Israel offered its life to God daily for consumption in His service of bringing light to the nations (cf. Zech. 4; Isa. 42:6).
The flour for the twelve loaves of showbread, one for each of the tribes of Israel, was likewise a gift of the people that represented their sanctification to God (vv. 5-9). The flour represented the fruit of the Israelites' labors, their good works. It lay before God's presence continually in the holy place. The addition of incense to the bread (v. 7) represented the spirit of prayer (dependence) that accompanied the Israelites' sacrifice of work. The priests placed fresh loaves on the table of showbread each Sabbath day.270
