EXPOSITION
THE TABLE OF SHEW-BREAD. From the description of the ark, which constituted the sole furniture of the most holy place, God proceeded to describe the furniture of the holy place, or body of the tabernacle, which was to consist of three objects—
1. A table, called the table of shew-bread ("bread of presence" or "bread of setting-forth").
2. A candelabrum, or lamp-stand; and
3. An altar for the offering of incense. Of these the table seems to have been regarded as of primary importance; and its description is therefore made to follow immediately on that of the ark. It was of acacia wood, overlaid with pure gold, and was of the most ordinary shape—oblong-square, i.e; with four legs, one at each corner. The only peculiar features of the table, besides its material, were the border, or edging, which surrounded it at the top, the framework which strengthened the legs (Exodus 25:25), and the rings by which it was to be carried from place to place.