Construction (Exodus 25:23–30)
"Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about."
Acacia wood overlaid with pure gold — the same recurring two-natures construction as the Ark and the Altar of Incense. About three feet long, eighteen inches wide, two and a quarter feet high. A crown of gold around the top edge — a small ornamental rim. Four rings of gold at the four corners, with staves of acacia overlaid with gold for transport.
The plates, dishes, bowls, and covers are all pure gold. "And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway."
The twelve loaves (Leviticus 24:5–9)
"And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof: two tenth deals shall be in one cake. And thou shalt set them in two rows, six on a row, upon the pure table before the LORD."
Twelve cakes — one for each tribe. Two rows of six. Frankincense laid on each row as a memorial. Renewed every Sabbath: the old bread came down, fresh bread went up. The displaced bread "shall be Aaron's and his sons; and they shall eat it in the holy place: for it is most holy unto him of the offerings of the LORD made by fire by a perpetual statute." Only the priests, only in the Holy Place, only as a holy thing. The bread was not for casual consumption; it was the food of those who served the Presence.
The Hebrew name is lechem panim (לֶחֶם פָּנִים) — bread of the face, or bread of the presence. The bread was not a snack stored in the tent; it was named for what it stood before. It was the bread that lived in the face of God.
David and the showbread (1 Samuel 21:1–6)
David, fleeing Saul, comes to Ahimelech the priest at Nob and asks for bread. Ahimelech replies that there is "no common bread under mine hand, but there is hallowed bread." David eats it. Centuries later, defending his disciples' eating of grain on the Sabbath, Jesus brings up the moment: "Have ye not read what David did, when he was an hungred, and they that were with him; how he entered into the house of God, and did eat the shewbread, which was not lawful for him to eat, neither for them which were with him, but only for the priests?" (Matthew 12:3–4; Mark 2:25–26).
Jesus is not loosening the law of the showbread. He is identifying himself with David. The bread of the Presence pointed forward to a Priest-King who would transcend the old access-system, opening to all his followers what was once reserved for the priests alone.
The typological argument — Christ the Bread of Life
"I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst" (John 6:35). "I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever" (John 6:51).
The twelve loaves: twelve tribes. The bread renewed every Sabbath: perpetual provision. The bread of the Presence: nourishment in the face of God. Christ is each of these in fulfillment. He is the living bread, given for the people of God, available perpetually, the sustenance of those who minister in the Presence.
The Lord's Supper (1 Corinthians 11:23–26) is the New Covenant's showbread. Where the old loaves were eaten by priests alone in the Holy Place, the new bread is eaten by the church in every place. Where the old bread fed twelve tribes, the new bread feeds Jew and Gentile gathered into one body. The Holy Place has become the gathered congregation.
Commentary
Matthew Henry, Exposition (PD): the showbread was always before the Lord, signifying that Christ's sacrifice and intercession are always before the Father, on behalf of his people. John Calvin, Institutes IV.17 on the Lord's Supper: the table of showbread was a type of that table where Christ now feeds his people; the priests in the Holy Place ate the bread of the Presence, but in Christ all believers are made priests (Revelation 1:6) and eat at the same table.
→ Cross-link: The Lampstand (light + bread paired) • John 1 — Tabernacled (Word made flesh, bread come down).