What was Show (sp?) Bread in the Jewish Temple?

Question

Was it displayed or what?

Answer 1

As you would enter the Jewish temple, you would see to your right a table with a few loaves of "shewbread" (showbread) on it. This symbolized the Messiah who was to come. Jesus said, "I am the bread of life." In fact, you'll find that everything in the OT rituals and in the temple pointed forward to Christ! It's unfortunate that when the Messiah finally did come, they rejected him. But that was nothing new. They also rejected all the OT prophets that came to warn them (Isaiah, Elijah, Elisha, John the Baptist, etc.) For about 2,000 years, the ancient Israelites had been the chosen people to carry God's Word, but, according to prophecy, their probation ended with the stoning of Stephen in AD 34, and then the Gospel went out to the Gentiles. Just to make sure they got the point, God also destroyed the temple in Jerusalem in AD 70, and scattered the Jews throughout the world.
When Christ died on the cross, the temple veil was torn in two from top to bottom, exposing the Holiest of Holies, and signifying that the sacrifice of animals and oblation had come to an end.

Answer 2

The "showbread" was placed on a small table (in the Tabernacle) that was overlaid with gold. The table held 12 loaves of bread, representing the 12 tribes of Israel. The priests baked the bread and it was to stay on the table for a week....every Sabbath day the priests would eat it and replace it with new bread (only priests could eat the bread).

The table and the bread were a symbol of God’s fellowship with man. It was a "picture" of God's invitation to be in fellowship with us...

Answer 3

From what I understand, it was unlevened bread that symbolized the bread and manna that the Israelites had during the exodus from Egypt.

Here is the info from Wiki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Showbread

Answer 4

There were two rows, each containing 6 each, totaling twelve cakes of unleavened bread.

They represented the twelve tribes of Israel.