Exodus 25:23

“Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood, etc.] As the sanctuary or tabernacle was an house for God to dwell in, he would have the proper furniture of an house, as a table, candlestick, etc. This table was to be in the same place with the ark and mercy seat; they were set in the holy of holies, where there were nothing else; but this in the holy place, on the north side of it, (<022635>Exodus 26:35 40:22) its principal use was to set the shewbread on, as after mentioned, and was typical of Christ, and communion with him, both in this life, and that to come. There is the table of the Lord, to which his people are now admitted, where he sits down with them, and they with him, to have…”

“table of shittim wood--of the same material and decorations as the ark [see on Exo 25:5], and like it, too, furnished with rings for the poles on which it was carried [Exo 25:26]. The staves, however, were taken out of it when stationary, in order not to encumber the priests while engaged in their services at the table. It was half a cubit less than the ark in length and breadth, but of the same height. [See on Exo 25:10.]”

“(Compare Exodus 37:10-16.) The table and the candlestick figured on the Arch of Titus at Rome are those of the Maccabaean times, but made as nearly as possible after the ancient models reproduced under the direction of Solomon and Zerubbabel. The details and size of the figure, and the description of Josephus, appear to agree very nearly with the directions here given to Moses, and to illustrate them in several particulars. Josephus says that the table was like the so-called Delphic tables, richly ornamented pieces of furniture in use amongst the Romans, which were sometimes, if not always, covered with gold or silver. Exodus 25:24 See Exodus 25:11 note. The moulding of the table is still…”

“This table was to stand not in the holy of holies, (nothing was in that but the ark with its appurtenances) but in the outer part of the tabernacle, called the sanctuary or holy place. This table was to be always furnished with the shew - bread, or bread of faces, twelve loaves, one for each tribe, set in two rows, six in a row. As the ark signified God's being present with them, so the twelve loaves signified their being presented to God. This bread was designed to be, a thankful acknowledgment of God's goodness to them in giving them their daily bread, a token of their communion with God; this bread on God's table being made of the same corn as the bread on their own tables. And a type of…”

“25:23-30 The table of acacia wood stood on the north side of the main room of the sanctuary, the Holy Place (26:35). It reminded the people that God would provide sustenance for them. Above all, that sustenance was his presence (25:30).”

“a table: Exo 37:10-16, Exo 40:22, Exo 40:23; Lev 24:6; Num 3:31; Kg1 7:48; Ch1 28:16; Ch2 4:8, Ch2 4:19; Eze 40:41, Eze 40:42; Heb 9:2 shittim wood: Shittim wood is probably the acacia Nilotica. St. Jerome says, that the shittim wood grows in the deserts of Arabia, and is like white thorn, as to its colour and leaves; but the tree is so large as to furnish very long planks. The wood is hard, tough, and extremely beautiful. It is thought he means the black acacia, because that is the most common tree in the deserts of Arabia. It is of the size of a large mulberry tree. The spreading branches and larger limbs are armed with thorns, which grow three together. The bark is rough; and the leaves…”

“The Table of Shew-Bread (cf. Exo 37:10-16). \- The table for the shew-bread ( Exo 25:30) was to be made of acacia-wood, two cubits long, one broad, and one and a half high, and to be plated with pure gold, having a golden wreath round, and a "finish (מסגּרת) of a hand-breadth round about," i.e., a border of a hand-breadth in depth surrounding and enclosing the four sides, upon which the top of the table was laid, and into the four corners of which the feet of the table were inserted. A golden wreath was to be placed round this rim. As there is no article attached to זר־זהב in Exo 25:25 (cf. Exo 37:12), so as to connect it with the זר in Exo 25:24, we must conclude that there were two such…”