In 16:33 we see that an omer full of manna was placed in a pot and laid up before the Lord to be kept for future generations. Hebrews 9:4 speaks of “the golden pot that had the manna.” Thus, the hidden manna was in a golden pot. The manna concealed in the golden pot signifies that our life is hidden with Christ in God. In Colossians 3:3 Paul tells us that our “life has been hidden with Christ in God.” The Christ hidden in God is the manna hidden in the golden pot.
In the Bible gold signifies the divine nature. According to 2 Peter 1:4, we are partakers of this divine nature. Only the nature of God, the divine nature, can preserve Christ as our hidden manna. Praise the Lord that within us we have a golden pot; that is, we have the divine nature. We cannot preserve Christ in our mind or emotion. We can preserve Him only in the divine nature which we have within us through regeneration. Actually, the divine nature within us is God Himself. The manna in the golden pot indicates that the very Christ whom we enjoy as our life supply is preserved in the divine nature which is now in our inmost being. Christ is our special portion of food hidden in the divine nature. When we touch the divine nature, the golden pot, we enjoy Christ as the manna hidden within it.
The golden pot with the hidden manna was inside the ark of the testimony in the Holy of Holies (Heb. 9:3-4). Most of us realize that the ark typifies Christ. Christ as the manna is preserved in the divine nature, and the divine nature is in Christ typified by the ark. This Christ is in our spirit, which in our experience is the Holy of Holies.
Once again we see that this is difficult to understand doctrinally. However, if we apply this picture of the manna, the golden pot, and the ark to our spiritual experience, we shall be able to understand it. We all can testify that we surely have enjoyed Christ. We have also seen that the Christ whom we enjoy becomes the Christ we preserve. We enjoy one omer of manna, and we also preserve one omer. The Christ we enjoy is preserved in the divine nature that is within us. This divine nature is altogether in Christ, the reality of the ark. Moreover, Christ is in our spirit. As we remain in the spirit, we contact Christ. In the Christ we contact is the divine nature which preserves the Christ we enjoy as the hidden manna.
Our spirit is for the church, in the church, and with the church. The church is composed not with our body or soul, but with our spirit. Ephesians 2:22 tells us that God’s dwelling place is in our spirit. We may even say that our spirit mingled with the divine Spirit is the church. When we enjoy Christ, we preserve Him in the divine nature which is in Christ who is in turn in our spirit. Since our spirit is for the church, with the church, and in the church, in experience we are actually God’s tabernacle today.