An example of a biblical symbol or photograph is the tree of life in Genesis 2 and 3. What is the tree of life? In the Bible the tree of life is not actually a literal tree. Rather, the tree of life is a symbol of God as the source and reality of life. This means that the tree of life is a symbol of God as life.

Other symbols in the Old Testament are types of the church. The first of these types is Eve, the wife of Adam (Gen. 2:18-23). From Ephesians 5 we know that the relationship between husband and wife portrays the great mystery— Christ and the church. Without the picture of Eve as the counterpart, increase, and enlargement of Adam, we would not realize that the church is the counterpart, increase, and enlargement of Christ. Thus, we need the type of Eve to symbolize what the church is to Christ.

The Old Testament also uses the tabernacle and the temple as symbols to unveil another aspect of the church. Eve, the tabernacle, and the temple are all photographs of the church. The church is not only Christ's counterpart, symbolized by Eve, but also God's house, God's dwelling place, symbolized first by the tabernacle and then by the temple. If we did not have these two symbols, we would not understand many of the details concerning the church being God's dwelling place. From this we see that the biblical way is to use symbols to portray spiritual things, and we need to keep this in mind as we come to Psalm 45.

Psalm 45 was written in praise of King Solomon, who was a symbol, a type, of Christ with a wife composed of many "daughters," of many believers. If God had no need of a king to symbolize Christ in this way, Solomon would not have been created. The Bible clearly reveals that God's intention is that a man have only one wife, yet Solomon had hundreds of wives (1 Kings 11:1, 3). As far as Psalm 45 is concerned, we should understand this not ethically but typically. Ethically, Solomon should not have had many wives. Typically speaking, however, there was the need for a man with hundreds of wives so that God would have a particular type of the church composed of many believers from many nations. Solomon with his wives is a type of Christ with His corporate wife, a wife composed of believers from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation (Rev. 5:9).

Solomon did not follow God's regulation about having only one wife, and many readers of the Bible would condemn him for this. Nevertheless, in Psalm 45, written in praise of Solomon, Solomon is a type of Christ as the One with a corporate wife. If we would understand this, we need a mind that is renewed and enlightened with spiritual understanding. This is the reason I have pointed out that we should not come to this psalm with our natural mind. The natural mind is of no avail in understanding Psalm 45.