God’s covenant of promise is for God’s chosen people to inherit the inheritance promised by God, and God’s covenant of circumcision is a confirmation of His covenant of promise. Those who inherit the promised inheritance according to this covenant should live for God as His burnt offering to satisfy God’s desire. However, God’s chosen people cannot be the burnt offering to satisfy God’s desire by themselves; they must take Christ as their Substitute. God wanted Abraham to offer his son Isaac, who would inherit God’s promised inheritance, as a burnt offering to God. When Abraham acted according to God’s command and offered Isaac on the altar as a burnt offering, he saw a ram which God had provided as a burnt offering for his son Isaac, and he went and took it as a substitute for his son (Gen. 22:1-13). This typifies that Christ replaces God’s chosen people, who would inherit God’s promised inheritance, as the burnt offering to satisfy God’s desire.
According to the God-created nature, a male signifies one who is strong, and a female signifies one who is weak and yet has the ability to reproduce. First Peter speaks of the female as the weaker vessel (3:7). Hence, the ram, the male sheep, which is a type of Christ as the burnt offering, signifies Christ as the strong One.
A sheep signifies that Christ is One who is meek, gentle, and perfect. “He was oppressed, and it was He who was afflicted, / Yet He did not open His mouth; / Like a lamb that is led to the slaughter / And like a sheep that is dumb before its shearers, / So He did not open His mouth” (Isa. 53:7). He “being reviled did not revile in return; suffering, He did not threaten” (1 Pet. 2:23a). “He will not cry out, nor lift up His voice, / Nor make His voice heard in the street. / A bruised reed He will not break; / And a dimly burning flax He will not extinguish” (Isa. 42:2-3). This shows Christ’s meekness and gentleness. He said, “I am meek...in heart” (Matt. 11:29a). He did not resist opposition, nor did He want to do anything for Himself or expect to gain something for Himself. He submitted Himself fully to the will of His Father. The lamb for the burnt offering had to be without blemish (Lev. 1:10), that is, without any defect or problem. This also shows Christ’s perfection and blamelessness.
The ram that replaced Isaac on the altar was provided by Jehovah God. Abraham called the name of the place where he offered the sacrifice Jehovah-jireh, which means “Jehovah will provide.” The ram provided by God typifies Christ as the One provided by God to replace God’s chosen people, those who would inherit God’s promised inheritance, as the burnt offering for God’s satisfaction.
As the Lamb provided by God, Christ was sent by God to the world. He left the freedom of His divinity and was confined in the flesh of humanity which He put on in His incarnation. He was the infinite God in eternity, yet He was willing to become a finite man in time to be limited by time and space. He even suffered hunger, thirst, and weariness, and was tempted in all respects like us. This is His leaving the freedom of His divinity to be restricted in His humanity as the Lamb of God to be offered to God as a burnt offering.
The ram was caught in a thicket by his horns (Gen. 22:13). In the Bible horns signify fighting power. The thicket signifies humanity. To be caught in a thicket is to be caught by humanity. Christ as the Lamb of God was willing to have His fighting power caught in His humanity that He might be offered as our Substitute. It is in His humanity that we met Him and received Him as our Substitute.