There are five kinds of people with special statuses in the Old Testament—priests, Nazarites, kings, prophets, and shepherds. Each of these typify Christ and the New Testament believers.
According to the Bible there are three main ministries in God’s eternal economy and governmental arrangement: the priesthood, the kingship, and the prophethood. The priesthood is the leading ministry of the three and brings the kingship and prophethood into function. The ministry of the priests is engaged especially in the service of God; their responsibility is to serve God.
Since a priest serves God, his main function is not to work but to draw near to God and to wait and remain in His presence. He can contact and receive God and be saturated and permeated with God so that he is possessed by God, and he can be one with God to become God’s living expression.
In their daily responsibilities the priests took care of the offerings and presented offerings to God. According to Leviticus 1 through 7, there are five main offerings: the burnt offering, the meal offering, the peace offering, the sin offering, and the trespass offering. All the offerings are types of Christ. Christ, as the offerings presented to God, solves man’s problem of sin and man’s other problems before God. He becomes food to God and to those who are separated unto God for His service so that both God and man may be satisfied. In order to participate in the priesthood, believers must experience Christ as the offerings and offer Christ to God.
After taking care of the offerings, the priests spread the bread of the Presence in the Holy Place (24:5-9). This signifies that Christ is not only life within us but also our life supply. When we experience Christ as the life supply within us, we will be able to spread the Christ whom we have experienced before God as the life supply to God and man.
The high priest tended the lamps on the lampstand, which was next to the table of the bread of the Presence, from evening to morning before God (vv. 2-4; Exo. 27:20-21). This signifies that Christ as our High Priest continually takes care of the divine light, causing it to shine for God continually. By spreading the bread of the Presence and tending the lampstand, the priests who serve God receive divine food and divine light in order to have sufficient strength to walk and serve in the divine light.
The priests also burned the incense at the golden altar in the Holy Place (30:6-8). As the incense ascended through burning at the altar, the intercession offered by the high priest was accepted by God, and the high priest was led into the Holy of Holies to meet with God. The incense altar typifies the resurrected Christ as a sweet and fragrant incense. When we pray by such a Christ to contact God, turning Christ and the effectiveness of His death and resurrection into prayer, we are accepted by God so that we are brought into His sweet presence to fellowship with Him.
In Moses’ blessing of the children of Israel, he said, concerning the Levites who had the priesthood, “They shall show Jacob Your judgments, / And Israel Your law” (Deut. 33:10a). The priests who served God brought offerings to God, spread the bread of the Presence, tended the lamps, burned the incense, and taught God’s people the law.
Since a priest serves God and draws near to God, he knows God’s intention and enjoys God’s riches. Hence, he can bring the people of God, including their condition, difficulties, problems, and needs, to the presence of God so that they may turn to God, gain God, and be joined to God. Exodus 28:6-30 speaks of two onyx stones on the shoulder pieces and twelve precious stones on the breastplate of judgment of the ephod worn by the high priest on which were engraved the twelve names of the sons of Israel. In serving God, the high priest held and bore the people of God to God’s presence.