Isaac as a Type of Christ

Abraham offering Isaac on the altar

Another type of Christ is Isaac, son of Abraham. We'll begin by first looking at the historical account.

"Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, 'Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he replied. Then God said, 'Take your son, your only son, whom you love—Isaac—and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on a mountain I will show you.'' (Gen 22:1-2, NIV).

God was testing Abraham to see if he would obey Him by telling him to take Isaac his only son, whom he loved, and sacrifice him as a burnt offering on top of Mount Moriah. This was the son of promise with whom God had promised to established His everlasting covenant. To sacrifice him as a burnt offering would defy all logic, since there would be no other way for God to fulfill His promise if Isaac were put to death. But by faith Abraham obeyed God.

"Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, 'Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.'” (Gen 22:3-5, NIV)

Observe how Abraham assured his servants that he and Isaac both would come back to them. He said "we" (both he and his son) will worship and then "we" (plural) will come back to you. He spoke by faith.

"Abraham took the wood for the burnt offering and placed it on his son Isaac, and he himself carried the fire and the knife. As the two of them went on together, Isaac spoke up and said to his father Abraham, 'Father?' 'Yes, my son?' Abraham replied. 'The fire and wood are here,' Isaac said, 'but where is the lamb for the burnt offering?' Abraham answered, 'God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son.' And the two of them went on together." (Gen 22:6-8, NIV).

The words that Abraham spoke to his son here by faith are worthy of noting. "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." He believed that God would provide a lamb.

"When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son. But the angel of the Lord called out to him from heaven, 'Abraham! Abraham!' 'Here I am,' he replied. 'Do not lay a hand on the boy,' he said. 'Do not do anything to him. Now I know that you fear God, because you have not withheld from me your son, your only son.'" (Gen 22:9-12, NIV).

The test was over once God saw that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his only son, because he feared the Lord. Then something amazing happened next.

"Abraham looked up and there in a thicket he saw a ram caught by its horns. He went over and took the ram and sacrificed it as a burnt offering instead of his son. So Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, 'On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.'" (Gen 22:13-14, NIV).

God supernaturally provided a ram for Abraham to offer up to Him as a sacrifice instead of his son Isaac, which was just as Abraham had believed would happen when he said, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering."

"The angel of the Lord called to Abraham from heaven a second time and said, 'I swear by myself, declares the Lord, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed Me.' Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba." (Gen 22:15-19, NIV).

God was looking for Abraham's obedience, and once He saw it, that was all He needed to see. He did not need Abraham to actually sacrifice Isaac.  To obey is better than sacrifice and to hearken than the fat of rams (1 Sam 15:22). The apostle described the faith of Abraham in this way:

"By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; it was he to whom it was said, 'in Isaac your descendants shall be called.' He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type." (Heb 11:17-19).

The apostle here specifically refers to Isaac as a type by saying that Abraham received Isaac back from the dead "as a type." This is an explicit reference that leaves no doubt that Isaac was a type of Christ. Just as Abraham offered his only begotten son Isaac on the altar and did not withhold his son, so likewise God the Father offered His only begotten son Jesus Christ on the cross and did not withhold Him. For the apostle said, "He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all--how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?" (Rom 8:32, NIV).

The amazing thing here is that we are the ones who logically should be sacrificing to God, but God instead offered the greatest sacrifice of all for us, and the only sacrifice that could satisfy His wrath, which was the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. That was foreshadowed by Abraham's offering Isaac up to Him on the altar, but God did what He did not require Abraham to do. While God stopped Abraham from following through with driving that knife into Isaac, God on the other hand did follow through with His sacrifice of Christ on the cross. Jesus was indeed crucified, died, and was buried. What a tremendous act of love!

But it doesn't end there, because just as God gave Isaac, who was as good as dead, back to Abraham, God raised Jesus from the dead on the third day. If we could figuratively say with the apostle that Abraham received Isaac back from the dead, we could also say that it, too, happened on the third day. For if you recall, the very next morning after God told Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, Abraham set off to go and obey God. But it was on the third day that they went together, just the two of them, up onto Mount Moriah, and it was on that third day that he received Isaac back. All of this was a type of Christ's death on the cross and resurrection on the third day.

The Ram Was a Type, Too
In another sense, we could say the ram or lamb that God provided on Mount Moriah was also a type of Christ. God provided a lamb as Abraham believed He would, so that Abraham didn't have to sacrifice his only son. Likewise, God has provided a lamb in that He gave His only begotten Son Jesus Christ to die in our place, so that we do not have to perish. Jesus died in our place, just as that lamb died in Isaac's place.

The Lord Will Provide
This study would not be complete if I didn't mention this one last thing.  When Isaac asked his father where the lamb for the offering was, Abraham answered, "God himself will provide the lamb for the burnt offering, my son." (Gen 22:8). Later on, after the Lord provided the lamb, "Abraham called that place The Lord Will Provide. And to this day it is said, 'On the mountain of the Lord it will be provided.'" (Gen 22:14, NIV).

Even Mount Moriah was a type of the hill called Calvary (Lk 23:33). According to this verse, the place where Jesus was crucified was The Place of the Skull, which in Aramaic is the word Golgotha, and in Latin is the word Calvary. So both Isaac and Jesus were offered to God on top of a hill. Mount Moriah was located in Jerusalem, where Solomon's temple was later built (2 Chr 3:1), and Calvary was located near Jerusalem outside the city (Jn 19:20; Heb 13:11-13), where Jesus (whose body was a type of the temple) was crucified on the cross. It was there on Calvary that the Lord provided the Lamb of God to die in our place.

Closing Words
In our study of the sacrifice of Isaac to God on the altar, we have seen that he is a type of Christ. As Abraham's only begotten son, who was offered up on the altar to God, he foreshadowed God's only begotten Son Jesus Christ, who was offered up on the cross to God as the perfect sacrifice. Just as Abraham by faith received Isaac back on the third day, as if from the dead, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day and lives forever more. God did what He did not require Abraham to completely do. And we even saw how the lamb or ram the Lord provided on Mount Moriah prefigured Christ the Lamb of God, who was given for us on the cross of Calvary.

Studying types of Christ like this can help us grow in our love and knowledge of the Lord. I trust this has helped to accomplish that very goal in your life as you have read this article. I hope you will come back again later to enjoy more articles on the types in the Bible.

Attribution notice: Most Scriptures where noted taken from the Holy Bible NIV, copyright Zonervan, used by permission. Other Scripture quotations taken from the NASB, copyright Lockman Foundation, used by permission. Image may be subject to copyright, used per Fair Use Act for commentary and educational purposes only.

Author's note:  Also see Adam as a Type of Christ, Noah's Ark a Type of Christ, The Temple as a Type of Christ, The Passover Lamb as a Type of Christ, and Hagar and Sarah as Types. You can access the Main Directory for Biblical Typology, or my complete blog directory at Writing for the Master. Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

_______________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.

The Typology of the Tabernacle

The tabernacle and all its furnishings were types and shadows of things to come. They were made according to the pattern shown to Moses on the mountain and they are a copy of the sanctuary and the true tabernacle in heaven that the Lord pitched, not man (Heb 8:2).

Speaking of Jesus, the apostle said, "If He were on earth, he would not be a priest, for there are already priests who offer the gifts prescribed by the law. They serve at a sanctuary that is a copy and shadow of what is in heaven. This is why Moses was warned when he was about to build the tabernacle: 'See to it that you make everything according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.'” (Heb 8:4-5).

In these verses we can observe two things: First, the earthly tabernacle is a copy and shadow of the sanctuary that is in heaven. This is true not only of the tabernacle as a whole, but of every individual aspect of it. It is a copy of its counterpart in the heavenly sanctuary, indicating that it is patterned after the original. And it is a shadow of its counterpart in heaven, which indicates that it looks like the original in the same way your own shadow looks like you, even though it is not you. Secondly, that is why the Lord warned Moses to make everything according to the pattern the Lord gave him, otherwise it would not be a correct copy of the heavenly one.

Of the heavenly tabernacle, John said when he saw it: "After this I looked, and I saw in heaven the temple—that is, the tabernacle of the covenant law—and it was opened." (Rev 15:5, NIV).

In the ninth chapter of Hebrews, the apostle gives us a great deal of information about the articles in the earthly tabernacle.

He said, "Now even the first covenant had regulations of divine worship and the earthly sanctuary." (Heb 9:1). This means that God set forth regulations for the Hebrews' worship and for their earthly sanctuary as follows:

The Holy Place

"For there was a tabernacle prepared, the outer one, in which were the lampstand and the table and the sacred bread; this is called the holy place." (Heb 9:2). As you can see in the photo image above, there was an outer barrier surrounding the entire sanctuary, which is also shown in the diagram below from an overhead view. The barrier had one door or gate by which the priests would enter and exit, which was a type of Christ, who is the door (Jn 10:9) as well as the Way (Jn 14:6).

The area inside that barrier, not including the inside of the tabernacle itself, was known as the outer court. The court contained the brazen altar, upon which the priests offered animal sacrifices to God. The brazen altar was a type of the cross, where the blood of Christ was shed as He was sacrificed in our place, on our behalf, and for our sake.

The court also contained the brazen laver filled with water, which the priests bathed in before entering the Holy Place. This is a type of being baptized in water, cleansed from sin, and sanctified by the Holy Spirit. Just as the priests had to be pure and holy before they entered the Holy Place, so we must be pure and holy to come before the Lord in His heavenly sanctuary.

"Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord?
    Who may stand in his holy place?
The one who has clean hands and a pure heart,
    who does not trust in an idol
    or swear by a false god." (Ps 24:3-4, NIV)

The tabernacle building itself was divided into two parts, the outer part being the Holy Place, which was behind the first veil. Inside to the left was the golden lampstand to light the place. In one sense we could say this is a type of Christ, who is the Light (Jn 8:12), but it is also a type of the Holy Spirit. John said when he was taken up to heaven that "From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God." (Re 4:5, NIV).

Opposite across from the golden lampstand was the golden table upon which was the bread of the Presence located on the right side of the Holy Place (Ex 25:30; 35:13; 39:36; Num 4:7; 1 Sa 21:6; 1 Ki 7:48; 2 Chr 4:19). This is a type of Christ, who is the bread of life (Jn 6:35). One might also say the bread of the Presence represents the Word of God, too, since we feed upon it. Man shall not live on bread alone but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God (Dt 8:3; Mt 4:4). Since Jesus is the Word of God (Jn 1:1), the  bread of the Presence still points to Christ. The priests had to keep the bread on this table fresh before the Lord at all time. And with the Holy Spirit illuminating the Word to our hearts as we read it, He always keeps it fresh for us.

In front of the second veil that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies, was the altar of incense, which is a type of praise and worship. The smoke from the fragrant incense that the priest would burn on this golden altar rose up to God's nostrils in heaven.

"May my prayer be set before you like incense; may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice." (Ps 141:2, NIV).

"And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of God’s people." (Re 5:8, NIV)

"Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne." (Re 8:3, NIV)

The Holy of Holies
The apostle said, "Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place..." (Heb 9:3). Most people were excluded from this inner room.

Inside it was "the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron's rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant..."  (Heb 9:4). The ark represents the ark in heaven itself. As it says in Revelation, "And the temple of God which is in heaven was opened; and the ark of His covenant appeared in His temple, and there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder and an earthquake and a great hailstorm." (Rev 11:19)

The earthly ark has a gold-covered lid over it. "And above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat; but of these things we cannot now speak in detail."  (Heb 9:5). The ark of the covenant in Scripture represents the presence of God. This is where God's shekinah glory descends and fills the place. No man comes to the Father except by Jesus (Jn 14:6), and the ultimate goal is to enter into His glorious presence.

The Lord Almighty was enthroned between the cherubim that were on the ark, in that sacred place above it known as the mercy seat made of pure gold (Ex 25:17-22; 26:34; Nu 7:89; 2 Sam 6:2), which represented the mercy seat that Jesus now occupies in heaven in the presence of the Father.

"Now when these things have been so prepared, the priests are continually entering the outer tabernacle performing the divine worship, but into the second, only the high priest enters once a year, not without taking blood, which he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance."  (Heb 9:6-7)

This means that only one man in the whole world, which was the high priest, was allowed into this Most Holy Place, and he only entered in there once each year on the Day of Atonement to sprinkle the blood of sacrificial animals and offer incense. He had to wear bells on the hem of his robe and have a rope tied to his leg. The reason was that as long as the other priests outside that room could hear the bells, they knew he was still alive, but if he dropped dead in the holy presence of God, they would not be able to enter in, so the rope enabled them to drag him out. That is why the priest always entered that place with blood to make atonement.

When Jesus died on the cross to make atonement for us with His blood, the earth shook, the rocks split, and the veil in the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, opening the way for those who are in Christ to enter into this place now (Mt 27:51). Prior to that awesome moment, that sacred place remained unoccupied by any human being for 364 days per year. But now through His death on the cross, Jesus has made the way for all those who are in Him to enter that Most Holy Place every day of the year, no matter where they are on earth. This is a major change between the Mosaic covenant and the New Covenant in Christ's blood.

We know that the tabernacle is a symbol for us, because the Scripture says so. During the first century, before the Romans destroyed the temple, the apostle wrote: "The Holy Spirit is signifying this, that the way into the holy place has not yet been disclosed while the outer tabernacle is still standing, which is a symbol for the present time."  (Heb 9:8-9a)

Furthermore, since the tabernacle was only a copy and shadow of the reality found in Christ, the gifts and sacrifices offered there were unable to clear the consciences of the worshipers as only He can do. The apostle said, "Accordingly both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make the worshiper perfect in conscience, since they relate only to food and drink and various washings, regulations for the body imposed until a time of reformation."  (Heb 9:9b-10).

Take Me In
Have you ever been into the Holy of Holies? Some people prefer to be outer court Christians, content to remain in the background. They pay God a visit on Sundays, but they do not earnestly seek His face either at that time or during the rest of the week. Let me encourage you not to be an outer court worshiper, but to seek Him with all your heart and press in to the Lord, so that you may truly know Him. Get hungry for God! Desire His presence more than the air you breath. Ask Him to take you into the Holy of Holies, which is His very throne room. There is only one way into that Most Holy Place, and that is by the blood of the Lamb. "Therefore, brethren...we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus..." (Heb 10:19). For more on this see my blogs Practicing the Presence of the Lord and Seeking the Lord.

There is a beautiful song from the 1980's by Petra called Take Me In, which expresses this hungry heart's cry to the Lord. It goes like this:

Take me past the outer courts
Into the holy place
Past the brazen altar
Lord, I want to see your face

Pass me by the crowds of people
The priests who sing your praise
I hunger and thirst for your righteousness
And it's only found one place

Refrain:
Take me in to the holy of holies
Take me in by the blood of the lamb
Take me in to the holy of holies
Take the coal, cleanse my lips, here I am
Take the coal, cleanse my lips, here I am

May that become the cry of our hearts, and let us draw near to God.

Closing Words
In our study of the tabernacle, we have found many types of Christ. Almost every aspect of the tabernacle is symbolic, pointing us to Him. We examined the door to the outer court, the brazen altar, the sacrifices offered there, the brazen laver, the Holy Place, the golden lampstand, the table of shewbread, the golden altar of incense, the second veil, the Holy of Holies, the ark of the covenant, the blood, and the high priest. Each of these teach us about Christ as the only Way to the Father, and how He has made it possible through His blood for us to be in the immediate presence of God without being struck dead. I trust this has helped to accomplish that very goal in your life as you have read this article. I hope you will come back again later to enjoy more articles on the types in the Bible.

Attribution notice: Most Scripture quotations taken from the NASB. Image of second temple may be subject to copyright, used per Fair Use Act for educational and commentary purposes.

Author's note:  Also see The High Priest as a Type of Christ, The Temple as a Type of Christ, Manna as a Type of Christ, Moses as a Type of Christ, Adam as a Type of Christ, Noah's Ark a Type of Christ, Hagar and Sarah as Types, and The Mysteries of the Faith. You can access the Main Directory for Biblical Typology, or my complete blog directory at "Writing for the Master."  Now I'd like to ask a very important question.

Do You Want to Know Him?
If you want to know Jesus personally, you can. It all begins when you repent and believe in Jesus.  Do you know what God's Word, the Bible says?

“Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of God, and saying, ‘The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel.’” (Mar 1:14b-15).  He preached that we must repent and believe.

Please see my explanation of this in my post called "Do You Want to Know Jesus?"

__________________________________________

Len Lacroix is the founder of Doulos Missions International.  He was based in Eastern Europe for four years, making disciples, as well as helping leaders to be more effective at making disciples who multiply, developing leaders who multiply, with the ultimate goal of planting churches that multiply. His ministry is now based in the United States with the same goal of helping fulfill the Great Commission. www.dmiworld.org.