阅读经文 

人们穿戴结婚戒指，是要表明他们与另一个人缔结了独特的关系。戒指时常提醒他们彼此作出的承诺，戒指影响着这二人现今和将来的行为和身份。

从某个角度来看，放置在会幕中央的饼也有相似之处，它也是肉眼看得见的象征：它象征百姓委身于独一的真神。尽管《利未记》的内容常常不容易明白，我们却要明白这卷书的重点，是关于神施恩为祂所爱的，但并不完全的子民，提供一个途径，让他们活在祂面前，就像祂活在他们中间。神在旷野从天上降下吗哪、作为供应祂子民的粮食，此后不久，（参出 16）神便在《利未记》颁赐如何过圣洁生活的指南。如此，百姓便能够合宜地表达他们对神的感恩、敬畏和敬拜了。他们要拿十二个刚烘好的饼，把它们排列在会幕中神面前精金的陈设桌上，作为“陈设饼”（参出 25:30）——一个肉眼可见的象征，来表明神与祂的子民同在。这饼提醒他们神与祂的子民立约，祂曾拯救他们、叫他们得自由、呼召他们向神和向邻舍活出与众不同的爱心。

When someone wears a wedding ring, it shows that they have a distinctive relationship with another person. The ring is a constant reminder of a promise made, and it affects the behavior and identity of both persons in the present and in the future.

In some ways, the visible symbol of bread at the center of the tabernacle was like that: it was a symbol of the people's life committed to the one true God. Though the book of Leviticus is not always easy to understand, it helps to know that the overall point of Leviticus is about God graciously providing a way for his beloved but flawed people to live in his presence, just as he lived in theirs. Not long after God sent manna, bread from heaven, to his people in the wilderness (Exodus 16), God gave them these Levitical guidelines for holy living. In these ways the people could demonstrate their gratitude, awe, and worship of God. Twelve fresh loaves of bread were to be on display on a gold table in the holy tent of meeting as the "bread of the Presence" (Exodus 25:30)—a visible symbol that God was present with his people. The bread was a covenant reminder that God had rescued his people, set them free, and called them to live distinct lives of love for God and for their neighbors.