How does the Old Testament point to Jesus?

The Old Testament points to Jesus through prophecy, covenant, Exodus imagery, wilderness provision, and sanctuary worship. These patterns portray deliverance, spiritual nourishment, divine presence, and restored access to God. The answer also explains distinctive providential interpretations of the tablets, sanctuary divisions, and Jesus’ mission, distinguishing them from explicit biblical teaching.

The Old Testament provides a rich tapestry of prophecies, figures, and events that point toward Jesus, the Christ. These pointers include prophetic promises, symbolic patterns, and the long preparation of a people able to receive the Messiah. Together they connect Jesus’ mission with God’s original purpose for humanity: people reflecting His character, sharing His love, and living in harmony with one another and creation. While some connections are explicitly made in the New Testament, a deeper providential understanding reveals how the entire Old Testament forms one unified preparation for the Messiah. This framework illuminates meanings that complete and fulfill what is foreshadowed in the biblical passages themselves.

The Biblical Foundation: Shadows and Prophecies of the Messiah

Jesus taught his disciples to read Israel’s Scriptures in relation to his mission: “And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27). This means that the Old Testament’s witness involves more than isolated predictions. Its covenants, worship, deliverances, and hopes form the setting in which his coming can be understood.

Several particularly important prophetic passages point to Jesus:

1. Immanuel: “Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel” (Isaiah 7:14). Matthew applies this passage to Jesus’ birth (Matthew 1:22–23). The prophecy also addressed a crisis in Isaiah’s own time, and its ultimate fulfillment in Christ completes its historical meaning.

2. The promised ruler: “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder” (Isaiah 9:6). The same verse names him “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). This reveals the majesty and enduring peace of Christ’s reign.

3. The suffering servant: “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5). The New Testament applies the servant’s suffering to Jesus bearing sins and bringing healing (1 Peter 2:24–25).

4. Bethlehem: Micah identifies Bethlehem as the place from which Israel’s ruler would come (Micah 5:2); Matthew connects this promise with Jesus’ birthplace (Matthew 2:1–6).

5. The humble king: “Behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass” (Zechariah 9:9). Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem embodies this picture of true, heart-centered kingship (Matthew 21:1–9).

6. The forerunner: Malachi promises Elijah’s coming before the day of the Lord (Malachi 4:5–6). Jesus identifies John the Baptist with that expected role: “And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come” (Matthew 11:14). John’s task was to prepare hearts for the Messiah and unite the people with him.

Beyond prophecy, typology concerns earlier persons, events, and institutions that anticipate a later fulfillment. An event therefore possesses a real meaning in Israel’s history while also providing a pattern that is completed and fully understood in Christ.

The Passover lamb is a central example. Its blood marked Israelite homes for protection from the death of the firstborn, and the Passover preceded Israel’s liberation from slavery (Exodus 12). The New Testament connects this saving pattern with Jesus: “For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us” (1 Corinthians 5:7). John likewise announces, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world” (John 1:29).

Melchizedek, who appears as both king and priest in Genesis 14, provides another pattern. The promise, “Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek” (Psalm 110:4), is applied to Jesus’ enduring priesthood in Hebrews 7. His priesthood is not merely another temporary office but an eternal ministry of reconciliation with God.

The Providential Course of Restoration

The Old Testament’s preparation for Jesus begins with creation itself. Humanity was made in God’s image (Genesis 1:27), and God’s blessings expressed a purpose for human life: “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it” (Genesis 1:28).

According to the providence of restoration, these Three Great Blessings concern maturity in God’s character, the establishment of loving families, and responsible care for creation. God’s goal is not simply obedience to external rules, but a humanity capable of freely returning His love and bringing Him joy.

The Fall disrupted that purpose. Restoration therefore means more than release from punishment: it means recovering the original relationship with God and the goodness of life for which humanity was created. Jesus’ mission answers this need at its root.

Figures such as Adam, Noah, Abraham, and Moses occupy important places in this unfolding history. They were called to respond to God in circumstances where their choices had consequences for others. Their missions depended on two related foundations:

1. A foundation of faith: trusting God and faithfully responding to His word.

2. A foundation of substance: embodying that faith in relationships, overcoming jealousy, hostility, selfishness, and other expressions of fallen nature.

Together these form a foundation for receiving the Messiah. God prepares the way, but human beings must respond; preparation is not completed by divine intention alone.

Abraham’s covenant points beyond his own household toward blessing for the nations: “In thee shall all families of the earth be blessed” (Genesis 12:3). Jesus carries that blessing outward to all humanity (Galatians 3:8, 16).

Abraham’s offering in Genesis 15 includes a heifer, a female goat, a ram, a turtledove, and a young pigeon. The birds, ram, and heifer symbolize the three stages of growth—formation, growth, and completion—corresponding to the Old Testament, New Testament, and Completed Testament ages. This reveals that restoration is an ordered development toward the realization of God’s ideal.

Moses’ mission gave that preparation a national form. God delivered Israel, established a covenant, and called the people to become “a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation” (Exodus 19:6). Their calling was to become a community through which God’s character and purposes could be made known.

Israel’s wilderness unbelief delayed entry into the promised land, bringing a judgment of forty years of wandering (Numbers 14:26–35). Moses himself was later barred from entering because of his disobedience at Meribah (Numbers 20:7–12). While Joshua led the people into the physical land of Canaan, Moses’ entire course serves as a type that anticipates a greater deliverance in Christ: not merely movement out of geographic bondage, but liberation from sin and estrangement from God.

The Exodus and Wilderness: Patterns of Salvation in Christ

The wilderness journey supplies a connected series of images of divine guidance, deliverance, nourishment, and victory. These are especially important because they show salvation as a journey into a new way of life, not simply an escape from danger.

The pillars of cloud and fire.

God went before Israel “by day in a pillar of a cloud, to lead them the way; and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light” (Exodus 13:21). Israel did not have to discover the path through the wilderness unaided. God’s presence guided the people under changing conditions, by day and by night.

The paired pillars symbolize the coming guidance of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. As the pillars led Israel toward the promised land, Jesus and the Holy Spirit lead humanity toward restored life with God. The cloud and fire thus represent more than direction on a map: they portray a people continually dependent on divine presence.

The parting of the Red Sea.

When Israel stood between the sea and the pursuing Egyptian army, God opened a path through the waters. Israel crossed on dry ground, but the returning waters overwhelmed the pursuers (Exodus 14). The same sea became a place of deliverance for one company and judgment for the other.

The crossing therefore formed a dividing line between the old life of slavery and a new life under God’s leadership. Paul relates this passage through cloud and sea to baptism (1 Corinthians 10:1–2). The parted sea points to Jesus as the dividing line between life and death: through him people pass from the dominion of sin into life with God. Jesus describes the believer as one who “is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24). The focus of this analogy is the saving passage Christ opens for all humanity.

The manna and quail.

When the people lacked food, God provided quail in the evening and manna in the morning (Exodus 16). Their survival depended on receiving nourishment they could not supply for themselves. Gathering the manna also trained them in daily trust and obedience.

Jesus explicitly draws upon the manna story: “I am the bread of life” (John 6:35). He distinguishes the temporary sustenance of the wilderness from the enduring life he gives: “And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51). He goes on to speak of eating his flesh and drinking his blood (John 6:53–56).

Within the providential symbolism, the manna and quail together foreshadow Jesus offering his flesh and blood for humanity’s salvation. Just as God’s gift of food sustained Israel’s physical life, Christ’s self-giving sustains the spiritual life of those united with him.

Water from the rock at Rephidim.

When the people had no water, God instructed Moses to strike the rock at Horeb, and water flowed for them to drink (Exodus 17:1–7). Where death from thirst seemed imminent, God opened a source of life.

Paul gives this event a direct Christological application: “For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:4). The rock therefore foreshadows the Messiah as the source of the water of life. What the water did for Israel’s bodies, the Messiah’s life-giving presence does for humanity’s deeper thirst for reconciliation and communion with God. Jesus promises water that becomes “a well of water springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14).

Aaron and Hur supporting Moses.

At Rephidim, Amalek attacked Israel. Joshua led the fighting while Moses stood on a hill with the rod of God. When Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed; when he lowered it, Amalek prevailed. As Moses grew tired, Aaron and Hur seated him on a stone and supported his hands, one on either side, until sunset (Exodus 17:8–13).

Here, Aaron and Hur foreshadow Jesus and the Holy Spirit supporting God’s work. The story shows divine purpose being carried forward through cooperative faithfulness: Joshua fights, Moses maintains his appointed position, and Aaron and Hur sustain him. The lesson is not that God is physically weak, but that His work among people calls for faithful human participation and mutual support.

The Stone Tablets: From Written Commandments to Living Word

At Sinai, Moses received two stone tablets bearing the covenant commandments. They were “written with the finger of God” (Exodus 31:18). The commandments gave Israel a concrete standard for covenant life: worship of God, faithfulness, truthfulness, and just relationships with others.

Yet words written on stone are not the final goal. God seeks people whose hearts and conduct embody His will. Jeremiah anticipates this inward fulfillment: “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33).

The two tablets have a deeper meaning, representing Jesus and his destined bride—the True Parents of humanity. Just as the tablets were two parts of one covenant, the Messiah and his bride were to become the living substance of God’s Word as a perfected man and woman. The logic of restoration begins with humanity created male and female in God’s image. It moves through the commandments as the written Word, and culminates in human beings who embody that Word in mature love. Jesus came as the perfected man, the living Word (John 1:14). A bride united with him in God’s purpose would have completed the corresponding marital and parental ideal, establishing the first True Family. This restored, God-centered family would have been the foundation through which true life and love could extend to all humanity.

The Tabernacle and Temple: God Dwelling with Humanity

God instructed Israel to construct a sanctuary: “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them” (Exodus 25:8). The Tabernacle was the portable dwelling associated with God’s presence in the wilderness; the Jerusalem temple later became the permanent center of Israel’s sacrificial worship.

These sanctuaries point toward Christ by making visible the hope that God will dwell among His people. Jesus makes the temple connection personal: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19). The explanation follows: “But he spake of the temple of his body” (John 2:21).

Thus, the Tabernacle serves as a symbolic house of God and an image of Christ. The physical temple likewise functions, in Christian typology, as an anticipatory image until the living temple arrives. A building represents divine dwelling; Jesus embodies God’s presence in a human life. This shows that the purpose of the sanctuary reached its deeper expression in him.

The sanctuary’s two principal inner divisions give this symbolism further depth:

1. The Most Holy Place, beyond the inner curtain, contained the ark and was associated with the hidden presence of God. It symbolizes the spirit of Jesus and, more broadly, the spirit world.

2. The Holy Place, where priests carried out their regular service, symbolizes the body of Jesus and, more broadly, the physical world.

The correspondence rests on an inward–outward relationship. Just as spirit and body belong to one human person, these two spaces belong to one sanctuary. God’s purpose is not to abandon physical life for spiritual life, but to bring both into harmonious relationship with Him.

The Torn Curtain: The Opening Between Heaven and Earth

The curtain separating the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place marked a boundary of restricted access. The high priest passed beyond it in the annual Day of Atonement rites, with sacrificial blood (Leviticus 16; Hebrews 9:7). Worship therefore expressed both God’s desire to dwell with His people and the unresolved barrier of sin.

At Jesus’ death, that barrier was dramatically addressed: “And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom” (Matthew 27:51).

Its tearing from above downward signifies an opening initiated by God. Hebrews describes access to God through “a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh” (Hebrews 10:20).

Within the sanctuary symbolism, the torn curtain opens the gate between spirit and flesh, heaven and earth. If the Most Holy Place represents spiritual reality and the Holy Place represents bodily reality, the removal of the dividing curtain pictures the overcoming of their estrangement. Through Jesus’ self-giving, humanity receives a way into communion with God that was previously restricted.

This reconciliation opens the way to God; it does not mean the physical and spiritual worlds cease to be distinguishable, but that they can now be reconnected. Its practical meaning is that earthly life can become a place where heavenly love is received and expressed.

The Second Adam’s Mission and the Original Ideal

These patterns converge in Jesus’ relationship to Adam. Paul writes, “The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit” (1 Corinthians 15:45).

Adam represents humanity’s beginning and its failure to fulfill God’s purpose. Jesus, the last Adam, represents a new beginning: a human life wholly faithful to God and able to communicate life to others. He does not merely repeat earlier missions; he brings their central purpose into focus.

His mission includes the realization of the original blessings:

1. Individual maturity: embodying God’s character through the unity of heart, mind, and action. This is not mere outward faultlessness, but a life governed by love rather than selfishness.

2. God-centered family life: restoring faithful love between husband and wife, parents and children, and brothers and sisters. Jesus’ intended union with a true bride was central to this mission, as together they would establish true parenthood for humanity.

3. Loving dominion over creation: directing human abilities toward care, stewardship, and the flourishing of life rather than exploitation.

The goal is the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth: God’s love taking substantial form in persons, relationships, communities, and humanity’s care for the world. Jesus’ prayer expresses the connection between heaven and earthly life: “Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10).

The Law contributes to this preparation by exposing sin and educating people in covenant faithfulness: “Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24). The destination is not lawlessness, but a transformed life in which God’s will is lived from the heart.

A further symbolic picture portrays Moses and the Law as lights guiding an earlier age, and Jesus and the gospel as the greater illumination of a new age, represented by the sun and moon (Genesis 37:9–10; Matthew 24:29–30).

Ultimately, the Old Testament points to Jesus through a united movement: creation establishes the goal, the Fall reveals the need for restoration, the covenants prepare a people, the Exodus pictures deliverance, the wilderness teaches dependence, the sanctuary portrays divine dwelling, and the prophets sustain the hope of reconciliation and righteous peace.

Living the Principle

1. Trust God’s persistent love. The movement from creation through covenant and deliverance portrays God as continually seeking humanity’s restoration. Let this strengthen faith during periods when growth seems slow or the way forward is unclear.

2. Respond to grace with responsibility. Israel’s journey shows that receiving guidance is not the same as following it. Faith involves concrete choices of obedience, repentance, courage, and cooperation. Jesus says, “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31–32).

3. Receive spiritual nourishment and put it into practice. The manna and water remind us of dependence on God’s provision. Prayer, worship, and attention to God’s word should bear fruit in truthful speech, generosity, forgiveness, and service. Spiritual growth is not simply gaining information but becoming more capable of love.

4. Become a living dwelling for God. The sanctuary points beyond sacred architecture toward a life that embodies God’s presence. Seek integrity between inward faith and outward conduct, so that bodily life expresses rather than contradicts spiritual conviction.

5. Build relationships that reflect the original blessings. Pursue personal maturity, fidelity in marriage, care within families, and peace in the wider community. Support others as Aaron and Hur supported Moses, remembering that God’s work calls for mutual help rather than isolated spiritual achievement.

6. Join the work of reconciliation. The torn curtain points toward restored access and communion. Practice this hope by repairing damaged relationships, serving vulnerable people, and caring responsibly for creation. The Kingdom’s promise calls believers to bring heavenly love into earthly life.

7. Approach the future with hope and discernment. The Last Days signify the ending of evil’s dominion and the dawning of a renewed world, rather than simply the destruction of creation. Hope in Christ’s return should encourage readiness to learn and deepen understanding, while testing spiritual claims carefully by their truthfulness and their fruits of love.

These answers explain the Bible in the light of the Divine Principle, the teachings of Reverend Sun Myung Moon. Read about the author, Sun Myung Moon.

Last reviewed: September 29, 2026

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