In addition to the prophecies of Jesus as King and the explanations of the Kingdom through stories and natural images, so many of the major incidents in the life of Christ can be seen prefigured in Old Testament stories. The key incidents of Jesus’ life correspond to many stories; in fact, once you realize it is appropriate to look for these analogies, it is a rewarding way to read the Old Testament — always alert not only to applications for our lives, but alert to what it shows us of Jesus. Jesus himself validated the interpretation by comparing his coming death to the story of Jonah and using the three days in the whale as a prophecy that he would rise in three days.

When I first learned of this ingenious method of scripture interpretation, it greatly enriched my reading of the Old Testament. I became sufficiently intrigued that I made a banner out of felt that both summarized the sequence of Old and New Testament history, but also utilized small symbols that connected that story to the life of Christ. In the life of Christ the symbols connected back in some way to Old Testament stories. While my banner was far too complicated to be either remarkably artistic or extremely meaningful for anyone else, I gained a great deal from developing this mind-set.

A number of the images for Jesus’ life came from the prophet, Elisha, who prefigured many of Jesus’ miracles: he multiplied oil and Jesus turned water to wine; he resurrected a dead child and Jesus resurrected two dead children and one adult; he multiplied bread and so did Jesus; he healed Naman the leper and Jesus healed many lepers; he caused an axe head to float and Jesus walked on water.

The following list is merely a thought-starter. One must reread the stories and look for the connection to Christ. When we see them, we cannot help but wonder if this is part of what he taught the disciples on the road to Emmaus and in the 40 days between resurrection and ascension.

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Birth promise
	Isaac —	promised to Sarah who was too old to bear children naturally
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	Samuel —	promised to barren Hannah who devoted him to God
.	.	.
	Obed —	given to Naomi as a family redeemer (Ruth 4:14)
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	Samson —	his birth was announced by an angel
.	.	.
Herod outwitted
	Moses —	the child escaped death by being put in the bulrushes
.	.	.
Baptism
	Crossing Red Sea —	the people of Israel passed from death to life
.	.	.
	Crossing Jordan —	the people entered a new Kingdom
.	.	.
Kingdom
	Joshua —	conquered those in rebellion
.	.	.
Miracles
	Moses —	healed leprosy, opened a path to walk through water, etc.
.	.	.
	Elisha —	raised the dead, healed a leper, multiplied bread, etc.
.	.	.
Teaching
	Moses —	gave the laws and requirements of God
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	Prophets —	warned the people to turn from their sins
.	.	.
Transfiguration
	Burning Bush —	God’s presence revealed supernaturally by light
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	Moses on Mountain —	light so blinding Moses had to wear a veil
.	.	.
Death
	Adam —	the first man to experience death
.	.	.
	Abel —	killed by his brother
.	.	.
Resurrection
	Abraham/Isaac —	spared from death by the provision of a ram
.	.	.
	Joseph —	in prison and then raised to greatest honor
.	.	.
	Passover —	firstborn spared by the blood of the lamb
.	.	.
	Crossing red sea —	in danger of death; taken to life
.	.	.
	David —	pursued by Saul, but spared and raised as king
.	.	.
	Jeremiah —	imprisoned in a well, but raised to life
.	.	.
	Jonah —	imprisoned in a whale, but raised to life after 3 days
.	.	.
	Hezekiah —	dying, but healed after three days as Isaiah prophesied
.	.	.
	Job —	suffered without cause, but then more restored to him
.	.	.
	Shadrach —	spared death in the fire in the presence of God
.	.	.
	Daniel —	imprisoned in the Lion’s den, but raised to life
.	.	.
Ascension
	Enoch —	did not die, but went straight to the presence of God
.	.	.
	Jacob’s ladder —	angels rising and descending to God’s presence
.	.	.
	Elijah —	did not die, but taken to God in a chariot of fire
.	.	.
Reversals
	Adam tempted and fell —
	—	Christ tempted and resisted
.	.	.
	At Babel the languages were made unintelligible —
	—	at Pentecost they were made intelligible
.	.	.

The Old Testament stories are by no means the only way Christ is prefigured. In the Law we see not only the ethical and organizational plan for the people of Israel, we see the future kingdom. Obscure portions of scripture like Leviticus become more meaningful when we look for the analogies to the work of Christ. The first section describes different sacrifices and in them we can see that He is bearing our sin for us and takes judgment we do not then receive. We see that he is condemned to death, his body is broken as bread is broken, his death opens the way to God. We see that the results of His death are purification for us and a celebratory, just world that is the kingdom.

At one point I tried to summarize all the points of the Law by organizing them under the rubric of one of the Ten Commandments, as subsets of the two greatest commandments—to love God and to love our neighbor. A great many items either came under “Do not worship any other gods besides me” since God gave detailed information on how He wanted to be worshipped. Others came under “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy,” since that served as a unique cultural mark of their identity as the people of God. For example, many of the health laws which the New Testament makes clear were symbolic and do not need to be literally obeyed today, still serve as markers of Jewish identity.

I became very conscious of the Law as a collection of files from what would be a lot of different offices in our governments: land management, birth registries, health codes, criminal law, organization charts, economic management. An earthly kingdom with constant resonance to a perfect future kingdom.

The book of John seems to have particularly strong allusions to the Law. For example, when Jesus washed the disciples' feet (Jn 13) it recalls the command that the priests must wash hands and feet before they serve (Ex. 30:17-21)   The tabernacle clearly is a pattern of Jesus. In John 1:14 an analogy between Jesus in the flesh and the tabernacle is made explicit. And, in the arrangement of the tabernacle given us in Exodus 25-27, we are given analogies in John showing us how Jesus is the fulfillment of the images of the tabernacle. In Exodus we go from the most holy place out to the courtyard; in the gospel of John we begin in the courtyard and end up in the presence of God.

Altar – Lamb of God, Jn 1:29

Water – Living water Jn 4:10

Bread – Bread of Live Jn 6:35

Lamp – Light of world Jn 8:12, and Jn 9:5

Curtain – The Way to God Jn 14:6

Ark – Presence of God Jn 17

John is a particularly intricate and symbolic gospel with a serious of things in sets of seven: “I am…,” miracles, discourses, and festivals.

My sister, a committed homeschooler, had a curriculum which included instructions for making a small replica of the tabernacle. Not only were the instructions particularly ingenious, and doable by her children and mine, the result helped us see these different representations of Jesus with clarity. Even the color symbolism, the symbolism of the metals, etc., all helped us see the long passages in Exodus on instructions for its making and then repetition showing it was so made, were in fact meaningful images of Jesus. In Alfred Edersheim’s The Temple these analogies are explained in depth.

When we learn to see Jesus in the Old Testament and realize that the God of the Old is not at all different in character from the God of the New, everything increases in clarity. I have created an outline of the Old Testament with this in mind which appears in Appendix B. While it cannot be detailed enough to truly give all the insights into how Jesus can be seen, perhaps it provides a doorway for personal prayer and reflection.