The Showbread

Twelve loaves, sometimes called the “bread of the presence” or “showbread,” were placed on a gold-plated table in the Temple every Sabbath, to remain there at all times (Exodus 25:30; Leviticus 24:5–9). The loaves were arranged in two rows of six, which Philo explains as symbolic of the twelve months of the year, divided into two equinoxes. The Mishnah elaborates on how and when the bread was prepared and arranged on the table.