Typology

Typology: Elements of the Christian faith that are prefigured or symbolized by events or individuals in the Old Testament. 

We can see things in the Old Testament that are pictures of truths in the
New Testament. We call these things in the Old Testament for types, shadows,
foreshadows, images, pictures, and symbols of what happens later.

Examples of such things in the Old Testament are:

• The priesthood of Melchizedek is a symbol (representation) of the priesthood of Jesus Christ as Messiah, see Melchizedek in
  The Book of Hebrews.
• Boaz as a kinsman redeemer to Naomi and Ruth, is a picture of Jesus,
  see The Book of Ruth.
• The Israelites are a model for all God's people. They are the original expression of all God's people.
• Physical circumcision is a covenant sign that God gave the Israelites in the Abrahamic covenant. It's a picture. The spiritual meaning of that image is the circumcision of their hearts, which means cutting away the flesh and no longer being stiff-necked and stubborn (Deu 10:16).
  Circumcision is a picture of Sanctification (Deu 30:6, Rom 2:29, 4:9b–12,
  Phil 3:3). God wants to separate us from sin. It comes to us as Christians through the work of the Holy Spirit in conjunction with the word of God.
• Sodom and Gomorrah is used several times as an image to refer to God's final judgment on the wicked (Isaiah 1:9–10, 13:19, Rom 9:29,
  Mat 10:14–15, 2 Pet 2:6, Jude 1:6–7), see The Life of Abraham.
• The people of Israel are sometimes represented as figs on a fig tree
  (Hosea 9:10, Jer 24), or a fig tree that bears no fruit (Jer 8:13), see 
  Jesus Curses the Fig Tree in Jesus' Last Days before his Crucifixion. 
  
• The Israelites living as slaves in Egypt are a picture of us living in slavery under sin before we come to the Lord, see Salvation. 
• Pharaoh is a picture of Satan who wants to keep us in slavery under sin.
• A staff is an image and symbol of authority and power (Num 17:2–5).
• The word "right" in the Bible symbolizes strength. The "right hand" is seen as a place of honor and status throughout the biblical text. When the Bible makes statements that Jesus Christ sits at the right hand of the Father,
  it confirms that he has the same divine nature as God the Father within
  The Trinity (Heb 1:3, 12:2, 1 Pet 3:22, Acts 7:55–56).
• Coming out of Egypt is a picture of being freed from a slavery under sin, see Salvation. The blind man that Jesus healed at the end part of Blind People in Miracles of Jesus is a picture on how we have been rescued from a life of blindness (darkness) into a place of spiritual sight. (Col 1:13–14).
• Impurity is a picture of sin, which is unacceptable to a holy God 
  (Num 5:2–3). The people therefore needed a Savior and we still do, see Why Miracles in Miracles of Jesus. 
• The crossing of the Red Sea is a type of water baptism, see
  Christian Water Baptism in The Book of Romans.
• Joshua (Num 13:16b (17b in some translations)) (meaning
  "Yahweh is salvation"), who brought the Israelites into the Promised Land, is a foreshadow of Jesus, who brings us into God's victory.
• By faith the priests stepped out into Jordan. (Joshua 3:8, 13–17). This is a picture for us of what it's like to walk by faith. Many times we need to take this first step by faith. Stepping out in faith is a biblical idea of responding to the word of the Lord in obedience. Joshua heard from God what he was going to do and told it to the priests. Faith is responding to God's promises.
• The Book of Judges and and the book of Joshua are pictures on our walk with God. The Promised Land is a picture of our inheritance in Christ, living a Christian life and the rest that Jesus gives. We take that inheritance by faith. The Promised Land is a type of the promise of an abundant victorious life that Jesus wants us to walk in (John 10:10b). The Christian life can be many battles and challenges. It can even be a constant battlefield. It requires obedience and faith. Not every Christian enters into such a life as God intended for us. It's possible to be a true and genuine believer and still walk in the wilderness, by only looking at God's promises from a distance and never grasping them. The way to grasp them is to do it by faith, not by moral effort or human strength, see Psalm 63: Living in the Wilderness.
• The prophet Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of a great sea ​​creature before it spat him up onto dry land. It precedes Christ's burial and resurrection, see 2) Passover (Jewish Easter) in
  When Did Jesus Die and when Was He Born?
• The Passover lamb without blemish or defect is an image of Jesus Christ
  (1 Cor 5:7b, John 1:29, 1 Pet 1:19), see The Book of Malachi.
• The blood on the doorpost is a picture of Jesus' death on the cross.
• Israelites staying indoors is a picture of faith in Christ's sacrifice.
• Death passing over is a picture of what we are saved from.
• Yeast and leaven in bread are always images of sin (1 Cor 5:7),
  see The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Leaven.
• That a person who is ceremonially clean and not on a journey fails to keep the Passover and therefore will bear the consequences of his sin
  (Num 9:13), is a picture of a person who doesn't embrace Christ's salvation. That a foreigner is allowed to celebrate Passover (Num 9:14) is an image that salvation is also for the Gentiles and not only for the Jews.
• God asked Abraham to offer his son Isaac to him (Gen 22:1–3, 8, 10–12, Heb 11:17–19). This is cited as foreshadowing The Crucifixion of Jesus.
• The High Priest in the Old Covenant is a shadow of the one to come, that is Jesus Christ, see The High Priest in the Bible.
• Manna is a picture of Jesus (John 6:30–35), see Jesus the Bread of Life.
• The rock is a picture of Jesus (1 Cor 10:1–4, Psalm 62), see 
  The Parable about the Wise and Foolish Builders.
• The water coming from the rock is a picture of the Holy Spirit
  (John 7:37–39), see 2. Provision of Water in 
  Moses; Part 9: Provision from God.
• The cornerstone is a picture of Jesus, see The Parable of the Tenants.
• The Mercy seat is a powerful image of Jesus Christ (Rom 3:23–25a).
  In the Old Covenant they always had to keep their distance to the 
  Ark of the Covenant (Joshua 3:2–4). That isn't the case in the
  New Covenant (Mat 11:28) because of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ
  on the cross, see Salvation.
• When the priests sacrificed to the Lord, it had to be a male without blemish (Lev 22:17–22). The reason was that the sacrificial animal was a foreshadowing of Christ, who was without sin when he was sacrificed on the cross and therefore the perfect and necessary sacrifice for our sins
  (1 Pet 1:19), see The Crucifixion of Jesus. See also The Atonement.
• The Day of Atonement is a is a picture of Jesus going before
  God's Throne in Heaven, pouring out his blood on the mercy seat
  in God's Heaven, see The Atonement.
• A kinsman redeemer is a picture of Jesus, who is our kinsman redeemer, see the last part of The Atonement. See also The Book of Ruth.
• Anointing a person for inauguration by pouring oil on him is a picture of the Holy Spirit coming upon a person, see Jesus the Light of the World.
• The Sabbath is a picture of rest in Christ, see the 4th commandment in The Ten Commandments.
• A Nazirite vow (Num 6:1–21) is a picture of a life consecrated to Christ.
• Antiochus IV Epiphanes, Julius Caesar, and the Roman emperor Nero are forerunners of Antichrist, see Who is the End Time Antichrist?

What happened to the Israelites when they walked in the wilderness and entered the Promised Land is a warning to us who have the end of the world upon us
(1 Cor 10:1–12). We have the following symbolism for the history of Israel:

1. Slavery in Egypt:
   Picture of: Our slavery under sin. Egypt is an image of the world. 
2. Pharaoh's resistance:
   Picture of: Satan opposes our freedom.
3. Moses, the deliverer:
   Picture of: Jesus our Deliverer.
4. Passover, see Moses; Part 7: The 10th Plague.
   Picture of: Apply the blood of Jesus, see Salvation.
5. Exodus from Egypt:
   Picture of: Leaving the world behind us when we come to Christ.
6. Attack of Pharaoh's army:
   Image of: Satanic attacks of the new believer.
7. Red Sea:
   Picture of: Water baptism, see Christian Water Baptism 
   in The Book of Romans.
8. Legislation through the Law:
   Image of: Early Christian instructions.
9. Failure to enter the Promised Land:
   Image of: Failure to apply God's promises.
10. The wilderness years:
    Picture of: Saved but not living victorious.
11. Cross the Jordan:
    Image of: resumption to obedience and faith.
12. Taking the land:
    Picture of: Meeting battles in God's promises.

See also Jesus is compared with Moses in The Book of Hebrews.

See also The Old Testament of the Bible.