Shadows, Types, and Symbols

By Larry Doyle Crenshaw

MeditationsInLight.Blogspot.com

What comes before shadows what comes next

Such are the scriptures with layers for gleaning

 Parables and doctrine that confuse and perplex

Those unversed in discernments and meaning

Ancient scripture contains hundreds, if not thousands, of words and concepts that are symbols designed to obscure understanding by the spiritually less-informed and to act as directional beacons for those spiritually attuned. These symbols may be referred to as types and when they portend to reveal or point to the future, they may be referred to as shadows. 

Hence, we see the symbol, type, and shadow of Christ in the Brazen (bronze) Serpent (Numbers 21:9) being lifted up on a staff for those who had been bitten by snakes to look upon and live.  We see the ancient Ark and the Ark of the Covenant as symbols and shadows of the Gospel of Jesus Christ which has within the power of salvation.  Likewise we see in the shepherd’s crook (staff) the symbol of Christ, the Good Shepherd. The list could go on and on siting both ancient and modern texts.

The scriptural scholar Joseph Fielding McConkie has written: "There are few if any stories in the scriptures that do not cast a shadow, that are not types or illustrations of greater principles or events. Virtually every passage of scripture is layered with meaning, and its full interpretation need not be limited to our present understanding. . . . For us to begin to see those countless types and shadows, the endless symbolic representations of Christ, is for us to be ever assured of the reality of his gospel and the blessings enjoyed by those who choose to live it" ( Gospel Symbolism, 249).

Thus, we affirm in our meditative verse –

All things bear witness of Christ

And all things have their similarity

If we are willing to pay the price

To explore and expose their clarity . . . .

Might we approach the sacred more soundly

Through doctrine and principles to depose

By searching the scriptures more profoundly

Their hidden types and shadows to expose

Shadows, Types, and Symbols

                                                                                       

…they did look forward to the coming of Christ, considering that the law of Moses was a type of his coming, and believing that they must keep those outward performances until the time that he should be revealed unto them. 

Book of Mormon   Alma 25:15

What comes before shadows what comes next

Such are the scriptures with layers for gleaning

 Parables and doctrine that confuse and perplex

Those unversed in discernments and meaning

Learning the language of shadows and types

Can be dauntingly hard and an arduous task

For in hidden layers of truth God often writes

Pearls hidden safely behind a shadowed mask

All things bear witness of Christ

And all things have their similarity

If we are willing to pay the price

To explore and expose their clarity

Types and shadows are like prisms of light

That reflect rays of altered color or hue

The language of types and shadows give insight

As veiled messages and meanings come into view

Might we approach the sacred more soundly

Through doctrine and principles to depose

By searching the scriptures more profoundly

Their hidden types and shadows to expose

Larry Doyle Crenshaw