Typology

Typology is the study of "types" or pre-figurements of Christ and other Scriptural persons or things and events that point to the fulfillment of the Old Covenant by Jesus Christ. Jesus clarified,

“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” (Mt 5:17-19)

And as St. Augustine said (paraphrase),

The New is hidden in the Old, and the Old is revealed by the New.

"Types" are the clues God gave the Old Testament prophets and inspired writers to point towards Christ.

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See also Salvation History

Scripture on Typology

A good place to start one's understanding of biblical typology is in the Holy Scripture itself.

John 3:14-15:

"And just as Moses lifted up the serpent in the desert, so must the Son of Man be lifted up,
so that everyone who believes in him may have eternal life.”

Here, Jesus directly states the typology of the serpent mounted on the pole by Moses (Num 21:9)

Accordingly Moses made a bronze serpent and mounted it on a pole, and whenever the serpent bit someone, the person looked at the bronze serpent and recovered.

1 Peter 3:20-22, in which Peter explicitly states the typology of the Flood as baptism:

who had once been disobedient while God patiently waited in the days of Noah during the building of the ark, in which a few persons, eight in all, were saved through water. This prefigured baptism, which saves you now. It is not a removal of dirt from the body but an appeal to God* for a clear conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers subject to him

1 Corinthians 10:1-6: Paul explains the typological connection between Exodus and salvation in Christ -- and also Christ's presence in Exodus ("and the rock was the Christ"):

I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our ancestors were all under the cloud and all passed through the sea, and all of them were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea. All ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink, for they drank from a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was the Christ.
Yet God was not pleased with most of them, for they were struck down in the desert. These things happened as examples for us, so that we might not desire evil things, as they did.

Typology as a tool for understanding the History of Salvation

• typology reveals the parallels between the Old and New Testaments
  • which helps us to understand "Salvation History," or "God's Plan for Salvation
  • by which Christ redeems mankind from the Fall of Adam and Eve.

God reveals ("revelation") himself to us through Salvation history. He does not give it to us all at once! We're not ready for it -- and, that would be in violation of our own free will, as well as to be too much for us to handle. So he deals with us on our terms, not his, giving us bits and pieces and nudging us along towards understanding.

Revelation & typology in the "Road to Emmaus"

Two disciples who on Easter Sunday left Jerusalem for the village, "Emmaus," encountered a man along the way who explained to them all the things they did not understand about Christ. From Luke 24:13-35, "The Appearance on the Road to Emmaus":

And it happened that while they were conversing and debating, Jesus himself drew near and walked with them, but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him. He asked them, “What are you discussing as you walk along?” They stopped, looking downcast.

One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply, “Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem who does not know of the things that have taken place there in these days?”

And he replied to them, “What sort of things?” They said to him, “The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene, who was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over to a sentence of death and crucified him. But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel; and besides all this, it is now the third day since this took place.

Some women from our group, however, have astounded us: they were at the tomb early in the morning and did not find his body; they came back and reported that they had indeed seen a vision of angels who announced that he was alive. Then some of those with us went to the tomb and found things just as the women had described, but him they did not see.”

And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are! How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke! Was it not necessary that the Messiah should suffer these things and enter into his glory?”

Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures.

First of all, not only did these two disciples know and live with Jesus, they got a first-class theological lesson from the resurrected Lord himself! We don't have the details of the lesson, but we do know it's focus:

Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets, he interpreted to them what referred to him in all the scriptures.

Jesus most likely began with Moses' prophesy in Deuteronomy 18:15,

A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for you from among your own kindred; that is the one to whom you shall listen.

and then walked them through the various other prophets who proclaimed his coming, suffering and resurrection, including Psalm 22, which he referenced from the Cross,

My God, my God, why have you abandoned me?

and ending with

The generation to come will be told of the Lord,

that they may proclaim to a people yet unborn

the deliverance you have brought. (Dt 22:32)

Typological clues

When reading the Bible, we will encounter various signals of Christ and the Gospel:

Types

Object	Meaning
water	baptism, Eucharist (changing water into blood of Christ)	Ezekial: living waters flowing from Jerusalem
river
wood	the Cross
tree
blood	Christ, on the Cross, the Eucharist
bread	Christ & the Eucharist
Fire	Holy Spirit
Dove
Cloud
God’s Word	Jesus

Mary and the Ark

Mary the Mother of God parallels to many Old Testament types, but one of the most important is to the Ark of the Covenant.

WIth the Incarnation, we begin the New Covenant, or fulfillment of the Old Covenant.

	Old Testament	Mary
The Ark of the Covenant	The Ark moved to >> house for 3 months	Mary visits Elizabeth
	David dances	John leaps for Joy from the womb
John the Baptist	Elizabeth and Zachariah are a type for the Old Covenant (faithful to it)	John marks the New Covenant and serves to announce it literally in his mission

Biblical parallels (misc)

Two sons

• the Parable of the Prodigal Son starts

A man had two sons... (Lk 15:11)

• unrelated to the parable, but "two sons" or sibling rivalries ocurr across the Bible:
  • Cain and Abel
  • Ishmael and Isaac
  • Jacob and Esau
  • Adonijah and Solomon

Sources

• Typology: Part 1 An Introduction - by Brother Alexander (substack.com)
• 9. Typology of Christ | Bible.org