Exodus 16:31-36--A Memorial Portion of Manna Kept Before the Ark of the Covenant

Exodus 16:31-36 
World English Bible
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31 The house of Israel called its name “Manna”, and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey. 32 Moses said, “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded, ‘Let an omer-full of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” 33 Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot, and put an omer-full of manna in it, and lay it up before Yahweh, to be kept throughout your generations.” 34 As Yahweh commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. 35 The children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan. 36 Now an omer is one tenth of an ephah.

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The "bread from heaven" that appeared with the dew every morning (which itself is miraculous that there was dew every morning in the desert) was called "manna" by the house of Israel because they had no word for it.  "Manna" literally means, "What is it?."  It was something like a wafer of bread with honey (it was sweet).  There was enough for every man, woman and child to take one omer (one tenth of an ephah, which is about two quarts or half of a gallon).  On the day before the Sabbath day, they were to take twice as much so that everyone would take two omers (about 1/5 of an ephah or about one gallon).

Aaron was to take a omer of manna and put it in a pot or jar that he was to lay it before the Ark of the Covenant (we'll get to the construction of the Ark of the Covenant soon, but the commandment at first has to be interpreted as "lay it up before the LORD") as a memorial portion.  This would remind the priests and the people who remembered it was there of the miraculous provision provided by the LORD when He brought them up out of the land of Egypt and they were fed with bread from heaven for 40 years while they were wandering in the wilderness.  The manna did not stop coming each morning until they entered the Promised Land (then the Land itself was their provision because the LORD miraculously made it fertile and give plentiful crops and oil and wine and figs and grapes to them, not only to feed them, but also to make them rich and to show the world that they were the apple of His eye).

This omer of manna is one of three things that will be kept before the Ark of the Covenant or be laid in the Ark of the Covenant--a copy of the Law, an omer of manna, and the budding rod of Aaron.  We'll get to all these later, but they speak of the LORD's Plan for His People, His Provision for His People, and His Power to Transform His people and bring them from death to life and this is done by Election, Predestination and by His Sovereignty.  There is much of the gospel tied up in the imagery of the Ark of the Covenant, but today we focus on how Jesus is the Bread of Life as He talked about in John 6.  I encourage you to read those words, though they are hard words, and see that Jesus is the miraculous provision for us and no one has eternal life unless they partake of Him, the Bread of Life.  He will give eternal life to all who believe in Him and His Word is life-giving, but it is also necessary for us to partake of it on a daily basis, just like we see with the manna from heaven.  Also, John 6 tells us something else important--they changed the story to say Moses gave them bread to eat, and that's not true.  Moses never did any such thing.  The LORD miraculously provided the bread every morning, so let's be careful to not ascribe the works of God to the men He uses to lead His people.  Otherwise, we may miss the work God is doing in front of us because we think the work is done because the man God used at that time is gone.  The work did not stop when Moses died, but many of the people stopped looking for the word of the LORD to be done because they acted like Moses was responsible for it when the LORD who was always with them was still there and able to provide, protect, and preserve them.