The manna which speaks of Christ in humiliation in this world was given by God for the food of His people that they might be sustained for their journey through the wilderness. How the hearts of the saints of God today are strengthened in the contemplation of what Christ was in passing through this world. The taste of the manna is referred to both in Exodus 16 and in Numbers 11, "the taste of it was like wafers made with honey," and "the taste of it was as the taste of fresh oil." How sweet and delightful to the soul of the Christian who feeds on Christ is the remembrance of His sojourn in this world for God's glory and the blessing of His own.
God's remembrance of what His Son was as Man in this world is treasured up in heaven, and this is indicated to us in the omer that was put in the golden pot and laid up, at God's command, in the ark of the covenant (Ex. 16:33; Heb. 9:4). It is in a golden pot, a glorified Christ above, that God retains for Himself the memory of what Jesus was in humiliation.
Although the fine flour of the meat offering also speaks of the Manhood of our Lord Jesus it is not exactly in regard to His circumstances in this world, but rather refers to the wondrous perfections of Jesus in all the precious traits of a nature in which every grace was blended together. There was nothing outstanding in the character of Christ, for not only was every trait perfect, His meekness, lowliness, gentleness, zeal for God, love in compassion for sinners, delight in the will of God, and every other feature of that only perfect Man, but every feature was perfectly blended together.
Unlike the manna, the meat offering was not to strengthen the people of God for their wilderness journey, it was to sustain the priests in their priestly service in the presence of God. Every burnt offering and every peace offering had its meat offering (Num. 15:1-12), for we could not be worshipping before God, or having communion with Him in relation to the perfections of His Son made known in death without contemplating before Him, and presenting to Him what His Son was in all His perfections in Manhood down here.
How blessed it is for the saints of God to feed upon Christ so as to have strength to walk in His steps, and also to present Christ to Him in worship and communion.