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A figure, representation, or symbol of something to come, as an event in the Old Testament foreshadows another in the New Testament. Types generally find their fulfillment in the person and ministry of Christ, but they sometimes relate to God, His people, or some other reality.
Scholars using typology range over a wide spectrum of interpretation. On the one extreme is that method which makes practically every item in the Old Testament find a greater fulfillment in the New Testament. At the other extreme are those scholars who insist on the word type being explicitly mentioned in the New Testament before they recognize any Old Testament type. Between those extremes, many scholars feel that there are some Old Testament correspondences to New Testament truths which are indeed typical, although the word type is not specifically used.
For instance, Melchizedek, the king-priest of Salem <Gen. 14:18-20> (and <Ps. 110:4>) is said to be typical of Christ <Heb. 6:20>. Jesus said the brazen serpent in the wilderness <Num. 21:4-9> was in some sense typical of His own crucifixion <John 3:14-15>. The writer of Hebrews <Hebrews 9--10> pointed out that the tabernacle typically foreshadowed the person and work of Jesus Christ.
The NKJV uses the word type in only one place; in <Romans 5:14> the apostle Paul mentions Adam as "a type of Him [Jesus] who was to come" (pattern, NIV).
(from Nelson's Illustrated Bible Dictionary)
(Copyright (C) 1986, Thomas Nelson Publishers)
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