In the verses describing Gideon making an ephod, we find many details with hidden meanings. For example, the weight of the collected gold is explicitly mentioned: seventeen hundred shekels. Commentaries usually convert this to about twenty kilos, but this misses the true point. The text is not about the weight, but about the number mentioned: 1700.
Judges 8
26 And the weight of the gold pendants he requested was a thousand and seven hundred (…)
27 And Gideon made it into an ephod and put it in his city, in Ophrah (…)
1700
The weight of seventeen hundred shekels refers to the day of Christ’s resurrection. This occurred on the day of the sheaf of firstfruits, that is, on the 17th of Nisan. On that day, God’s word (10) concerning the promised Messiah was completely fulfilled (10 x 10).
Furthermore, it refers to gold, a precious metal that does not rust and represents imperishability: the resurrection life of the Firstfruits, Christ.
17 Nisan
We also find references to the resurrection of Christ in other types. For example, Joseph was seventeen years old when his father sent him out to find his brothers (Gen. 37:2). Later, when Joseph had become viceroy of Egypt, Jacob lived in Egypt for another seventeen years (Gen. 47:28). This is a picture of a faithful and converted Israel under the kingship of the Messiah.
The period between the beginning of Joseph’s ministry and Jacob’s stay in Egypt under Joseph’s rule speaks of Israel’s unbelief and of the present time. The house of Jacob believed Joseph was dead and was unaware of his high position among the nations. We encounter the same theme repeatedly in the story of Gideon.
Flood and Ark
On the seventeenth day of the seventh month, the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat and, as it were, arose from the death-dealing waters of the flood (Gen. 8:4). Remarkably, the beginning of the flood also fell on a seventeenth day (Gen. 7:11). Both the starting point of judgment and the beginning of restoration and new life thus fall on a seventeenth day. Judgment leads to a new beginning.
Redeemer and Ransom
In Jeremiah 32, a sealed scroll is described: the title deed to the land, in which the right of redemption is actually exercised. The ransom price is seventeen silver shekels (Jer. 32:8–14). This speaks prophetically of the scroll from Revelation 5, the title deed to the land of Israel. Only One proves worthy to open the scroll: the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Rev. 5:5).
The number seventeen thus speaks of the resurrection of Christ, of judgment in the sense of setting right, and of redemption and restoration.
Ophrah
Gideon places the ephod in Ophrah, the place where Yahweh had previously appeared to him and where the oak stood as a symbol of God’s promises (Judges 6:11). It is also the place where Gideon tore down the altar of Baal and Asherah and built a new altar to Yahweh. Here, we repeatedly see a transition from the old to the new.
Gideon does not become a king, but acts as a priest. In this way, he represents the present time, in which Christ has been rejected as King, but is active in a priestly ministry.