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The open manna is manna that we have not eaten, whereas the hidden manna refers to manna that we have eaten, digested, and assimilated—Rev. 2:17:
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“Do not think that it is impossible for you to be an overcomer. You can become an overcomer by enjoying Christ as manna. Eat the open manna, and Christ will become the hidden manna. This hidden manna will constitute you into an overcomer”—Life-study of Exodus, pp. 459-460.
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Whatever we eat, digest, and assimilate of Christ will be an eternal memorial; what we shall recall concerning Christ in eternity will have two aspects: the aspect of the enjoyment of Christ as our reconstituting element and the aspect of Christ as the supply to make us God's dwelling place in the universe—Exo. 16:16, 32.
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Just as the manna in the golden pot was the focal point of God's dwelling place, so Christ as the manna eaten by us is the focal point of God's building today—Heb. 9:3-4; Eph. 4:16; Col. 2:19.
Morning Nourishment
Exo. 16:32 …This is what Jehovah has commanded, Let an omerful of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out from the land of Egypt.Rev. 2:17 …To him who overcomes, to him I will give of the hidden manna, and to him I will give a white stone…
The hidden manna is for the overcomers. The open manna was for the enjoyment of the Lord's people in a public way; the hidden manna is a special portion reserved for His overcoming seekers who overcome the degradation of the worldly church. While the church goes the way of the world, these overcomers come forward to abide in the presence of God in the Holy of Holies, where they enjoy the hidden Christ as a special portion for their daily supply.
Do not think that it is impossible for you to be an overcomer. You can become an overcomer by enjoying Christ as manna. Eat the open manna, and Christ will become the hidden manna. This hidden manna will constitute you into an overcomer. It will also fulfill the requirements of the inner law of life and bring you into peace. As a result, you will be an overcomer according to Revelation 2:17. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 459-460)
Today's Reading
God commanded the people to keep one omer of manna, the very amount they collected and ate each day [Exo. 16:16,32]. This indicates that the amount of Christ we eat is the amount we can preserve. God does not command us to preserve any other kind of food before Him. But He does require us to preserve an amount of Christ which equals the amount we have eaten of Him.Only the Christ we have eaten and experienced is worthy of remembrance. The Christ whom we enjoy will be an eternal memorial, because the Christ we experience and enjoy becomes our very constitution. He actually becomes the reconstituting element for God's people, that element which causes them to be reconstituted. Nothing of what we are, what we have, or what we can do is worthy of remembrance. Only the Christ who has become our constitution is worthy to be an eternal memorial. What we remember in eternity will be nothing other than Christ. For generation after generation, Christ will be our memorial.
According to the Bible, this memorial of manna indicates that as the real manna Christ is the source of supply for God's dwelling place. Christ is the heavenly supply to God's people for God's dwelling place on earth…. With manna as their supply the children of Israel built the tabernacle. The tabernacle was a symbol of the children of Israel, who were the real dwelling place of God by being supplied with manna and reconstituted with it. In this sense, the supply of manna even became the tabernacle.
What we shall recall concerning Christ in eternity will have two aspects: the aspect of the enjoyment of Christ as our reconstituting element and the aspect of Christ as the supply to make us God's dwelling place in the universe. These two aspects are clearly related to our experience in the Lord's recovery today. By taking Christ as our life supply, meeting after meeting we are enjoying Christ as our constituent, and we are building up God's dwelling place. These aspects of our experience of Christ will become a memorial in eternity. Do not think that when we are in eternity we shall not remember our experience today. On the contrary, we shall remember how we enjoyed Christ and how we took Him as our supply to become God's dwelling place. This is manna preserved as a memorial before God.
We are identical to the tabernacle in the Old Testament. Our spirit deep within is the Holy of Holies. In our spirit we have Christ as the Ark of God. The manna not eaten by us remains open, under the sky. But the manna we eat becomes hidden within us. Many Christians know only the open manna. Because they do not eat Christ as their manna, they do not have the hidden manna. But to those of us who are daily eating of the manna, the open manna is becoming the hidden manna. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 450-453)
Further Reading: Life-study of Exodus, msgs. 38 -39