An interactive map of biblical typology — how the Old Testament prefigures, and the New Testament fulfills
What Is Typology?
Typology is the historic Christian conviction that God authors history. The persons, events, institutions, and objects of the Old Testament are not merely predictions of Christ and His Church; they are real shadows cast by a real Light, divinely arranged so that when fulfillment comes, it illuminates everything that came before.
This is not allegory imposed from outside the text. The New Testament authors themselves read the Hebrew Scriptures this way. Saint Paul calls Adam "a figure of him who was to come" (Romans 5:14, DR). Saint Peter calls baptism the antitype of Noah's flood (1 Peter 3:21). The Letter to the Hebrews unfolds the entire Levitical priesthood as "a shadow of good things to come" (Hebrews 10:1, DR). Christ Himself, on the road to Emmaus, opens the Scriptures to show how "all things must needs be fulfilled, which are written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me" (Luke 24:44, DR).
Below, follow each typological thread by toggling its button. Click any node to read the passage and the connection. Activate multiple threads at once to see how the patterns reinforce one another — how the Akedah, the Suffering Servant, & the Day of Atonement converge on a single Lamb at Calvary; how the Davidic Kingship & the Petrine office trace one continuous lineage of authority from David's throne to the Chair of Peter; how Babel, Sinai, & Pentecost form a single fire-and-tongues arc across the canon; or how the Tabernacle, the Marian Ark, & the Body of Christ all describe one great mystery: God dwelling among His people.
— Typological Threads —
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Select a thread above and click any node to read the passage and its typological resonance.
How to read this
Hollow circle — an Old Testament type (the prefiguration)
Filled circle — a New Testament fulfillment (the antitype)
The flowing line traces a single typological thread through Scripture's chronology, from Genesis (left) to the Apocalypse (right). The vertical dashed line marks the testaments.
The horizontal scale is canonical, not strictly linear: Genesis & the New Testament are given proportionally more horizontal space because typological density is far higher there. (Otherwise the Akedah's six Genesis 22 nodes would sit on top of one another.)
Each thread occupies its own horizontal lane so multiple threads can be compared at once. Lanes appear and disappear as threads are toggled.
In very dense clusters (such as the six Genesis 22 nodes in the Akedah thread), some reference labels are automatically hidden to prevent overlap. Every node is still clickable: the full citation appears in the detail panel.
The threads are not exhaustive — each is selective, drawing the most luminous connections. The full case for any single thread requires more sources than a chart can hold.
A note on the threads shown. The fifteen threads above are major arteries of the typological system, but they are not exhaustive. Other significant currents — the Exodus pattern, the Sabbath rest & the new creation, the Jubilee year, Wisdom Christology, the messianic banquet, the Feast of Tabernacles, the kinsman-redeemer, Jacob's Ladder, the Rock that Gave Water, the Abrahamic covenant of universal blessing, the Mosaic blood-of-the-covenant, & the heavenly liturgy of Apocalypse 4-5 — are each as rich as those displayed here. Within several of the existing threads, the patristic & liturgical tradition multiplies images far beyond what one chart can hold. This visualization is designed to expand. Threads will be added over time, & existing threads will deepen as research continues.