Christ's work is greater than the symbols
In Old Testament times, in God's wisdom, he had to do two things. He had to provide a means by which people in Old Testament times might actually participate in salvation. And he had to do it before the climactic work of Christ had come. God's solution is that the participation takes place through symbolism.
Symbolism shows the meaning of the coming work of Christ, At the same time, sybolism shows by its symbolic nature that it is pointing to something else, something other than itself. Christ's work is greater than the symbols, and it exists on a plane superior to the symbols.
Vernon. S. Poythress















