2 Samuel 2:2

With the simplicity of a child, and in few words, he asked Him: "Shall I go up into any of the cities of Judah?" And the LORD said to him, "Go up." And David said, "To which shall I go up?" And He said, "To Hebron." David obeyed at once. He went to Hebron with his two wives. The men were with him, every man with his household. "And the men of Judah came, and there they anointed David king over the house of Judah." He still had to wait seven and a half years before all Israel submitted to his rule.

In the book of Joshua we have already noted what Hebron means. It is a burial place, a place of death, the end of man — a striking picture of what the cross of Christ is for us. According to God's mind, David had to go up to Hebron. Hebron was the point where his reign, as a type, must begin. David's reign is only a type of Christ's reign, and that reign rests on the cross. Christ's kingdom is the consequence and the reward of His cross. The elders gathered around the throne sing a new song: "Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain."

Having gained her freedom by death, Abigail becomes the wife of David. She leaves her high position, along with the ease and comfort that normally belonged to a woman of substance. She joins David in his sufferings and wanderings. On this new path she will indeed know suffering and hardship. David's enemies will even take her captive in the day of Ziklag. But she will also share his throne in the day of his reign at Hebron.

Were her convictions about David's future wrong, or right? Right indeed they were, and she saw it proved. With Nabal's body sleeping in the tomb, she went with David as king over Judah to Hebron. A sharer in his sufferings, she saw the day of his exaltation and power.

The man of sorrows, the rejected king, not only has companions and a people at Hebron, but also his wife and bride. Abigail (the father's joy), like Rebekah, is one of the rare types in the Old Testament that pictures the Church. She is the Bride, David's willing, humble, joyful companion during the days of his rejection. Ahinoam (the son's grace) stays more in the background. She stands instead, as I see it, for the remnant of Israel who have entered into relationship with the Messiah before His reign begins.

This is not strictly the church, but she is on the principle of the church. Abigail goes to meet David before the death of Nabal: so it is with the church before the nation is judged. The faith of this woman is very remarkable.

David takes several wives at Hebron besides Ahinoam and Abigail, his companions in his wanderings. Had he inquired of the Lord before doing so, what would the Lord have answered? Read my Word! Dependence on God and dependence on His Word are one and the same thing. David had the books of the law in hand, and he needed only to meditate on them to see his path. Does it not say in Deuteronomy 17:17 about the king: "he shall not acquire many wives for himself, lest his heart turn away"?