From the Catechism of the Catholic Church, Paragraph 487: “What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.”
Everything that Catholics believe about Mary in the New Testament is derived from the Old Testament. What is “prefigured” in the Old Testament in Eve, the Ark of the Covenant, Rachel, etc., is “revealed” in the New Testament as Mary, the Mother of God.
These beliefs are in now way new. From the start of Christianity, Mary was seen as related to many aspects of ancient scripture.
Mary’s Seed Defeats the Seed of the Serpent
In Genesis 3:15 we hear God give a foretelling of the future: “I will put enmity between you and the woman,
and between your offspring and hers;
They will strike at your head, while you strike at their heel.”
This is a clear prefigurement of Jesus defeating sin through his incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension. Jesus defeats the offspring of Satan, which is sin, and therefore who is he the offspring of? Mary.
Mary is the New Rachel
Jesus Christ has a very clear typology with Joseph of the Old Testament (12 brothers, betrayed by one, went to prison, major life change at 30, etc.).
But who was Joseph’s mother in the Old Testament? It was Rachel (name meaning female lamb). Now, Rachel had two sons, the first being Joseph, which is related to Jesus, and the second was named Benoni, which means “son of my sorrow”, as she named him while dying.
The “second born son” of Mary is John. As Jesus died upon the cross he looked to Mary and said “here is your son”. This has deep meaning on its own.
Finally, Rachel is widely recognized as an intercessor for the people to God. She is the Mother of Israel, as Mary is the Mother of our Church.
Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant (King David and The Visitation)
King David danced before the Ark as it was brought back to Jerusalem:
“As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal, daughter of Saul, looked down from her window, and when she saw King David jumping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.” 2 Samuel 6
And now remember what happened when Mary showed up at Elizabeth’s? John the Baptist danced in her whom when she appeared: “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb…” 1 Luke 41
Mary is the New Eve (Woman)
Did you know that Eve was only called “Eve” once in the Bible? She was referred to as “Woman” over 10 times. Now, at the Wedding Feast at Cana, Jesus referred to his mother Mary as “woman”. This would have been considered extremely offensive in 1st Century Israel, and in breaking with the 4th Commandment. This is showing Mary as the new Eve. Jesus does this one more time- when on the Cross he looks down and refers to Mary as “woman”.
Mary is the New Ark of the Covenant (The Word of God)
The Ark of the Covenant held the Word of God in the form of the 10 Commandments.
Now what is Jesus, as specifically called by John in the prologue to his Gospel? He is the “Word”: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it. ”
The Ark of the Covenant also contained Manna. Jesus explicitly says that he is the new Manna, the bread of life. Mary, again, is the bearer of the new bread of life, Jesus, and thus is the new Ark of the Covenant as well.
The Ark of the Covenant held the Word of God in the old form, Mary, the Mother of God holds the Word of God in the new.
Mary Queen Mother
In ancient Israel the “Queen” was not the wife of the King, but was the Mother of the King. This is clearly expressed in the Old Testament in the writings about David. Mary did not experience birth pangs when giving birth to Jesus, as that was a result of original sin and she was giving birth to Jesus. She did experience “birth pangs” at one time, however, when the Church was created. This was at Calvary, as Jesus was dying for our sins. This is clear in the reading of Revelation 12.
Mary is the New Eve
Mary as the “New Eve” is the most prominent prefiguring of Mary from the Old Testament to the New Testament. Read in Genesis how Eve said “no” to God as she disobeyed him and ate the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil compared to how Mary said “yes” to God when told by the angel that she will give birth via the Holy Spirit. Also note how the “fall” of man started: there was a man (Adam) and woman (Eve) and a tree. Now, when mankind is saved there is a man (Jesus), a woman (Mary) and a tree (the Cross- also referred to as a tree in other Old Testament prophesies).