The Binding of Isaac and Christ Carrying the Cross
Old Testament: Genesis 22:6-13
And he took the wood for the holocaust, and laid it upon Isaac his son: and he himself carried in his hands fire and a sword. ... Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw behind his back a ram, amongst the briers, sticking fast by the horns.
New Testament: John 19:17
And bearing his own cross, he went forth to that place which is called Calvary.
The connection
The only son, beloved, carrying the wood of his own sacrifice up the mountain, is one of the clearest types in the Old Testament, and the Fathers read it this way almost from the beginning. Tertullian states it outright: "Isaac, when led by his father as a victim, and himself bearing his own wood, was even at that early period pointing to Christ's death... carrying, as He did, the wood of His own passion" (An Answer to the Jews, ch. 10). The ram caught by the horns provides the substitution Isaac was spared, just as Christ is the substitute we are not.
Moral sense
Hold nothing back, even the beloved; carry the wood willingly, not under compulsion.
Anagogical sense
The final "God will provide" that closes every apparent dead end, fully unveiled.
The Fathers
Tertullian, An Answer to the Jews, ch. 10: "Isaac, when led by his father as a victim, and himself bearing his own wood, was even at that early period pointing to Christ's death... carrying, as He did, the wood of His own passion." Also treated at length by Origen, Homilies on Genesis, Homily 8.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2572.
The verses
Genesis 22:6 · Genesis 22:7 · Genesis 22:8 · Genesis 22:9 · Genesis 22:10 · Genesis 22:11 · Genesis 22:12 · Genesis 22:13 · John 19:17
