The manger was a feeding-trough for animals, and it became the first cradle of Jesus, for there was no room in the inn. The King of kings entered the world not in a palace but in poverty and humility.
The manger is the emblem of the incarnation's lowliness — that God came near in the humblest way, born among the overlooked, to reach us all.
The Manger in Scripture
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.