It is to Melchizedek that Abram (not yet Abraham) gave a tenth of everything. The "everything" was what Abram looted while rescuing Lot, his nephew, who had been abducted. This tithe is made by Abram after Melchizedek blesses him in the wake of his offering of bread and wine. Salem is mentioned in Psalm 76 as the place where God's tabernacle was located. This tabernacle preceded the building of Solomon's temple. Indicating that Jerusalem was a sacred place well before there were any Israelites.
Apart from Genesis 14, in the whole of Sacred Scripture, Melchizedek is mentioned only in Psalm 110, our Responsorial, and in Hebrews 7. It is in Hebrews that there is one priest who is not only like Melchizedek but who is greater than Melchizedek, just as Melchizedek was greater than Levi (more on this in a minute).
As the inspired author Hebrews notes, being "Without father, mother, or ancestry, without beginning of days or end of life," Melchizedek is "thus made to resemble the Son of God, he remains a priest forever" (Hebrews 7:3). As it turns out, Jesus is not a priest in the line of Melchizedek. Melchizedek has no priestly line. He is a one-off. Rather, Melchizedek is a priest sorta like Christ.
The Sacrifices of Melchizedek, Abel, and Abraham. Mosaic from the Basilica of Sant’Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna.
For Israel, the priestly line were descendents of Jacob's son Levi. Moses and Aaron were both Levites. While the tribe of Levi was a priestly tribe, there was a subset of Levites, the descendents of Aaron, who were the priests. Kohen (the familiar Jewish last name "Cohen") is the Hebrew word for priest. Hence, the subset of Levites who were the descendents of Aaron, known as the Kohanim, were the priestly caste. The other Levites, like Zechariah, John the Baptist's father, assisted the Kohanim. This is why, from patristic times, Levites are often corrolated with deacons.
Melchizedek's appearance in Genesis is a Christophany. As a priest "of God Most High," he is, as previously noted, a priest kinda like Jesus. In no way is he more like Jesus than in his offering of bread and wine. We can add to that his role as King of Salem- the king of wholeness and of perfect restitution. Finally, his not being a Levite. Melchizedek was not even an Israelite, as there was no such thing according to the chronology of Genesis, is another important parallel.
Jesus himself was not a Levite. This is perhaps the major issue the inspired author of Hebrews is seeking to explain in the book's seventh chapter (see the whole of Hebrews 7). Jesus was from the tribe of Judah. Yet, He becomes a priest forever, our great High Priest. As such, unique and singular. Melchizedek is a priest sorta like Christ because there is no priest like Jesus Christ. There is nobody who could be a priest like Jesus Christ because no one else is true God and true man. In offering Himself on the altar of the cross, He is both priest and offering.
"If, then, perfection came through the levitical priesthood on the basis of which the people received the law," we read in Hebrews 7, "what need would there still have been for another priest to arise according to the order of Melchizedek, and not reckoned according to the order of Aaron?" Because there was a need for such a priest to arise, there was a change of priesthood. "When there is a change of priesthood," we read further on, "there is necessarily a change of law as well."
There is only one priesthood. The priesthood of Jesus Christ. Through baptism and confirmation, we participate in His priesthood. Hence, like the Levites and greater Israel, Christians are a priestly people. The participation of those ordained to the ministerial priesthood in the priesthood of Jesus Christ differs in kind and not just degree. But that is a topic for another time.
Where I live, understanding Melchizedek is important.
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