The Manger

The story of the shepherds is packed with meaning and it has a lot of elements we COULD think about… angels… "Glory to God in the highest…" --- but I just want to look at ONE ELEMENT – the indicator…the sign… this time NOT a yellow ribbon but a manger - "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
I want to consider FOUR POSSIBLE meanings for this sign –
what actually WAS the sign and what does it sign-i-fy (to what is it pointing? What's the significance? What does it mean?)