In the Old World the sacrament was instituted as part of a private meal, and the symbolic associations of that event were spread by the apostles. In the new world, the apostles still deliver the sacrament to the people, but the ritual is established in front of the entire assembly by the Savior. Thus the New World act of giving the sacrament by the New World twelve prefigures the passing of the sacrament by the priesthood to the gathered congregation.
In early Christianity the presentation of the bread and wine was a symbolic part of the communal meal. In the New World, it appears to be established separate from a communal meal.