Albert Barnes Commentary Colossians 2:17

"which are a shadow of the things to come; but the body is Christ`s." — Colossians 2:17 (ASV)

Which are a shadow of things to come. (See the notes on Hebrews 8:5 and Hebrews 10:1).

They were only a dim outline of future things, not the reality.

But the body is of Christ. This means the reality, the substance. All that they signified is of or in Christ. Between the things themselves that are in Christ, and those that only represented or prefigured them, there is as much difference as there is between a body and a shadow—a solid substance and a mere outline. Now that we have, therefore, the thing itself, the shadow can be of no value to us; and since that which was prefigured has come, that which was designed merely to represent it is no longer binding.