The Seven Furnishing Items Of The TabernacleSample

THE GOLD LAMPSTAND

The fourth item in service of the tabernacle was the golden lampstand in the Holy Place. We have already given attention to the altar, the laver and the table with the twelve showbreads. We will now pay attention to the lampstand in the Holy Place. 

Besides giving light to itself the lampstand also shed light on the two other furniture pieces in the Holy Place - the table with the twelve showbreads and the golden altar of incense. We find the description of the gold lampstand in Exodus 25:31-40.

The golden lampstand stood in the Holy Place, on the south side, opposite the table of showbread (Exod. 40:24). The lampstand had to be hammered out of one piece of gold (Exod. 25:31, 36); a base, a shaft, and from the shaft six branches, three on each side. We note that six branches come out of the shaft just as the shaft itself arises from the base. All from one piece of solid gold, a talent in weight (60 kg) (Exod. 25:31). It had to be made from hammered work (Verse 31, 36). By hammering we understand that it had to be beaten with a hammer to be formed into shape. The gold therefore was not poured into a mould to form the branches of the lampstand; it was formed by undergoing a hammering process. The lampstand consisted of one shaft and six branches, three branches on either side of the shaft. The shaft of the lampstand had four bowls, flowers and knobs. Each branch had three bowls, flowers and knobs. The shaft from its base was therefore higher than the branches because it had four bowls instead of three like the branches. At the top of the shaft and each arm was a lamp filled with pure olive oil and a wick of flax.

The golden lampstand with the seven lamps provided light in the Holy Place and it was also the only light since there were no windows in the Holy Place that let in natural light. These lamps burned continually (Exod. 27:20). From evening until the morning (Exod. 27:21); and every morning when the priest tended the lamps, and when Aaron lit the lamps at twilight (Exod. 30: 7, 8).

The significance of the golden lampstand and its lamps: As the tabernacle and its accessories refer to Christ, we see in the golden lampstand a picture of Christ and his Church. The lampstand which was hammered from one piece of gold speaks of Christ; the prophet Isaiah foresaw our Christ: we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities (Isa. 53:4, 5).

Of the shaft of the lampstand, Slemming writes: “The Hebrew word translated ‘shaft’ is yarek and means ‘thigh’. Genesis 46:26, Exodus 1:5 and Judges 8:30 show that YAREK is connected with birth, ‘the souls that come out of the loins of Jacob’. Christ, the YAREK, we proceeding from Him and yet of Him’!” Christ in his humanity is the shaft (Yarek), He is anointed above his companions (Heb. 1:9); the vine (John 15:1); the Church is his arms stretched forth, the branches (John 15:5). The unity between the shaft and the branches, between the vine and the branches is also that of Christ and his Church: for in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). The six branches represent the Church of whom Paul said: in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine (the believers and the church) as lights in the world (Phil. 2:15). Christ needs the Church to give his light or revelation to the world.

The beauty of the shaft was also on each branch, namely the bowls, knobs and flowers. The shape of the bowls were like almond blossoms. Almonds reminds us of age (Eccl. 12:5-7), God's care, and the resurrection. This is the tree that blooms first after the winter. The knob is a revelation of life. When it opens, the flowers appear first and then the fruit - it is the result of the knobs.

The lampstand would mean nothing without the lamps. The lampstand revealed things that were hidden from natural light. The lamps were fed with pure olives harvested and finely stamped - not finely ground, but finely stamped - it makes the oil more pure than when it is finely ground (Exod. 27:20). We notice that in the preparation of the oil, a separation had taken place. The separated olive oil was a product of crushing. Oil, we know, is a symbol of the Holy Spirit (1 John 2:27). Christ self is the Anointed One; the word "Messiah", which when translated "Christ", literally means the Anointed One (Acts 10:38, Heb. 1:9). Of Christ the prophet says: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, Because the Lord has anointed Me To preach good tidings. . .” (Isa. 61:1). The lampstand represents Jesus Christ and the oil the Holy Spirit.

In our lives, as in the life of Christ, we are totally dependent on the Holy Spirit for our spiritual life, functionality and power. The Church must reveal the spiritual things that is impossible for the natural man to understand (1 Cor. 2:9-16). At the same time it is the task of the Church to witness for the Lord. When the apostle John was exiled on the island of Patmos, he saw the Lord Jesus Christ walking among the seven golden lampstands; these are the seven Churches (Rev. 1:12-13, 20). Each of the seven churches is represented by its own lampstand.

The lamps of the lampstand in the tabernacle had to be trimmed every morning, because when the lights burned, soot started gathering, which resulted in the lamps eventually getting dimmer. On each wick by each lamp a crust of soot built up which made it impossible for the wick lying in the oil to give a bright light. The priest had to take the wick-trimmers and cut off the soot from each wick every morning. Then he took the golden bowl with pure olive oil and filled the lamps with fresh oil. This is how the lamps were trimmed. Amongst us, the Church, our High Priest walks around the lamps of the lampstand (his church) to trim us. He does not desire to extinguish the dull lamp wicks, but to free them from soot and to supply fresh oil so that the Church (believers) can burn brightly as the light of the world. It is the Apostle Paul who exhorts the Church of Ephesus: For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (Eph. 5:8). This is because God said that out of darkness light must shine - it is He who shone in our hearts to enlighten us of the knowledge of the glory of God in the presence of Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 4:6).

Jesus then gives a timely warning in the parable of the ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went forth to meet the bridegroom: (Matt. 25:6-13).

The Church (every born again believer) is responsible to let the light of Christ shine. The believer is just the wick that lies in the oil. When a lamp becomes dull, it is because there is too little oil - the wick is not soaked with oil, or so heavily encrusted with soot that the soot has to be removed with the help of a wick-trimmer. If necessary, our faithful High Priest Christ, will do that so that the Church (the believers) will shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation (Phil. 2:15).