And he made the candlestick of pure gold; [of] beaten work he made the candlestick its base, and its shaft, its cups, its knobs, and its flowers were of itself.
In Exodus 37 the plans God gave on the mountain take shape under the craftsman's hands. Verse 17 begins the golden lampstand, beaten from one solid block of gold. Why gold with no wood in it? Why hammered instead of cast? And why one piece instead of seven separate stands?
There is no wood anywhere in this piece, and commentators read that as deliberate.
The lampstand was made of one piece of pure gold, of a talent weight — about 130 pounds. The lampstand was to bear the light of the seven lamps. So it pictures Christ as the Sustainer of the testimony (the light) of God. No wood is found here, for light is altogether divine. "God is light" (1 John 1:5).
The gold, the seven lamps, and the oil that fed them belong together:
Oil in Scripture is always a symbol of the Holy Spirit. Put these three things together — the number seven, the gold, and the oil — and see what each pictures. The meaning of the lampstand is divine light in its perfection in the power of the Spirit. It is God giving the light of the Holy Spirit, shown in its sevenfold perfection.
The text stresses the method, not just the material. Writers hear the cross in that hammering.
Again and again we are told that the lampstand was of "beaten work". It was not cast, but hammered out. Isn't this significant? If the True Vine is to have fruit-bearing branches, if the True Lampstand is to have light-bearing branches, if the True Grain of Wheat is not to stay alone but bear much fruit, then there must be "the sufferings of Christ". That is surely what the "beaten work" suggests. Because He died, we live; because He went through the darkness of Calvary, we are now "children of light".
The six arms were not attached; they grew out of the central stem from the same block of gold. That detail carries the closeness of Christ and His people.
In this lampstand we may see also a picture of the wonderful connection between Christ and His people. You can hardly look at this golden tree, with its central stem and its six spreading branches, without thinking of our Lord's words: "I am the vine; you are the branches". The two pictures are very much alike. Each one stresses the link of branch with tree, and of every believer with his living Lord. "All of it was one" is the telling description of the lampstand with all its branches. "He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified are all of one" is the assurance concerning Christ and His redeemed ones.
("All of one" follows an older translation; the ESV reads "all have one source".)
The number of lamps and the shape of the decorations both carry meaning.
On the top of the central stem was a lamp, and three branches came from each side of the stem, on which were lamps also, making seven. Seven tells us of the completeness of the testimony which the Lord Jesus sustains. On each of the branches were three bowls formed like almond blossoms, with a bud and a flower. This ornamentation speaks of Christ in resurrection. That is not only because of the number three, but because almond trees are the first to blossom in the spring, signifying "Christ the firstfruits" (1 Cor. 15:23).
The lamps were aimed back at the stand they stood on:
Clearly the lamps were arranged to light up the beautiful golden lampstand and its ornaments of buds, blossoms, and almonds. These set out the grand truth of life out of death. All our knowledge of Christ, and all our blessing in Him, rest on that glorious resurrection.
Nothing else lit the room where the priests served.
There was no window in the tabernacle. No light of nature entered the holy place. The light of the golden lampstand, and that alone, made up the light of the holy place.
And that light did not keep itself burning. Someone had to tend it.
Aaron was to order the lamps. This teaches that the display of the Spirit's light depends on one thing: the priestly care and intercession of Christ. He alone could use "the tongs and the trays," for both alike were made of pure gold. Every ray of light that shines out below, whether through the church or the individual believer, is only the answer to His priestly work.
- Gold — no wood enters the lampstand; the light it carries is entirely from God, not a mixture of divine and human.
- Beaten — it was hammered, not poured into a mould. Commentators hear the sufferings of Christ in that word. Without them there would be no light-bearing branches at all.
- One — shaft and six branches came out of a single block. That pictures Christ and His people as vine and branches, all of one.
- Seven — the finished lampstand shines with the perfection of the Spirit's light. Its almond blossoms point to Christ risen as the firstfruits.
- Tended — the priest lit and trimmed the lamps. So every ray shining from a believer today traces back to the priestly work of Christ.
And six branches went out of the sides thereof -- three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side thereof;
Exodus 37 records the making of the lampstand: one lump of pure gold, hammered into an upright stem with three branches on each side. Commentators read that shape as a picture of how light reaches God's people.
One number shapes the whole design. The six branches complete it.
It consisted of a central stem with six branches coming out of the sides of it, three out of one side and three out of the other. These six, with the central stem, make the seven supports for the seven lamps. The whole is one beautiful object, as Exodus 25:36 shows: "Their knobs and their branches shall be of itself — all of one beaten work of pure gold."
That older wording of Exodus 25:36 means the buds and the branches were of one piece with the stem: a single hammered piece of pure gold.
The number of lamps carries one lesson. The flower shapes on the branches carry another.
On the top of the central stem was a lamp, and three branches came from each side of the stem, on which were lamps also, making seven. Seven tells us of completeness of testimony which the Lord Jesus sustains. On each of the branches were three bowls formed like almond blossoms, with a bud and a flower. This ornamentation speaks of Christ in resurrection, not only because of the number three, but because almond trees are the first to blossom in the Spring, signifying "Christ the firstfruits" (1 Corinthians 15:23).
The six branches were not attached to the stem; they were part of it. One writer sees in that a picture of Christ and the Church.
If we turn to the pattern of heavenly things, we find the beautiful golden candlestick, with its centre shaft, and six branches, and its seven lamps, "was one beaten work of pure gold" — made from one talent of pure gold. Was this not a beautiful picture of Christ and the Church, all of one — both He who sanctifies and those who are sanctified?… Each branch came from the same piece of pure gold. Every lamp received the same pure oil. In the same way the Church is one with Christ, and the one Spirit dwells in each member of His body.
The shape recalls a vine. One writer marks where the two pictures differ.
It had a central shaft with three branches at each side, something in the form of a vine. Its meaning runs somewhat parallel to the vine, though it is distinct. There is the same basic idea of the branches abiding in Christ as their centre and support. But in the vine the chief thought is fruit-bearing; here it is light-giving… As light-givers, however, the source of power is the Holy Spirit, pictured as usual by the oil. Even our Lord Himself, the central shaft, gives light in this way — by the power of the Holy Spirit.
What is true of the middle stem is true, in smaller measure, of each of the six.
There was a lamp on the central stem, and there was a lamp on each branch too. The central stem bore flowers and fruit, and so did every branch — not in the same quantity as the central stem, but of the same kind. Could the lesson be pictured any more clearly? He Who is the Light wants His followers to "shine as lights."
The lampstand was not poured into a mould. The same writer links how the branches were made to what it cost Christ.
Again and again we are told that the Candlestick was of "beaten work". It was not cast, but hammered out… If the True Vine would have fruit-bearing branches, and if the True Candlestick would have light-bearing branches… then there had to be "the sufferings of Christ" — and that "beaten work" surely points to them. Because He died, we live. Because He went through the darkness of Calvary, we are now "children of light".
- One piece. The six branches came out of the same lump of gold as the shaft — not fastened on, but "all of one beaten work."
- One cost. The gold was beaten, not cast; writers tie the branches' existence to the sufferings of Christ.
- One oil. The branches give light by the Spirit, pictured in the oil — the same supply for every lamp.
- One reach. Three branches on each side, seven lamps in all — the complete testimony the Lord Jesus keeps burning.
- One result. Each branch bore its own lamp, flower and fruit — the same kind as the stem, in smaller measure. Followers of the Light are meant to shine.