The Tabernacle, The Golden Candlestick, Part 1 - Lesson 24

Let The Lower Lights Be Burning, by Phillip Bliss

Brightly beams our Father’s mercy from His lighthouse evermore,

But to us He gives the keeping of the lights along the shore.

Let the lower lights be burning! Send a gleam across the wave!

Some poor fainting, struggling, seaman you may rescue, you may save.

Dark the night of sin has settled, loud the angry billows roar;

Eager eyes are watching, longing, for the lights, along the shore.

Let the lower lights be burning! Send a gleam across the wave!

Eager eyes are watching, longing, for the lights, along the shore.

Trim your feeble lamp, my brother, some poor sailor tempest tossed,

Trying now to make the harbor, in the darkness may be lost.

Exodus 25:31-40,  And thou shall make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same. [32] And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side: [33] Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick. [34] And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers. [35] And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick. [36] Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold. [37] And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it. [38] And the tongs thereof, and the snuff dishes thereof, shall be of pure gold. [39] Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels. [40] And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was showed thee in the mount.

As we continue our study of the tabernacle of Israel picture yourself in the Holy Place, having left the Most Holy Place where we learned of the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat atop the Ark upon which were the two golden cherubim.

God next instructed Moses to construct three items in the Holy Place, the first we have extensively examined, the Table of Showbread, the next, the golden candlestick, which we will examine today, and the third piece, the table of incense.

These items, like all other items in the tabernacle, represent the various ministries of Christ.

In fact, the whole of the tabernacle and all of its separate parts speak of Christ.

God’s instructions for the making of the Golden Candlestick were given after the giving of instructions concerning the Table of Showbread.

The Golden Candlestick was positioned immediately opposite the Golden Table of Bread on the South Side of the Holy Place in the Sanctuary (Exodus 26:35 and 40:4; 24).

When we think of a candlestick we think of burning candles, however in this case the Golden Lampstand, or Candlestick, was a lampstand upon which were seven lighted oil fueled lamps.

We know the candle as a device with a wick in wax, which burns by self-consumption and any flame or light will eventually die out due to the fuel being consumed.

But the lamps described in the instruction to Moses were to never die out for these lamps were to be continually supplied with oil poured into them by the priests.

Keep this in mind when you think of the need for yourself to be continually supplied with the oil of the Holy Spirit through the Word of God in order for you to be the light of the world as Jesus said for his children to be.

Now unlike the outer court where there was sufficient light, the holy place had only the one candlestick or lampstand as its total source of light.

Outside light could not penetrate the four-layer covering or the outer veil, and therefore another source of light was necessary.

Light from the golden lampstand filled every corner of the Holy Place with a warm, shimmering, brilliance, providing illumination for the priest as he ministered.

The lampstand was made of one talent of pure gold, which weighed around 90 pounds.

With gold selling at about $1400 per ounce, the cost to reproduce it today would be over 2 million dollars but it was made from the gold willingly given by the children of Israel.

The fuel for the candlestick came from pure olive oil.

Occasional trimming of the candlestick’s wick by tongs was required to keep soot and ashes out so that the light would burn brightly.

Because the candlestick was to burn continually before the Lord, it was necessary for the priests to replenish it with oil and trim its wicks twice daily, morning and evening.

We read of this in Lev. 24:3,  And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, ²Command the children of Israel, that they bring unto thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamps to burn continually. ³Without the veil of the testimony, in the tabernacle of the congregation, shall Aaron order it from the evening unto the morning before the LORD continually: it shall be a statute for ever in your generations.

Although beautiful in itself the overriding purpose of the candlestick was to provide light in the Holy Place.

But knowing that all things about the tabernacle are but a shadow of things to come we can be sure that the candlestick will reveal to us aspects of the ministry of Christ.

For we clearly are taught that Jesus is the light of the world!

The Golden Candlestick then represents Christ in this ministry of light to the world as well as the New Testament Church is to be light to the world, for his body is to be the image of Christ and that image includes the being of light.

John 8:12,  Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

And in John 9:5,  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

Now Moses received instructions from God that he make a candlestick of pure gold beaten into a very precise shape and configuration.

Moses recorded no measurements for the candlestick, its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its knops, or its flowers.

But we are told that God showed Moses their patterns while Moses was on the mountain with God and therefore Moses knew what size and shape they were to be.

A distinctive we see in the candlestick is that it was to be made totally out of pure gold, in fact it was to be made out of a specific amount of gold, one talent.

It was to be wholly metal with no shittim wood for its foundation, as was true in the arc of the covenant, the table of showbread and the table of incense.

The mercy seat was also of pure gold.

Pure gold without wood speaks to us of the Deity of Christ and his divine nature.

By not including wood in its construction there is an absence of reference to Christ’s human nature for light only comes from the Father of lights.

So we are given a picture of deity though the gold of the candlestick providing light from the oil that is a picture of the Holy Spirit.

There is no human contribution here for all reveals that we are partakers of God’s divine nature.

Nothing man can do can imitate this divine nature.

That is why Peter said we are partakers, not imitators.

2 Peter 1:4,  Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Many of this world try, but none can mimic the character of God.

For it comes from the power of the illuminating lampstand through the oil of the Holy Spirit.

The imperative of Christ to Nicodmus  "Ye must be born again" tells us that the first birth does not meet God’s standard for the first birth does not bring the divine nature which can only come by being born of the Spirit of God.

The God of this world has blinded the minds of them who believe not, for the world system is built on self righteousness which refuses to recognize that light only comes from God.

2 Corinthians 4:6,  For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

God tells Moses: Of Beaten Work Shall The Candlestick Be Made...

Gold when taken from the earth is in its natural form and must be put through the fires in order to be fashioned into anything useful.

The gold in order to be useful must submit to the hammers and the beating work of the goldsmith and when the work is done it truly comes forth as a thing of beauty.

How easily we can see that this requirement of beaten gold speaks of our Savior, the gold of Deity, beaten by men, but that beating was of necessity in order to hear the words of our Lord, "It is finished.

Isaiah spoke of this in Isaiah 53:4-5,  Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. [5] But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.

We are being made in his image and what he went through we also in a small way may also go through.

Read the book of Job to get an understanding of how Job felt the intensity of this beating when in Job 23:10 he said:

But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

And Peter knew of this beating when he wrote in 1 Peter 1:7,  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perishes, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

The Golden Lampstand was fashioned out of one piece of Gold.

Exodus 25:31,  And thou shall make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.

It had a central shaft, which was the main shaft.

From this shaft proceeded six branches, three on either side of the main shaft.

Under each pair of branches there was a knop or knob upholding them.

There were a total of three such knops.

So with the main shaft and the six branches there were seven lighted lamps, burning continually before the Lord.

The Shaft and the Branches are the first things that we notice.

We see that they are spoken of as "HIS" shaft and "HIS" Branches.

It is obvious that this refers to the person of the LORD JESUS CHRIST!

Jeremiah 23:5,  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the earth.

Isaiah 4:2,  In that day shall the branch of the Lord be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the earth shall be excellent and comely for them that are escaped of Israel.

Isaiah 11:1-3,  And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots: [2] And the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord; [3] And shall make him of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord: and he shall not judge after the sight of his eyes, neither reprove after the hearing of his ears:

This union between the branches and the shaft speaks to us of the union between the Christ and the Church.

John makes reference to this in the 15th chapter saying,

"He is the vine, we are the branches."

The branches of the candlestick proceed out of the center shaft as the branches proceed out of the vine.

Jesus said he is the light of the world, and he also said ye are the light of the world.

He is the main shaft of the candlestick providing light, we are the branches, of the candlestick also providing light because we are attached to the shaft.

It is interesting to see that God choose to make 6 branches, 6 being the number ascribed to man.

Now the ornamentation of the Candlestick was made out of three items - knops (almonds), flowers and bowls.

Exodus 25:33-36,  Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick. [34] And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers. [35] And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick. [36] Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold.

The language used in this instruction regarding these items shows a similarity to that which happened when Aaron's rod budded, flowered and brought forth almond fruit.

Numbers 17:8,  And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.

In the almond tree we have the symbol of RESURRECTION LIFE.

Since it is the fruit that comes from the Rod of Aaron, we can see plainly that CHRIST is typified in the ROD.

He becomes the measuring rod for the Church.

In these two prophetic scriptures we see the Godhead portrayed in the Candlestick as follows:

Aaron’s rod budded which is represented in the candlestick by the knop, which is described as a swelling, a bud.

Aaron’s rod flowered which is represented in the candlestick by the flowers of gold.

And Aaron’s rod bore almond fruit, which is represented in the candlestick by the golden bowls which were fashioned as almonds.

Again we see the number three played out here which brings to mind, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

The Knop or round, unopened bud is a type of the Father God who is the source and beginning of everything

The Central Flower is a type of the SON OF GOD who was crushed as a flower emitting a sweet smelling savor

The Almond Bowl is a type of the HOLY SPIRIT who proceeds from the Father and produces fruitfulness in the people of God.

Thus, we see the FULLNESS OF THE GODHEAD typified in this tri-unity of the Golden Candlestick