Exodus 25:31-40

THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK

"And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made, even its base, and its shaft, its cups, its knops, and its flowers, shall be of one piece with it: and there shall be six branches going out of the sides thereof; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side thereof: three cups made like almond-blossoms in one branch, a knop and a flower: so for the six branches going out of the candlestick: and in the candlestick four cups made like almond-blossoms, the knops thereof and the flowers thereof; and a knop under two branches of one piece with it, and a knop under two branches of one piece with it, and a knop under two branches of one piece with it, for the six branches going out of the candlestick. Their knops and their branches shall be of one piece with it; the whole of it one beaten work of pure gold And thou shalt make the lamps thereof, seven: and they shall light the lamps thereof, to give light over against it. And the snuffers thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold. Of a talent of pure gold shall it be made, with all these vessels. And see that thou make them after the pattern, which hath been showed thee in the mount."

One picture is said to be worth a thousand words, and fortunately a likeness of the golden candlestick which was robbed from the Herodian Temple in Jerusalem by the soldiers of Vespasian and Titus, A.D. 70 has been preserved in the carved representation of it engraved upon the Arch of Titus (circa 90 A.D.) commemorating the Triumph of that Flavian Caesar. We may not be certain that it was exactly like the golden candlestick of the tabernacle, described here, but, since the Jews constructed their Temple, in many respects, along the pattern of the tabernacle, it is as authentic a likeness of the candlestick as could be found. This likeness of that ancient piece of tabernacle furniture is visible today on the Arch of Titus in Rome, or in the plaster casts made from it and exhibited in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York City.

Significantly, it was very heavy, being made entirely of beaten gold, and the carvings represent several men as being required to carry it.

It was the only source of light in the sanctuary, with the spiritual meaning that only the Word of God, which the candlestick typified, is the true light of God's church.

One of God's prophets asked the meaning of this golden candlestick, receiving this answer from an angel of God, "This is the word of the Lord" (Zechariah 4:1-6); and despite there being a limitation there in the words "unto Zerubbabel," there can be little doubt that it stands for the Word of God as revealed to mankind in the Holy Bible. It most certainly is a fantastically accurate and instructive type of the Bible.

Its seven branches stand for the seven divisions of the Bible, the central branch in the main shaft of the candlestick representing the holy Gospels which are the central division of the Bible, all of the O.T. pointing forward to them, and all of the N.T. (from Acts to Revelation) pointing backward to the Gospels. This, of course leaves only three divisions of the O.T., which correspond exactly to Christ's divisions, "The Law, and the Psalms, and the Prophets" (Luke 24:44). The Jews, to whom God gave the custody of the O.T. (Romans 3:2), accepted this understanding of the divisions of the O.T., giving them the names of Torah (the Law), Nebiim (the Prophets), and Kethubhim (the Psalms).[4]

This identifies the other three branches (on the right side) as being the divisions of the N.T.; and, here again, the fit is perfect. The shortest arm is nearest the Gospels; that would be Acts of the Apostles with its short history of the first thirty years of the Christian religion. The only diverse book in the rest of the N.T. is the prophecy of Revelation, leaving the other twenty-one books to stand in a single division, the epistles, telling Christians how to live! Note also, that the first candlestick (on the left), the longest branch, is the one that covers the greatest time-span, going back to the creation, and that the last candlestick on the right, the longest branch on that side, also covers the greatest time-span, reaching all the way to the Eternal Judgment (the Book of Revelation).

Solomon, of course, varied the design of this candlestick, making "ten branches instead of seven" (1 Kings 7:48-50); but we believe that God over-ruled that disobedience (it certainly was not after the pattern that God showed Moses), compelling the changed candlestick to witness the same truth as the first candlestick. The explanation lies in the fact that the only way one can take this basic seven-branched candlestick and convert it to ten branches is by extending and dividing the central branch, thus making four branches out of it, with the other six branches appearing somewhat lower with three on one side and three on the other. Tradition supports the view that this is what Solomon did. If so, all of the typical significance of the branches would remain the same except that the four in the central shaft then stood for the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John! This is another instance in which the wrath of men (in this case, Solomon's disobedience) praised the Lord.

We shall discover many other startling testimonies to the realities of "the heavenly things" typified by these pieces of furniture and other accouterments of the Tabernacle, as revealed in subsequent chapters.