The golden lampstand

1. The golden lampstand is described in great detail in Exodus 25:31-40; 37:17-24. It stood on the south or the left side of the tabernacle, opposite the table of shewbread — Exodus 40:24.

2. The original construction of this lampstand: a talent of pure gold was used, it was actually hammered out into this beautiful form. Only the mercy seat and the lampstand are of pure gold.

3. There was a central branch or shaft which was beaten out with three branches on each side. In other words, this lampstand had a central branch and beaten our were three sub-branches. The central branch was higher. Each branch has at the top a bowl, inside of which was a wick and a system of oil flowing into it. There are a total of seven lamps.

4. It was the only light in the holy place, just as the Shekinah glory is the only light in the holy of holies.

5. The light from the lampstand revealed a scene of rare beauty. Remember that the light in the lampstand portrays Christ as the only source of understanding God. No one approaches God except through Christ, no one understands God apart from Christ. Christ is the revealed member of the Godhead. The light was kept burning all the time and as the Levitical priest would walk in he would see some beautiful things. First of all, he would see the walls. The walls were made with wood overlaid with gold, so the walls were made of gold. He saw the roof which was made of linen and it had embroidered cherubs of blue, purple, and scarlet, a reminder of the fact that only as the light shines and reveals the roof can people understand what God is like. Only as Christ, the light of the world, is received by the individual will the individual ever understand what God is like. The cherub refers to the character of God, His sovereignty and righteousness, His justice, love, eternal life, omnipotence, omniscience, omnipresence, immutability and veracity. It is Christ who throws light on who and what God is and what God is like. It also showed the beautiful table of shewbread and the golden altar of incense. So when the priest walked in his eyes beheld a scene of great beauty. Everything spoke of who and what Christ is, and everything spoke of how Jesus Christ portrays who and what God the Father is. Jesus Christ is God, He is the revelation of the Godhead, He is the portrayer of what the Father is like and what the Holy Spirit is like.

6. It should be pointed out that only the priests could enter and behold the beautiful scene. Outside, all the people could see was a white wall and a badger-skin roof, but they could not see the beauties inside. That was only for the eyes of the priests, portraying the principle that in the Church Age there would be a royal priesthood. Every believer is a priest, every believer therefore has the right and the privilege of understanding who and what God is, understanding His plan of grace and operating under that perfect plan. It is the believer priest of today who has, as it were, the entire beauties of God revealed. We have the completed canon of scripture.

7. This illustrates how also the unbeliever cannot see the beauties of Christ. This is reserved for the royal priest of the Church Age. He is qualified by having the residency of God the Holy Spirit and the area for residency of Bible doctrine. This comes from knowledge of doctrine through the consistent function of GAP.

8. The result of the consistent intake of doctrine or beholding the beauties of God through the intake of doctrine is occupation with Christ which is the basic characteristic of maturity.

9. The golden lampstand, therefore, is a shadow or a type of union with Christ. In John 15:5 Jesus says, “I am the branches, you are the vine.” The branch is a vine is connected in the same way that these branches were connected to the main stem of the lampstand. Union with Christ is portrayed. Jesus Christ prophesied the relationship of Himself to the members of the royal family in John 14:20 when He said, “I in you and you in me.” We are in Christ and Christ is in us. 1 Corinthians 12:12 portrays the branches in relationship with the main stem. 1 Corinthians 12:13 tells us exactly how it occurs, we are in union with Christ. So actually, what is portrayed by the lampstand we portray in the principle that the moment you accept Christ as saviour you enter into union with Christ seated at the right hand of the Father.

10. The result. Six is the number for man in the scripture, also for incompleteness; seven in the perfect number and the point is, again, that there are six lamps representing humanity competed by the seventh lamp, by union with the Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 2:10.

11. To portray in shadow form the royal family of the Church Age each branch is not only joined to the central branch, representing Christ, but joined to the branch on the other side to portray the basis for unity among members of the royal family. Our unity is not based upon solving our personality differences or solving our personality conflicts, the unity of the royal family is based upon the fact that at the point of regeneration each one of us was entered into union with Christ. Our unity is in the fact that we are all “in Christ”.

12. All six branches are lower than the central branch in this golden lampstand, indicting the fact that Christ is the head of the Church and Christ is the head of the royal family as the King of kings.

13. The central shaft gives light because Christ is the light of the world — John 8:12; 1:4; Luke 1:78. Christ as the light of the world not only reveals God but He reveals the way to God. He is the saviour. No one can ever be saved apart from believing in the Lord Jesus Christ — Acts 4:12; John 14:6.

14. The six branches give light because the royal family of the Church Age is also light. The significance is first found in Matthew 5:14 where Christ prophesied this. He said, “You are the lights of the world”. Matthew 5:16 — “Let your light so shine before men.” Ephesians 5:8 tells us that we are light. Why? We are the royal family on earth, we represent the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore our life has meaning and purpose and definition no matter how insignificant our life may appear to be. The lampstand burned in the tabernacle for over 500 years and in the temple for 1000 years to remind us of a principle: You as a believer have a life with meaning and purpose and definition.

15. The value of the lampstand is determined on the basis of the talent of gold from which it was made. A talent of gold is worth around US$20,000. So the very material out of which the lampstand was made was worth $20,000 and under our system of inflation that would be worth more than a quarter of a million dollars today, just for material.

16. The principle of value is enhanced as the talent is beaten. Since the lampstand was constructed of one talent, and since it was beaten and shaped in order to do this, it denotes the royal family in the palace forever based upon the work of Christ on the cross. The beating indicates the cross, the hammering of the metal into a shape of something meaningful. Positional sanctification and eternal security are also indicated by the fact that they did not break off any part of this lampstand which was shaped out of one talent. We would say carving except that we are dealing with metal. The branches, the believers, cannot be separated from the central shaft. The talent of gold not only had value but when you shape it into an art object, the golden lampstand, it increases its value. Our Lord has ultimate, complete, maximum, total value. But when you shape our Lord as one Son into many sons, those who are saved in the Church Age, He now has increased His value. And since He was maximum value at the beginning, one Son bringing many sons into glory, now increases the value. So never look at the lampstand without thinking of value, and when you think of value you have to remember that you are a part of that value and that the fact that you are in union with Christ and a member of the royal family means that you have value to Him forever. It means that you are of infinite interest to God, and no matter how you feel cut off or no matter how you say ‘God has forsaken me’ or ‘God has let me down’, or other blasphemies that you may utter from time to time, you remember that you are of infinite value to God the Father, of infinite value to God the Son, and that you have enhanced the entire value of heaven by being a member of the royal family forever.

17. The gold represents the deity of Christ which was also presenting the hypostatic union at the cross. The beating of the gold portrays the cross, as per Isaiah 53:5,10. And so the whole principle: a talent of pure gold of extreme value is now of extreme ultimate value because of being shaped into something meaningful. The Lord Jesus Christ, by coming into the world and going to the cross and bearing our sins and taking our place, was shaped into something meaningful. And right now the six branches are in the process of formation during the Church Age. And when the last believer of the Church Age receives Christ as his saviour the lampstand will be complete and lifted up into its proper place, heaven itself. That is the basis for the Rapture of the Church.

18. The cross brings something of greater value into history. The cross brings the royal family into history. The talent was alone before its construction but it became seven lights after the construction was completed. When Christ was on the cross He was alone but now Christ has multiplied Himself — members of the royal family. He is seated at the right hand of the Father and we who have responded by personal faith to His so great salvation are a part of the golden branches of the lampstand. The cross became the basis for the calling out of a permanent royal family.

19. One Son left glory to bring many sons into glory — Hebrews 2:9-14. This is also portrayed by the oil in the lamps. There was oil in the central lamp, speaking of the residency of God the Holy Spirit in Christ during the period of His life on this earth, the period of the first advent. There is also oil in the six lamps of the lampstand which are from the branches from the main stem. This speaks of the fact that for the first time in history God the Holy Spirit makes His residency in the body of every believer. That is because we are royal family. And when we are filled with the Spirit He also controls our soul, therefore the light burns through the filling of the Spirit. This wick, then, is burned and every day the priest had to come in and trim off the dead wick so it would continue burning. The dead wick is service performed in the power of the ministry of the Spirit and it was put into a golden snuff box which represents the Lord’s memory and the basis of our reward in eternity. All divine good is burnt wick and the burnt wick is stored in the golden snuff box.

The priest did not understand anything about the golden lampstand except as it related to Christ bearing our sins, Christ in the second advent. But he did not understand the details of the royal family in the Church Age, that was a part of the doctrine of the mystery.