A Study of the Tabernacle—Part 9

The Golden Lamp Stand

So, you walk into the Tabernacle and what do you see? The truth is, you would not see anything if the Golden Lamp Stand was not lit (as it was prescribed to be whenever the Tabernacle was set up—Lev. 24:2). There would only be darkness! However, darkness has never hindered God. In the beginning, when the earth was formless and void and darkness was over the surface of the deep, God overwhelmed the darkness by speaking light into its presence. Later, when John wrote about Jesus coming into the world as flesh, he proclaimed, “And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overpower it” (John 1:5). Darkness will never overpower light and this is one of the object lessons God provided when He had the Israelites build the Golden Lamp Stand and place it in the Tabernacle.

However, God was teaching far more than this with the Golden Lamp Stand! This light was to be revelatory and Life-giving. Just as God provided a pillar of fire to light the way for the Israelites as He led them through the wilderness to Mt. Sinai where they entered into a covenant bond with Him, and then on to the Promised Land; He intended for the light of the Golden Lamp Stand to lead His people. But where would the light of this Golden Lamp Stand lead them? To the very source of Life, of course—back to the relationship God designed mankind to have prior to the fall. The Golden Lamp Stand provided a symbol of hope as it revealed the overall plan of God to call His people back to Life and intimacy with Him.

Have you ever noticed how the Lamp Stand was designed? It was to be one piece of gold hammered into the shape of a shaft with three branches extending from each side of the shaft. Each of these branches, along with the center shaft, was designed with cups shaped like almond blossoms, bulbs and flowers in intervals along them (Exodus 25:31-35). In other words, the finished product looked like a flowering tree! Many scholars have taken this to represent the Tree of Life! The plan of calling mankind back to the intimacy of being in His presence where they could eat of the Tree of Life and live forever was portrayed in the Tabernacle by God’s own design! (READ Revelation 22:1-5 in this context)

God’s Tabernacle is an amazing picture of His plan to dwell among us and give us Life through His Son. The Apostle John says this about Jesus, “In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4). Isn’t this the very picture we see with the flowering Tree of Life producing Light in the Tabernacle? Jesus, our source of Life is also the Light of the World! He came to reveal God and His ways so we could draw near to Him, and He came to give us Life! God has known what we need and has revealed His plan to provide for us since the time His relationship with the nation of Israel began. Will we trust in His provision and walk in the light as he is in the light? (This would be something good to talk about next week!)

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-Scott