With the lampstand as a type of Christ as the embodiment of the Triune God, there are three important things: the gold, the stand, and the lamps. These three matters imply the significance of the Triune God. Gold is the substance with which the lampstand is made, the stand is the embodiment of the gold, and the lamps are the expression of the stand.
According to Exodus 25:31, the lampstand was made of pure gold. Gold was the substance, the element, of the lampstand in its entirety. In typology, gold signifies the divine nature, the nature of God the Father. If we consider this substance, this element, of the lampstand, we shall see that it signifies the divine nature. Therefore, by this we can see God the Father, the One whose nature is the substance of the lampstand. The golden lampstand exists in the nature of God the Father.
Gold is the unique material used for making the golden lampstand. Gold is the substance, the material, of the lampstand. Every material has a substance, and every substance has an essence as its intrinsic nature. The intrinsic nature of a substance is its essence. Gold is the substance of the lampstand, and within the gold there is an intrinsic nature, which is its essence. According to typology, this signifies the divine nature, the nature of God, in which is the essence of the divine Being.
God the Father is signified by the gold with which the lampstand was made. Hence, with the gold we see the first of the divine Trinity, the Father.
In Exodus 25 the lampstand made of pure gold had a definite form or shape. The form of the golden lampstand signifies the Son as the embodiment of the Godhead in His humanity (Col. 2:9). Hence, the form, the shape, of the lampstand signifies the second of the Trinity, the Son.
God the Father is invisible and abstract. God the Son is the embodiment of this invisible One. The stand is a form signifying God the Son as the embodiment of God the Father. This solid form of the lampstand is the embodiment of the gold. According to the New Testament, God the Father is embodied in God the Son. Therefore, in the lampstand we have the substance signifying the Father, and the solid form signifying the Son.
The gold of the lampstand was made into a prescribed form, which indicated its function. This form is Christ, who is the image of God (2 Cor. 4:4; Col. 1:15). When God created man, He created him in His image (Gen. 1:26). Since Christ is God’s image, man was created according to Christ. God does not have a physical form, but He does have an expression of His image. Christ, the beloved Son, is the image of the invisible God. The function of this image, this form, is to express God. “No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him” (John 1:18).
Exodus 25:37 says, “Thou shalt make its lamps, seven.” These seven lamps signify God the Spirit being the seven Spirits of God for His expression (Rev. 4:5; 5:6). The shining of the lamps denotes expression. Thus, the seven lamps are the expression of God the Son as the embodiment of God the Father. The gold signifies the Father as the substance, the stand signifies the Son as the embodiment of the Father, and the lamps signify the Spirit as the expression of the Father in the Son. Thus, the significance of the Triune God is implied in the lampstand.
Substantially the lampstand is one, but expressively it is seven, because it is one lampstand with seven lamps. In substance the lampstand is one piece of gold, but it holds seven lamps. This indicates that, mysteriously, in substance the Triune God is one but in expression He is the seven Spirits. The Father as the substance is embodied in the Son as the form, and the Son is expressed as the seven Spirits.
We can prove from the Scriptures that the seven lamps of the golden lampstand signify the Spirit expressing Christ. If we had only the record in Exodus, it would be difficult to realize that these seven lamps are the Spirit. But as we proceed from Exodus to Zechariah, we see that the seven lamps are the seven eyes of Christ, the seven eyes of Jehovah (Zech. 3:9; 4:10). As we continue to Revelation, we see that the seven eyes of the Lamb are the seven eyes which are the intensified Spirit of God (Rev. 5:6). Hence, we have a strong basis for saying that the seven lamps are the seven Spirits, that is, the sevenfold intensified Spirit, as the expression of Christ.
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