In this message we come to the lampstand. The golden lampstand may be regarded as the most mysterious of all the furnishings in the tabernacle.
The lampstand signifies the expression of the Triune God. This alone is sufficient to impress us with how mysterious the lampstand is. Nothing in the universe is more mysterious than the Triune God. Furthermore, the most puzzling element of the divine revelation in the Bible is also the Triune God. Throughout the centuries, readers of the Bible have been puzzled by the revelation of the Triune God in the Scriptures. Even today we do not have an adequate understanding of the Triune God. However, it is very helpful to see that the lampstand is the expression of the Triune God.
Throughout the centuries of their history, the Jewish people have treasured the lampstand. But no rabbi would ever say that the lampstand signifies the expression of the Triune God. I do not even know of any Christians who have such a realization. Actually, this understanding of the lampstand is a truth recently recovered by the Lord in His recovery. Years ago, we said nothing about the lampstand signifying the expression of the Triune God. But several years ago we began to see that in the Bible the lampstand is an expression of the Triune God.
As we consider this matter of the golden lampstand, we need to remember that the Bible is a complete entity. Hence, we should not separate 25:31-40 from the rest of the Word and ignore all the other books of the Bible. The lampstand is mentioned not only in Exodus, but also in 1 Kings, Zechariah, and Revelation. According to chapter one of Revelation, the lampstand is the church. Furthermore, the seven lamps are the Spirit. How mysterious this is! Eventually, at the consummation of the divine revelation, the lampstand in Exodus 25 becomes the church, and the seven lamps become the Spirit of God. By this we see that a great deal is involved with the lampstand, for the lampstand is related both to the church and to the Spirit of God. The book of Revelation also emphasizes the church and the Spirit. Revelation 22:17 even contains the words, “The Spirit and the bride say....” Here we see that the Spirit and the church have become one in speaking.
In the last century certain teachers emphasized the significance of the types in the Old Testament. Concerning the lampstand, these teachers mainly said that the lampstand is a type of Christ as the light of the world. What they said was right and good; however, it was not adequate. These teachers of the Word did not see that the lampstand is an expression of the Triune God, that consummately the lampstand becomes the church, and that the seven lamps of the lampstand are the seven Spirits of God.
As we ponder the substance, the stand, and the lamps of the lampstand, we see that the lampstand is indeed the expression of the Triune God. According to 25:31, the lampstand was of pure gold. Thus, gold is 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 very substance of the lampstand. The golden lampstand exists in the nature of God the Father.
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. Here in the lampstand we have the substance signifying the Father, and the solid form signifying the Son.