The latter part of verse 37 says, “And one shall light its lamps, and it shall give light in front of it.” The lampstand gives light in front of itself through the three lamps on each of its two sides. The two sides of the lampstand shine toward each other. The shining is in front of the lampstand. In Hebrew the words “in front of it” mean “facing it.” Through the branches on each side, the lampstand gives light facing itself. The three lamps on each side of the lampstand face the central stalk and also face each other. This signifies Christ’s shining in His resurrection life, bearing testimony for itself and giving confirmation to itself. The divine light which shines within us bears testimony to itself and gives confirmation to itself. Of the seven lamps on the lampstand, only one, the lamp on the central stalk, shines upward. The other six shine facing the central stalk. Eventually, the seven lamps shine together as one light. They do not give seven lights, but just one light.
The shining of the six branches in three pairs, taking the central stalk of the lampstand as the object, signifies that Christ is the central object of the shining of all the churches and saints by the Spirit with the resurrection life. The churches and the saints all take Christ as the object of their shining.
We have pointed out that it was the responsibility of the priests to light the lamps. A priest lighting the lamps signifies that Christ, or anyone who serves as a priest with Christ, keeps the resurrection life shining (Rev. 1:20; Phil. 2:15).
Verse 38 says, “And its snuffers and snuff dishes shall be of pure gold.” The snuffers and snuff dishes for trimming the charred wicks signify the dealing with the old and charred natural life so that the shining of the resurrection life may be bright and pure. In our experience the snuffers are not only things and matters but also the persons involved in the snuffing. Our charred natural life needs to be snuffed so that the shining of the resurrection life in us may be bright and pure.
According to verse 38, both the snuffers and the snuff dishes were of pure gold. This signifies that the trimming, the purifying, must be altogether of the divine nature. Suppose a sister named Carol visits a sister called Catherine. Realizing that Catherine’s charred wick is very long, Carol becomes offended and rebukes Catherine. This rebuke will not trim Catherine’s charred wick, but instead will lengthen it, for this trimming of the wick is not by the divine nature. However, if Carol exercises her spirit and looks to the Lord for His leading as she fellowships with Catherine, Catherine’s wick will be snuffed unconsciously and unintentionally. In such a case Carol will conduct herself according to the divine nature, and the divine nature does the cutting, the cleansing, and the purifying. This is the significance of the snuffers and the snuff dishes being made of pure gold.
Verse 39 says, “Of a talent of pure gold it shall be made with all these utensils.” The lampstand with all its utensils was one talent of pure gold. The talent was the weightiest measure used by the Hebrews. A talent equals approximately one hundred pounds. Such a heavy unit, a whole and complete unit of weight, signifies that Christ as the lampstand shining the divine light in resurrection is perfectly and completely weighty.