No measurement is given for the size of the lampstand, signifying that there is no measurement for the light. The light in the Holy Spirit is immeasurable. You may say, “I saw a great light” (Matt. 4:16), but you cannot say how great the light was. There is no measurement for the light, but there is a weight to the light. Exodus 37:24 says that the lampstand and its vessels were made of one talent of gold, which is close to one hundred pounds. With Christ as light to us there is no measurement, but there is always the weight. The more we are in the light of Christ, the more we experience Christ as the light, the weightier we are. We know this by our experience. When we are in darkness, we are a very light person. But when we are in the light of Christ, we become a man of weight. On the one hand, we may refer to someone as a man of weight, a weighty person. On the other hand, we may say of another person that he is too light. To be too light simply means to be too much in darkness. The more we are in darkness, the lighter we are. No one in darkness is weighty. But the more we are in the light of Christ, the weightier we are. We become men of weight. There is no measurement to the lampstand, but there is the weight.
Verse 25 says, “And he made the altar of incense of acacia wood; a cubit was its length, and a cubit, its width, square; and two cubits, its height.” The incense altar was one cubit square and two cubits high. This is two units of a cube. One cubit wide, one cubit long, and one cubit high forms a perfect cube, a perfect and complete whole. Nothing can be added and nothing can be subtracted from it. Christ is perfect and complete, just like a cube. He is acceptable and pleasing to God because He is perfect and complete. You can never add anything to Him, and you can never take away anything from Him. The height of the incense altar being a cube doubled indicates that the incense altar is a testimony before God.
The altar of incense is a testimony before God, while the table of the bread of the Presence is a testimony toward us. The table was two cubits long and one cubit wide (37:10), constituting two units of one square cubit each, placed next to each other horizontally. The altar, on the other hand, was of two cubes placed vertically. Both the table and the altar were two cubits by one, but the table was doubled horizontally as a testimony to us, while the altar was doubled vertically as a testimony to God. What Christ is as a testimony to us horizontally comes up to the standard of what Christ is as the testimony to God vertically. The length of the table is the same as the height of the altar. Both the table and the altar signify the one Christ. When He comes to you as the table, He is horizontal, but when He goes to God as the incense, He is vertical.
Exodus 37:3-5 tells us that there were four rings in the Ark through which poles were placed so that it could be carried by four men. According to verses 13 through 15 there were also four rings in the table of the bread of the Presence. Furthermore, verse 27 says that two rings were placed under the crown of the altar for the same purpose. The Ark and the table probably required four people to carry them. However, it may have been that only two persons were required to carry the altar, since both its length and width were one cubit. The two poles in two rings could have been borne upon one man’s two shoulders at either end. Nevertheless, at least the Ark and the table required four men to carry them. This points to the coordination of the Body of Christ. On one side of the Ark and table were two rings, indicating a testimony. A pole was placed through the two rings, and two men formed a group to bear the one side. Another pole was on the other side within the two other rings, and another two men bore that side. These two groups formed one group of four. This signifies the coordination of the creatures to bear the testimony. The four men had to be nearly the same size. One could not be too tall or too short, lest they not be able to coordinate. They had to coordinate and walk together in the same steps (2 Cor. 12:18b).
The table and, in principle, the incense altar, were borne in the same way as the Ark. Second Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 13 record how David brought the Ark to Jerusalem, not borne by men but upon a mule cart. That displeased the Lord, and His anger was kindled (2 Sam. 6:7). From this David learned a lesson. The next time the Ark was moved, David realized that the divine way to carry the Ark was not by a cart, but upon the shoulders of the Levites (1 Chron. 15:2, 13-15) for the testimony of the Body.