Introduction
The Tabernacle of Moses is an essential part of the Old Testament, one that describes the fundamental structure of the place of worship in Judaism. It was a temporary structure where Israelites could worship while wandering the desert, and it was used until King Solomon constructed a permanent temple. The Tabernacle was built according to God’s instructions, with Him describing each item inside it and warning Moses to follow the specifications exactly. It contained a variety of different items that were substantially important and had a variety of implications that were not immediately apparent. The candlestick is one object that is interpreted in a variety of ways in both Judaism and Christianity. This paper will discuss the different meanings of the candlestick and its significance to the lives of modern Christians.
The Tabernacle in the Old Testament
God’s instructions for the construction of the Tabernacle are contained in Exodus 25-32. According to “Exodus 25-32,” the specifications included the Ark, the table, the lampstand (or candlestick), the tabernacle itself, the altar, the courtyard, the oil, the ephod, the breastpiece, and numerous other items and rites. Effectively, the instructions provide the worshipping procedures that are to be followed in Judaism, which gives them substantial practical significance. Animals would be sacrificed, incense would be offered, priests would be consecrated using the proper procedure, and monetary offerings to the Lord would be collected. Due to the need of the Hebrews under Moses to wander the desert, the Tabernacle was designed to be portable, made with lightweight designs that could be removed and transported. As such, it was mostly made of wood and linen, taking the form of a tent covered by a variety of curtains.
The Bible’s description of the tabernacle features three distinct areas, though only two of them are within the structure. The third one is the courtyard, for which God supplies exact specifications in terms of size and materials that are to be used in the construction (“Exodus 25-32”). It contained the altar where offerings would be burnt as well as a bronze basin where Aaron and his sons would wash their feet when entering the tent or approaching the altar. The tabernacle itself was divided into two parts: the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place (“Exodus 25-32”). The latter held the Ark of the Covenant, and God would appear there to meet with Moses and provide him instructions. However, for this paper, the Holy Place is more important because it is the location of the candlestick.
The Candlestick
The candlestick was to stand in the Holy Place alongside the table where the Bread of Presence was to be put and the altar on which incense was burnt. It was made from pure gold and consisted of a central shaft with four flower cups on it and six side branches with three cups on each (“Exodus 25-32”). Each of these branches, including the middle one, had a lamp on top of it for a total of seven. Despite its occasional designation of a candlestick, the lamps used pressed olive oil to maintain the light, which had to be “burning before the Lord from evening till morning” (“Exodus 25-32”). The candlestick’s primary purpose was to keep the tabernacle lit at all times, but multiple other meanings have been ascribed to it throughout the millennia.
First, it is essential to note the differences between the candlestick and the other objects that were present in the tabernacle. The specific requirement to construct it out of pure gold is of particular note because the candlestick is the only object in the tabernacle to receive this treatment. Most other objects, including the Ark of the Covenant, are made of acacia wood and overlaid with gold, but the candlestick is the exception. Given the requirement to use a talent of pure gold, which is equivalent to approximately 34 kilograms in modern measurements (“Exodus 25-32”), the candlestick presents a substantial commitment. While it is possible to argue that no expenses would be spared for God’s dwelling, the compromises he accepts in the other cases contradict the idea. This special attention that the candlestick gets implies that there is more of a purpose to it than a light source.
Another essential trait of the candlestick is the lack of measurements provided for it, even though the Exodus passage provides specifications and states that Moses has seen the design on the mountain. Every other object, including the tabernacle, the table, and the Ark, is described in specific units of length, namely cubits. According to Murphy, the reason is that the candlestick represents God’s light, which cannot be measured because it is limitless. In this interpretation, if one embraces God, they will receive endless revelations, but He will remain unknowable because of his vastness. As such, the candlestick’s size is left to the designer and their interpretation of God’s light. Unlike the other objects in the tabernacle, there is no specific measurement that would be more appropriate than the others.
With the specific traits of the candlestick explained, it is possible to move to the more esoteric aspects of the object. Hays claims that the treelike structure with the branches and flowers represents the tree of life in the garden of Eden. The two are similar in that they are sacred trees in God’s presence and assigned special significance. The tree aspect highlights God’s aspect as the one that created all life, reminding everyone of His power and glory as well as inspiring gratitude. It also reminds them of Adam and Eve’s original sin, which denied them access to the tree and immortality. Remembering the event that led to humanity’s fall, believers would also be reminded of the promise of salvation and the immortality that comes with it.
It is also necessary to consider the number of branches, which was likely chosen for a specific reason. There are seven branches, with one lamp on top of each one, and the number is significant. The number seven holds a commanding position in Judaism and Christianity as a symbol of perfection. God created the world in seven days, vengeance on any who attack Cain is taken sevenfold, the rain lasted seven days during the flood, and the number is featured numerous times in other Biblical stories. The seven branches are another part of this symbolism that associates the number seven with perfection and divinity. There may be some hidden meaning to the number of cups, which totals 22, but the author has been unable to find it. It is possible that the purpose behind the cups was mostly cosmetic and used to reinforce the tree motif.
With that said, considering the tree symbolism, the question of why the tree of life was chosen to burn permanently in the function of the candlestick has to be considered. According to Hays, it signifies another aspect of God’s divinity, the one that is expressed through Biblical episodes such as the burning bush. “Exodus 25-32” warns that the priests who enter the tabernacle or tend to the sacrificial altar have to wash their hands and feet in the basin to avoid dying. While God is the great life-giver and wants the Hebrews to achieve salvation, He is also dangerous because His holiness can be harmful. He judges the sinful, often with fire and destruction, as demonstrated numerous times in the Old Testament. With this interpretation, the candlestick inspires adoration while also reminding people to fear Him and strive toward righteousness.
In this context, it is useful to return to the conception of God’s light that was mentioned earlier in this section. The candlestick reminds people of the rewards of righteousness and the dangers of not having achieved it. To complete the conception, it provides God’s light that guides people to virtue if they embrace it wholly. Hays highlights how, in the Old Testament, light is a central theme that is often associated with God, true justice, and true righteousness. Effectively, the candlestick represents God to the believers in His glory, His terror, and His righteousness. This conception also explains why the light had to be maintained at all times; there was no other way to illuminate the darkness, or ignorance and unrighteousness, of the windowless tabernacle than God’s light.
The Tabernacle in the New Testament
The Tabernacle of Moses is mentioned in the New Testament but ultimately discarded it in favor of the new covenant. According to “Hebrews 7-9,” the tabernacle was an imitation of a superior version of itself that was located in Heaven and became unnecessary once Jesus went to a tabernacle superior to the one on Earth. Instead of the regular offerings that were made by high priests in the Tabernacle of Moses, Jesus made the ultimate blood sacrifice that made any future repetitions unnecessary by creating eternal redemption. Through this description, the New Testament acknowledges the former validity of the old practice while also establishing a new foundation that claims that it is unnecessary. To support its points, it reinterprets the objects that were present in the tabernacle as signs of the future coming of Jesus, who would establish a new, superior tabernacle.
The relationship between Christ and the tabernacle has been theorized to take several distinct forms by Biblical scholars. Rousseau and Timbie highlight interpretations of Jesus as the high priest in the heavenly tabernacle, the tabernacle itself, or one in whom the angelic world, which the tabernacle represents, was created (157, 159). The specific conclusion that one reaches depends on the specific Christian tradition that they follow and interpretations of Christ as an intermediary between the divine and the material world or fully divine. This paper is particularly concerned with the idea of Jesus as represented by the candlestick, which was expressed by Clement (Rousseau and Timbie 157). It is possible to draw parallels between it and the conception of God as represented by the candlestick in the Old Testament.
Jesus and the Candlestick
The first association of the candlestick with Jesus comes from a specific translation of the Old Testament that diverges from the NIV version used in this paper. Murphy claims that in it, the candlestick is referred to as “he” rather than “it,” implying that it is not merely a physical object. It is possible to assert that the designation refers to God Himself rather than Christ, though both interpretations would be equally valid from a Christian perspective. Moreover, the divergence between different translations of the Bible calls the veracity and significance of the claim into question, particularly since the author does not specify which version of the Bible they are using. With that said, the King James Version reading of the passage features the pronouns “he” and “his,” making it likely that it was used.
The King James Version is one of the better-known and accepted English translations of the Bible, and, therefore, the claim warrants consideration. As such, further evidence for the parallels between the Exodus passage and Jesus should be reviewed to confirm the claim. Murphy proposes that the fact that the bowls that held the lamps were almond-shaped as a reference to the then-future story of Jesus “because almond trees were the first to bud in Palestine, and they speak to us of resurrection.” The tree’s cycle of losing its leaves and fruit and seemingly dying in the winter to then produce buds in the spring, thus symbolically coming back to life, is reminiscent of Jesus’s death and the subsequent rebirth. As the almond tree was the first to achieve this feat in Palestine, so was Jesus the first to return to life, leaving the promise of the same for believers.
It is possible to find some new associations between Jesus and the flower as well as fruit motifs that are prevalent in the candlestick. Murphy highlights the pomegranate-shaped knobs with their 613 seeds that correspond to 613 points of the law and the flowers on the candlestick, which recall the flower associations of Christ as the “’rose of sharon’ and the ‘lily of the valley.’” The pomegranate story is significant in the Hebrew tradition, which holds that the pomegranate is a symbol of righteousness and a living reminder by God of the 613 commandments of the law, though, in practice, pomegranates do not necessarily have 613 seeds. However, the pomegranate can also be seen as symbolic for Christians, being associated with the resurrection of Christ (and His believers) as well as the church, seen as the rind that protects numerous seeds that gather within it (Stone). Overall, it is possible to interpret the various aspects of the candlestick as both Christianity and Judaism symbols, and in the former case, they are often associated with Jesus.
Lastly, the method by which the candlestick was constructed bears mention in this section because it was unusual. In “Exodus 25-32,” God tells Moses to hammer the candlestick into shape as opposed to using a mold, which would likely be easier to do. Murphy suggests that the reason for this command is that the candlestick was to be reminiscent of Jesus being nailed to the cross and beaten for the transgressions of humanity. The metal had to be hammered and not molded as a reference to the ultimate fate of Christ, which enabled Him to become the source of the divine light in which all Christians walk. With that said, as with many aspects of the tabernacle, a different reading is also possible, one that focuses less on Christ and more on the church that follows Him.
The interpretation that considers the role of the church also provides an alternate explanation for the reason why the candlestick was made out of pure gold, unlike the other elements of the tabernacle. Per Murphy, the reason is that gold that is mined or found by prospectors has to be purified via fire before it can be used for a meaningful purpose. The cleansing of the gold through fire is reminiscent of the ordeals that the Christian church would undergo following its formations. Then, the gold would become pliable in the hands of the goldsmith, who would beat it, sometimes roughly, into a beautiful work of art. Murphy suggests that in this analogy, the church is the gold that is being shaped, and God is the craftsman. The light metaphor comes into play once again, as it is the role of the church to spread divine light throughout humanity.
The Candlestick in Modern Christian Living
The New Testament declares the Tabernacle of Moses to be an obsolete concept that is no longer necessary after Christ’s resurrection. The Messiah changed the covenant that the faithful have with Heaven, and Christian temples are different from those used in Judaism. However, this rejection of old physical practices does not mean that the passage in the Old Testament can be disregarded. It is still related to the Christian understanding of worship, though it is not followed precisely. While Christians do not use the Tabernacle of Moses, it still presents an image of the true tabernacle in Heaven. The candlestick is an essential aspect of this perception because of its strong symbolism. As such, it is essential to discuss its various aspects and how they relate to the life and belief of a modern Christian.
First, it is worthwhile to discuss the aspect of the candlestick as the source of divine light. The lack of a physical representation of such a source is related to every Christian’s personal journey as opposed to the more centralized faith of Judaism. Heindel expresses the opinion that, as Christ dwells within the consciousness, the candlestick should be lit within the believer’s heart and guide them on their way to righteousness and salvation (46). The new covenant between Jesus and Christians does not have any intermediaries, and, therefore, every faithful person has to oversee their path and ensure that they do not stray. They can still consult priests, pastors, or other religious leaders, depending on their denomination. However, while those people help others resolve their doubts, the believer should prioritize their internal voice of God, as expressed by the candlestick within them.
This declaration raises the question of how one may find God within themselves, particularly to a degree where they would be able to guide others on matters of righteousness and God’s will. Heindel claims that Christians can better understand God and metaphorically increase the intensity of the light that burns within them through service to others around them. Service is a central concept in Christianity, being motivated by love for another and taking place in a variety of forms. By performing good deeds and helping others, particularly those in need, Christians fuel their inner candlestick and better understand their mission in life. This notion is timeless and has persisted throughout the entire history of Christianity, and in the increasingly divided religious landscape, modern believers should not abandon it.
There are numerous varieties of service that Christians can undertake to uphold the values of their religion and become more virtuous. The most direct way of doing so is by helping those in need around oneself. However, the question of whether the helper benefits the person being assisted in the long term arises. The specific implications of the help that is being provided have to be considered as well as whether the person is addressing the underlying issues or the outward symptoms. To overcome the complexity of the considerations involved in such a process, the believer can take part in a greater effort by contributing to a charity or a community initiative. This aid can be monetary or done through volunteering, with both being viable options. The intention to help people effectively is a critical aspect that should be maintained.
The ultimate expression of the candlestick as a source of divine light is its ability to illuminate the darkness around a believer, spreading God’s grace throughout the world. Christians do not necessarily have to actively work to convert others, as that would constitute an unwarranted invasion of their personal beliefs. However, through their service and the upholding of Christian values, they can demonstrate the advantages of Christianity, particularly to people they help. By demonstrating the altruism and self-sacrifice that their inner connection with Christ enables, believers can motivate others to change their outlook on life. Even if they do not formally join a church, they can reconsider their values and possibly change them for the better. Depending on one’s interpretation of Christianity as based on faith or works, this change can be enough to guarantee their salvation.
In the faith-based overview, merely becoming a more righteous person is not enough to ensure that one can go to Heaven. However, seeing the practical results of what Christians can achieve, both individually and as a community, may make people more receptive to religion’s message. This possibility does not mean that believers help others because they expect to convert them to their religion. Aid is given freely, without expectation of any sort of return, whether material or otherwise. Coercing people into Christianity by providing help with preconditions such as the person being assisted learning more about the religion or converting is immoral and goes against Christian values. Such a practice focuses more on the outward appearance of Christianity than one’s internal beliefs and character. The candlestick reminds believers to focus on their internal circumstances and their connection with God, informing their actions and guiding them.
Another notion that should be remembered is the process by which the candlestick in the Tabernacle of Moses was made and what this creation represents. The purification and the subsequent hammering of the candlestick into a proper shape and the complicated process of the evolution of the church (or the story of Christ) that it represents are still relevant today. Christians undergo challenges in their lives that may be seen as tests by God or lessons that He is trying to teach them. As such, the candlestick reinforces the concept of accepting suffering and overcoming it through perseverance rather than resenting it and asking God to improve one’s life. Without adversity, one cannot reach the heights of their growth, whether spiritual or otherwise. Moreover, greater difficulties teach believers more profound lessons, ultimately making them better people and guiding them to success.
With that said, Christians should also not become complacent and expect any trouble to pass eventually without any effort on their part. The candlestick could not have been shaped if the gold, however pliable, did not retain a degree of resistance that enabled it to keep its shape once hammered into it. Similarly, if Christ had died before doing what he had done during his time on Earth, few people, if any, would know of his sacrifice, and it would have been wasted as people kept practicing old rites and expecting the Messiah to come. The suffering that made Gim a martyr and inspired His followers to create a church that has lasted for millennia was essential to his life. Believers should accept difficulties as necessary and unavoidable, but they should also work to overcome them and achieve a better life. Through this effort, they will learn the lessons that are intended for them on a personal level and become better Christians.
The candlestick’s meaning as a metaphor for the resurrection of Christ is relevant to the reason why Christians should take part in these efforts. Salvation and eternal life are critical to the message of the religion, with believers who act righteously and repent for their sins, embracing Christ, receive the promise of an afterlife spent in Heaven. This reward cannot be perceived or confirmed through a human’s senses or reasoning, and it is easy to lose sight of it in favor of earthly pleasures. However, by doing so, the believer falls into the metaphorical darkness of sin, which the candlestick dispels with its divine light. As a result, they become worse people while on Earth and lose their chance of attaining Heaven. Losing sight of the higher spiritual pursuits can harm the person both in their current life and the next one.
The movement of the candlestick from the physical of the spiritual realm also has some implications concerning the commandment always to keep it lit. It can be challenging for a person to recognize whether their internal lantern is lit because, being a metaphor, it cannot be checked or maintained the same way as the physical candlestick in the Tabernacle of Moses. As such, believers can fall into doubt and struggle to resolve it or commit sins without realizing that they are doing so, thereby hurting the fire. These possibilities mean that Christians have to be vigilant and self-reflective, watching for dangers and maintaining their virtue. They have to try to become aware of the condition of their internal candlestick and keep the fire in it lit at all times. If they succeed, they will be able to lead a righteous life and become an inspiration to others.
Ultimately, the Tabernacle of Moses and the heavenly tabernacle that it represents provide a model of Christian worship. The candlestick, specifically, represents the believer’s connection with Christ and their ability to dispel the darkness around them with divine light. However, to do so, one needs to keep the flame within them burning at all times, as was the case with the original. This maintenance involves retaining one’s righteousness and helping others despite the various difficulties that the believer may encounter in their life. Christians accept suffering and overcome it through their efforts while learning the intended lessons in these events. They also help others without any self-interest, improving the world around them and spreading the positive image of Christianity. By ensuring that their candlestick burns bright and paying respect to other parts of the Tabernacle, Christians will eventually attain the resurrection that it promises.
Conclusion
The candlestick in the Tabernacle of Moses is substantially symbolic in both Judaism and Christianity, though the meanings assigned to it are different to correspond to the changes between the two religions’ values. The unifying point between the two is that they claim that the candlestick is divinely inspired and symbolizes God (or Jesus, in Christianity). The newer religion retains the tabernacle from its predecessor but moves it to the spiritual realm as a result of Christ’s sacrifice. As such, modern believers have to keep it in mind and understand the implications that they have for worship. For a modern Christian, the candlestick is within them and provides divine light that illuminates their path and cleanses the darkness around them. To keep it burning, they need to observe and maintain their virtue by serving others per Christian values. By successfully doing so, they can achieve resurrection and help others achieve the same result, fulfilling the Christian ideal.
Works Cited
“Exodus 25-32.” Bible Gateway, Web.
“Hebrews 7-9.” Bible Gateway, Web.
Hays, J. Daniel. The Temple and the Tabernacle: A Study of God’s Dwelling Places from Genesis to Revelation. E-book, Baker Publishing Group, 2016.
Murphy, Willie J. Jr. The Tabernacle in the Wilderness: Its Implications and Applications for Modern Day Believer-Priests. E-book, Page Publishing Inc, 2018.
Rousseau, Philip, and Janet A. Timbie, editors. The Christian Moses: From Philo to the Qur’an. Catholic University of America Press, 2019.
Stone, Damien. Pomegranate: A Global History. E-book, Reaktion Books, 2017.
Heindel, Max. Ancient and Modern Initiation. My Mind Books Limited, 2019.