Exodus 25:31  And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.
32  And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side:
33  Three bowls made like unto almonds, with a knop and a flower in one branch; and three bowls made like almonds in the other branch, with a knop and a flower: so in the six branches that come out of the candlestick.
34  And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers.
35  And there shall be a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, and a knop under two branches of the same, according to the six branches that proceed out of the candlestick.
36  Their knops and their branches shall be of the same: all it shall be one beaten work of pure gold.
37  And thou shalt make the seven lamps thereof: and they shall light the lamps thereof, that they may give light over against it.
38  And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold.
39  Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.
40  And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.

The candlestick was another vessel that needed to be made for the Tabernacle. The candlestick would give light to that building. The Tabernacle would be a very dark building because of its design. However, it needed to have light in it in order for the priests to do their work in there. God would show them that natural light was not the answer. They were not told to cut windows into the walls of that Tabernacle. They were told to make a candlestick.
Jesus Christ is not a natural light. He is a supernatural Light that is divine.
The candlestick was of beaten pure gold. Again specific instructions were given as to how it was to be built. Human ideas had no place in any of the Tabernacle building. Sometimes, when a person is having a new house built, they might come along as the house is being built, and they might ask for some changes to the interior. The drawings have been made and the contractor has the blueprints. The basic structure cannot be changed, but the bathroom sink can be moved from one location to another in the bathroom without affecting the structure. Other things can be changed as well. The owner needs to be content with the house he is paying for and is going to live in.
God designed the Tabernacle. He gave precise instructions on everything to do with that place. There was no room for human alterations.
Again we see in the plans, that nothing was there for show. Everything had a purpose and it was all there to remind the people of the unique nature of the Lord Jesus Christ. The lamps on this candlestick were to be burning all the time. There needed to be enough capacity for olive oil so that they could be kept burning all the time.
The presentation of the candlestick was to remind the priests of the beauty and the holiness of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no darkness in Him. There is much darkness in this world. However, those who come to the true Jesus, find Him to be precious and beautiful and holy. We do not have Him as an idol. We do not have a candlestick as an idol either. New Testament Christians do not need a candlestick. We have the real thing. We have the Lord Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. He does not require any maintenance. His Light never goes out nor is it ever dim.
The problem comes in when those who claim to know Him, muddy the waters. In reality, we cannot dirty Jesus. We cannot make Him less holy. He is not changed by sinful man. The danger is when people choose a corrupted Jesus and make him their saviour. He may be their imaginary saviour, but He is not the Saviour and Lord they need. As we have mentioned many times before, Jesus warned that many will be shocked to find out they never made it to heaven. They will find they are strangers to Jesus Christ. All their efforts and all their materialism will not be recognized as having any worth to Jesus.
In verse 40 God reminded Moses that he needed to be careful to follow the pattern as God had given it to him. We know that Bezaleel would be the main man in the building of the Tabernacle. God knew his heart. He chose a man who would take those instructions and follow them with precision.
Every time the priest would enter that Tabernacle and would dress those lamps and fill them with oil, they were to be in awe of the representation of those lamps. They were a type of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gold needed to be polished and the lights needed to be burning bright. Because that candlestick was built according to God’s design, it was fully functional for what it needed to do.
Because Jesus Christ is the eternal Son of God, He is well able to show us the need of salvation and the way of salvation. No one needs to be floundering and wondering. The danger is when a person spends too much time examining all the various theories and runs out of time and has not turned to Jesus Christ for salvation. The devil tries to make his lies look enticing. However, that candlestick was unparalleled. There was nothing the enemies of God had that competed with that candlestick. There was no theory the pagans had that competed with the truth. The issue was not that there was something better or even equal to the Truth out there. The issue was with the need of man to let God open his eyes to see the wonder of God’s salvation.
Today we need to be sure we are following the true Light. The false light is all over. Some people get quite upset when we expose the false light. They are so impacted by it that they take offence to the truth. Jesus declared, the truth shall make you free. Be sure you are not in the camp of the deceived.
Pastor Bartel