The World's Most Expensive Lampstand
a commentary on Exodus 25
Thank you, Lord, for this day. May it be used for your glory!
Good morning everyone and welcome back to another Biblit!
If you recall, last week we left off with Moses going up Mt. Sinai to meet with God and receive some more laws.
Today, God is going to begin laying out some instructions for the tabernacle.
Now, before we jump in, I want to throw out our main idea. All the instructions we’re about to read highlight the idea that the God of the universe, through His grace, is creating a way so He can dwell with His people.
So without further ado, let’s see how that looks in this commentary of Exodus 25.
Context
The passage in Exodus 25 is divided into four parts, of which three are tabernacle plans.
The interesting thing to note is that the following few chapters, 25 - 31 are instructions for the tabernacle, ordered in priority.
That is, the first item we talk about is the holiest, and the last item in chapter 31 is the least holy.
Offerings to Build the Tabernacle
The first section we see is God giving a pretty detailed list of all the supplies they will need to build the tabernacle.
Mainly a lot of precious metals, gems, fancy yarns, and leathers.
Perhaps the most fascinating piece to this passage is that God does not command everyone to give.
He only wants those that are willing to give.
In the end, enough are willing to give, and they get the supplies they need!
The Ark
Next, we see the most holy item talked about: The Ark of the Covenant. The ultimate dwelling place of God.
Very quickly, the ark is made of acacia wood, covered in gold and gold moldings, and then golden rings were put on the side for some golden poles to slide through so later when they moved the ark no one could touch the ark.
If you touched the ark, you died.
So it is very important to keep those poles in place.
Finally, there was to be a solid gold mercy seat which acted like a lid for the ark. And next to that were two massive golden cherubim facing the mercy seat.
I tried to find a picture rendition of what is might have looked like:
The Table
So we go from the epic ark of the covenant to a table?
Yes, yes we do.
This is just more evidence that God loves meals and feasts!
In actuality the table is not as important as what goes on the table.
The table itself was constructed similarly to the ark. It was made of acacia wood, wrapped in gold, and also had golden poles to carry the table.
Although, this time, I think the poles were just for aid in carrying the table. I don’t think they died if they touched the table.
On top of the table they were to place 12 loaves of bread, or the Bread of The Presence. These loaves symbolized the 12 tribes and that each tribe had a place at God’s table.
It also acted as a reminder that God provided everything for Israel.
This bread was to be eaten by the priests alone, but we don’t see that rule until later. Also, a fun sneak peek to our study of David later, this is the bread he takes from the temple that Jesus then uses as a cool sermon point. (Mark 2:25-28).
The Lampstand
This one was a pretty extravagant piece. The ark may be the holiest, but this one was the shiniest.
The lampstand was made entirely of pure gold.
75 pounds of gold to be exact!
In today’s dollars, that’s a $2.2 million lampstand!
Furthermore, this light was to represent God’s light and His presence. The priests were to have it on 24/7 to represent God’s continual presence among His people.
Alright, that is pretty much it for this passage. So now we are left 2 questions:
What is the point to all of this?
Is any of it relevant to us anymore?
Interpretation
Before we get to you and me, let’s get to the most important person: Jesus.
This entire passage either foreshadows Jesus or is later used as an analogy to describe Jesus. Let’s break it down.
Jesus Dwells with Us
The first point is to recall that God did all of this so He could graciously dwell with Israel.
In the same way, all of Jesus’s work was done so He could graciously dwell with the whole world!
The Needed Mediator
The second connection is the mercy seat.
We don’t see it in Exodus 25 directly, but later we see that the mercy seat represented the fact that sinners needed a mediator.
The mercy seat is where the high priest would go once a year to atone (with blood) all the sins of the people.
The bottom line is that we are the same as the Israelites: sinners.
We need a mediator to talk to God on our behalf. And this is exactly why Paul references Exodus in Romans:
“God presented him as the mercy seat by his blood, through faith, to demonstrate his righteousness, because in his restraint God passed over the sins previously committed.” (Romans 3:25 CSB).
Jesus, the Ultimate Provision
The table and the bread was to show and remind Israel of God’s provision in their lives.
Jesus is the ultimate provision from God.
In John 6 we see this analogy taken a step further as Jesus is called the Bread of Life:
“Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, Moses didn’t give you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the one who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Then they said, “Sir, give us this bread always.”
“I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again.” (John 6:32-35 CSB).
Jesus is the Light
Finally, just as the lampstand was the light of God’s presence, Jesus was called the light of the world:
“In him was life, and that life was the light of men.” (John 1:4 CSB).
And there we go, Jesus once again shows up everywhere in the Bible. Even in the instructions for the tabernacle in Exodus. It’s like the whole thing is about Him.
Application
But what should we apply to our own lives from this passage?
Cheerfully Give
The first point I want to talk about goes way back to the beginning of Exodus 25.
Israel was asked to give for the tabernacle creation.
But God only wanted those willing to give.
This was their chance to give back to God what is truly God’s. If we recall, where did this gold and leather come from anyways?
Israel got it way back in Exodus 12 when they fled Egypt, and the Egyptians gave them a ton of stuff. This fulfilled a promise God made to Israel in Exodus 3.
Only through God’s promise and provision was Israel even able to give in the first place.
The same is true for us. God blesses us with abundance, and He asks us to give, to be generous, and to care for the needy.
Paul sums it up the best:
“Each person should do as he has decided in his heart—not reluctantly or out of compulsion, since God loves a cheerful giver.” (1 Corinthians 9:7 CSB).
God Dwells With Us and We With Him
I think we touched on this already, but I just want to reiterate how amazing it is that the God of this universe dwells inside of us!
And he doesn’t just dwell with us out of some obligation, but He truly enjoys it, wants it, and loves to dwell with us.
This is all possible through the grace of Jesus Christ’s work alone! Through Him we can approach the God of the universe!
Think about it this way:
The cherubim on the ark represent the same mighty spiritual warriors placed to guard the garden of eden. Whenever people encounter these same types of angels in pretty much every occurrence in the Bible, they either crumble in fear, crumble in worship, or both.
Those mighty warriors bowed face down to God out of extreme reverence. The cherubim in Isaiah 6 even cover their faces because God is so much holier than they are.
That is the God we have free access to.
We are the Light
What started with a $2.2 million lampstand, ends with us, a priceless revolution.
The lampstand represents God’s presence and light. It also represents life. Life and light often are paired together, as we saw in the John passage describing Jesus as the light.
Well, before Jesus departs, He goes another step with a mighty charge to His followers:
“You are the light of the world. A city situated on a hill cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and puts it under a basket, but rather on a lampstand, and it gives light for all who are in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:14-16 CSB).
And with that, I will close us out.
As we go out this week, let’s keep all of this in mind. The almighty God of the universe dwells with us freely, He has equipped us to take on the mantle and be the light of this world. Let’s shine God’s light brightly, give generously, and love greatly.
All for His glory.