FINAL FATE OF THE CANDLESTICK.
The sacred instruments of the tabernacle are of great interest to all who are interested in the subject of the sanctuary—their origin, history, and what finally became of them. Their origin is stated in the history of the tabernacle erected by Moses in the wilderness. Exodus, chapters 25-31. Two of these vessels, the ark and the candlestick, are subsequently specifically mentioned, and hence become matters of peculiar interest, and excite further inquiry. After the temple of Jerusalem was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, the ark is mentioned among the things lacking in the second temple. These the Jews reckon up in five particulars: (1) the ark and mercy seat that was upon it; (2) the Shekinah, or divine presence over the mercy seat; (3) the urim and thummim; (4) the holy fire of the altar; (5) the spirit of prophecy. As the ark did not appear in the second temple, the query arises, What had become of it? On this query there has been expended much conjecture. That it, with the other larger furniture of the sanctuary, was not carried to Babylon is generally admitted, as, if it had been, it would have been brought back with the other sacred treasures which had been carried thither (Ezra 1:8-11), and some mention would, without doubt, have been made of it. A passage in the Apocrypha seems to give a plausible, and by no means impossible, explanation of the disposition that was made of it. The record says that Jeremy the prophet, “being warned of God, commanded the tabernacle and the ark to go forth with him, as he went forth into the mountain where Moses climbed up and saw the heritage of God. And when Jeremy came thither, he found an hollow cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle, and the ark, and the altar of incense, and so stopped the door. And some of those that followed him came to mark the way, but they could not find it. Which when Jeremy perceived, he blamed them, saying, As for that place, it shall be unknown until the time that God gather His people again together, and receive them unto mercy.” 2 Mac. 2:4-7. Certainly the ark has not been seen since; and the place where the prophet Jeremiah is said to have concealed it, is still unknown. The want of the ark was, however, supplied as to outward form; for an ark was made of the same shape and dimensions as the original, and placed in its appropriate position in the second temple; but it contained no tables of the law. In place of the tables two scrolls were prepared, on which were inscribed the Ten Commandments. Subsequent mention is made also of the candlestick. It was taken back to Jerusalem; and when Jerusalem was taken by the Romans, was carried by Titus to Rome, and sculptured on the “Arch of Titus” in that city; and here doubtless we get the true form of the candlestick; namely, a central shaft, and three diverging arms on each side. Where did the candlestick go from Rome? Did it ever get back to Jerusalem? If so, how and when, and what became of it? These questions were lately propounded to us by a Sister Welch, of the Sanitarium. Promising to look up the matter for her on these points, this is what we find:—“In Solomon’s temple, instead of this single candelabrum (or beside it, as the Rabbins say, but what became of it is not known; see Keil Temple Sol., page 109), there were ten of pure gold, one half of which stood on the north and the other on the south side of the holy place. These are said to have formed a sort of railing before the veil, and to have been connected by golden chains, under which, on the day of atonement, the high priest crept. They were carried away to Babylon. Jer. 52:19. In the temple of Zerubbabel there appears to have been only one candelabrum again. See 1 Mac. 1:21; 4:49, 50. It is probable that it, also, had only seven lamps. At least that was the case in the candelabrum of the Herodian temple, according to the description of Josephus.—War, 7:5. This candelabrum is the one which, after the destruction of Jerusalem, was carried with other spoils to Rome, where, after the triumph of Titus, it was deposited in the Temple of Peace, and according to one story, fell into the Tiber from the Milvian Bridge during the flight of Maxentius from Constantine, Oct. 28, 312 A. D.; but it probably, in 455 A. D., became a part of the plunder which Genseric transported to Carthage.—Gibbon 3:291. It was, however, again, about 533 A. D., recaptured from the Vandals by Belisarius, and carried to Constantinople, and was thence sent to Jerusalem (Gibbon 4:24), from which time it has disappeared altogether. It is to this candelabrum that the representation on the Arch of Titus at Rome was intended to apply. See Fleck Wissenschaftl. Reisse 1, 1, pl. 1.”—McClintock and Strong, Biblical Cyclopedia, art. Candlestick. This, probably, gives us the last reference to the candlestick, in earthly records. But this matters not, since we know where it is now. The great anti-type of the golden candlestick glows before the throne of God in heaven, symbol of the seven spirits of God, which penetrate through every crevice of the universe, beholding without partiality the deeds of men, whether they be good or bad.