Exodus 25:37, commentary and pictures

The seven lamps were to be lit and set so that their light shone outward across the holy place, and they were kept burning continually day and night because the sacred rooms had no windows. They stood on the south side of the first apartment, with the table of showbread on the north and the golden altar of incense before the veil separating the holy from the most holy place. Their light filled the apartments and was reflected from the gold-covered walls and furniture and the richly colored curtains, making the whole sanctuary appear radiant and glorious. The candlestick with its seven lamps likewise stands in the first apartment of the heavenly temple, with the table of shewbread and the altar of incense before the second veil that opens into the Holy of Holies containing the ark. There Jesus ministered before it in the holy place until the prophetic periods ended in 1844, when He closed the door of that apartment and passed within the second veil into the Most Holy place.

Lamps, Light, and Setting

The seven lamps were to be lighted and set so that they cast their light over against the lampstand itself, shining across the holy place. They were arranged to give light across that apartment, illuminating it both by day and by night. The candlestick with its seven lamps thus belonged to the ordered lighting of the sanctuary, made to shine outward from its stand.

They were kept burning continually, day and night, because the sacred apartments had no windows. The seven lamps of the tabernacle lampstand gave light in that windowless holy place by day and by night. Their continual burning lighted both sacred apartments.

They belonged in the holy place, the first apartment of the tabernacle built by Moses at God's command as the earthly dwelling-place of the Most High. There the candlestick stood on the south side, with the table of showbread on the north and the golden altar of incense before the veil separating the holy from the most holy place. From that south-side position its seven lamps gave light to the sanctuary both by day and by night.

Their light illuminated the sacred apartments and was reflected from the gold-plated boards and walls, from the sacred furniture, and from the richly colored and embroidered curtains. That reflection made the sanctuary appear radiant and magnificent, with its colors like a rainbow. The golden candlestick's shining thus added to the magnificence of the whole, lighting both apartments in splendor.

Heavenly Sanctuary and Faithful Work

The candlestick with its seven lamps stands in the holy place, the first apartment of the heavenly sanctuary and temple in the Holy City, together with the table of shewbread and the altar of incense. That apartment is entered through a door before the first veil, and its furniture stands before the curtain and second veil that opens into the Holy of Holies containing the ark. The seven lamps belong to the candlestick of that first apartment, and were to be lit so as to give light across the holy place of the heavenly temple.

There it looks rich and glorious, and like all the furniture of that apartment it is of purest gold and reflects the image of the one who enters there. Jesus ministered before it in the holy place until the prophetic periods ended in 1844, when He ended that ministration, closed the door of that apartment, and passed within the second veil into the Most Holy place.

The verse is one of the detailed specifications Christ gave to Moses for building the tabernacle. It was repeated with the rest of Exodus 24-27 to fellow tentmakers, to Aquila and Priscilla and fellow workers, while making tents skillfully with the hands, for the benefit of speaker and hearers alike. It was used to teach that supreme honor is to be given to God and that the skill, genius, and wisdom brought into the work were given by God to be used for His glory, preaching the gospel by example through diligence and thoroughness in labor.