What was the lamp of God in the Tabernacle?

The lamp of God is mentioned in the Old Testament for the first time in the book of Samuel. In the scenario where the priesthood at that time was corrupt, that is, Eli’s family was directing the tasks of the temple and were not pleasing God. But with the birth of Samuel, Ana’s son – everything would begin to change.

Generally speaking, the lamps were to bring illumination to the tabernacle. In the spiritual sense, it is bringing clarity to the people of Israel about the divine will, once the light bulb goes out – it is about no longer understanding God’s mandates. That is, because the obligation at that time to bring clarity to the people was under the command of Eli and his family. However, both were following their own paths, the father was letting his sons do whatever he wanted from the Lord’s offerings, these offerings were taken by the people. According to the Bible, Eli was already old and blind, no longer having the vision to carry out his priestly tasks.

These lamps were in the lampstand of pure gold. The Bible describes it as a seven-branched candelabra, which was an important utensil in the Tabernacle and for the nation of Israel. The lampstand represents God’s light towards the nation of Israel.

This object was located in the Holy Place or Holy Place, where the showbread was also found. In the typology, the chandelier represents the seven spirits of God, where the main lamp, which is the one in the middle, had the function of illuminating the other lamps around it. In other words, the priest set fire to the other lamps starting from the main one.

The chandelier can represent a variety of things depending on its context. For example, in the book of Revelation 2 describes an exhortation from the Lord to the church in Ephesus, if the church continued in its wrong ways, the Lord would remove its lampstand from its place. In this context it represents a position or ministry (Revelation 2:7). In the Hebrew Bible the lampstand is illustrated as “Menorah”, where it is illustrated in the book of Exodus 25.

What was the lamp of God in the Tabernacle?

“and before the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel lay to sleep” (1 Samuel 3:3).

Although the lamps in the Tabernacle were to be lit by the priesthood of the time, it was an obligation of the Israelite people to carry pure olive oil, beaten for light (Exodus 27:30).

It was the high priest’s obligation to light the lamps at dusk (Exodus 30:8). The lamps were to be placed in order on the pure gold candlestick by the priest (Leviticus 24:4).

In Numbers it describes that the seven lamps should light before the lampstand (Numbers 8:2). In 2 Samuel he describes the Lord as being the lamp, where David prays to God, where he illustrates God as being his lamp (2 Samuel 22).

Therefore, the lamp of God was the revelation of his precepts regarding the priesthood. Nowadays, it deals with the revelation of the path of salvation, where it illustrates that Jesus is the light of the world. He is the only way to eternal salvation. He is the light that illuminates human life. In treating God’s lamp it can represent the body of Christ (Psalm 132:17), now, in other contexts it can typify the human body that needs the light of Christ to walk, therefore, lamp for my feet is your word – as we can see, here it deals with God’s law to illuminate man’s path.