I invite you to turn to the second book of the Bible tonight as we continue looking at here, what went into the holy place. Remember there was the most holy place in the holy place and we're studying here, you'll notice this section tonight on the golden lamp stand. So last time was the table for the bread, the show bread, now we come to the golden lampstand verses 31 to 40 of exodus chapter 25 this is the word of the lord beginning at verse 31 you shall make a lampstand of pure gold the lampstand shall be made of hammered work its base its stem its cups its calluses and its flowers shall be of one piece with it and there shall be six branches going out of its sides three branches of the lampstand out of one side of it and three branches of the lamp stand out of the other side of it three cups made like almond blossoms each with calyx and flower on one branch and three cups made like all almond blossoms each with calyx and flower on the other branch so for the six branches going out of the lamp stand and on the lamp stand itself there shall be four cups made like almond blossoms with their calyxes and flowers and a calyx of one piece with it under each pair of the six branches going out from the lamp stand their calyxes and their branches shall be one piece with it the whole of it a single piece of hammered work of pure gold shall make seven lamps for it and the lamp shall be set up so as to give light on the space in front of it its tongs and their tray shall be a pure gold it shall be made with all these utensils out of a talent of pure gold and see that you make them after the pattern for them which is shown you on the mountain may the lord bless tonight the hearing of his word when i was a child i never forget uh traveling to carlsbad caverns uh new mexico and we signed up for that tour and we went straight down and down and down and down all the way i think it was like 800 feet into what they call the lower cave and the left hand tunnel. If any of you have been there, I'd like to talk with you after. We had our lamps and cameras, and I remember the tour guide told us, okay, where's what we're going to do at this point? I want everyone, when I say, to turn out all the lights. And I had never experienced anything like that. We turned out all the lights, and I had never been in a place of such darkness. And it was, I was thinking, probably not at that time, but looking back on it now, remember that ninth plague where it was a darkness in Egypt that could be felt. I mean, absolutely no light. We waved our hands, couldn't see anything down there that far below. We really don't, I suppose, being able to see, appreciate darkness and understand how awful that can be. We think of that blind man this morning and it's remarkable again in God's providence how these two sermons come together. Here we're looking at darkness and light and the contrast. And I suppose that Jesus wanted people to think a lot about darkness and how awful darkness is because he constantly said that people who on that day do not know him and are not saved will be cast into it. Outer darkness. Darkness, when we think about it this way, makes us start to think a lot about light, doesn't it? Just how blessed we are to have a sun that lightens our day, a moon by night. How blessed we are, boys and girls, you would really struggle to believe this, but one day there weren't little light switches on walls. And when the lights went out, they really went out. But we just go and voila, there's light. We're used to this. What an amazing blessing to have light whenever we want light. Well, I want us to think a little bit about this tonight. The common understanding of light and darkness the scriptures use as we understand and have this common experience in many ways to help us understand deeper spiritual significance and things of this light and this matter to help us understand spiritual realities. And to consider the situation of mankind before the presence of a holy God who is a consuming light, a consuming fire. How does God characterize the human race after the fall? What is our problem? What is our need? One of the greatest furniture pieces, if you will, that the Lord wanted constructed was this great light structure. Isn't it interesting? to explain these things, calling it the golden candlestick. Everyone would have known about the golden candlestick. The meaning and purpose of the candlestick was important for Israel. Remember, they were to teach their children these things, what these things meant over the generations, and their importance in Israel, why they were there, what their function is, what they did. It wasn't just to give a little light in the holy place. there was something very important being communicated beyond that. In the most basic sense, the lampstand was a teaching instrument to always remind Israel that the Lord was their light. Isn't that what Psalm 27 begins with, that we sung out together tonight? The Lord is our light and our salvation. The lampstand taught of the Lord's presence among them. We think in Revelation where the churches were threatened that he would remove their lampstand, which was a threat that his presence would go away from that church. So they would go on and do whatever they wanted to do. But that did not mean that the Lord was blessing that. That did not mean that the Lord's presence was there. And that goes on today. So we see here the importance of the lampstand really helping Israel understand his presence. And we're going to look at some of that tonight as we look at the meaning of the lampstand, the fulfillment, and then the ways in which we can apply and understand this today. Let's begin with the construction of what the Lord had commanded them to make here at the end of chapter 25. And you have that given some detail there in verse 31, where the Lord commands that they are to build a lampstand, you'll notice, of pure gold, of a hammered work. at the very end of this you picked up again that the Lord keeps reminding in the book of Hebrews always comes back to pick up on this point that everything that was made came from the sketch that was handed to Moses the blueprints if you will and he was to make them exactly according to the pattern that was shown to him on the mountain I'm going to come back to that but you remember then that these were copies says hebrews of the true so it was teaching something about heaven you'll notice here in this particular case that it was made out of pure gold they say probably about three to five feet says in verse 32 that six branches shall come out of its sides three out of each side of this lamp stand with the center sort of shaft and they would curve up and you'll notice that three out of one side three out of the other side and this central shaft with the base these six branches would spread out curving and reaching short of the main branch which was to tower over the rest we'll come back to that too but that means that there were these seven lamps what's really beautiful here is is some of the description and the color and how ornate and how beautiful this lamp stand was to be you notice that everything is so detailed so beautiful on each of the three branches were these buds that opened up in the form of an almond flower and then in these almond flowers there was resting in there a bowl or on the top called the cup or the lamp holder and in that you would have the wick and the oil you read that in verse 37 there uh where it says you shall make seven lamps for it and the lamp shall be set up so as to give light on the space in front of it its tongs and their tray shall be a pure gold and it goes on to to give some more some more detail there so you have these these three blossoming um buds spreading on flowers on each as flowers on each branch and in the center trunk there were four now if you turn over to chapter 27 and look at verse 20 this was the instruction uh that had to do with this inch in verse 20 and the oil for the lamp you shall command the people of israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn in the tent of meeting outside the veil that is before the testimony. Aaron and his son shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel. Notice that. Evening until morning. You have to think a little bit about the setting here then. In the next chapter, he's going to describe all of these layers for the tabernacle. So you would have in this building four layers that went over sort of covers over this tabernacle structure and the first that cloth that lined it was made of pure linen on top of that was another cloth of goat's hair on top of that there were fine ram skins and then over the last one was a kind of waterproof tarp that was made in verse 14 says of the next chapter was made of badger skins this was a thick four-layer structure and you can imagine how dark it was on the inside so so you remember you had the most holy place the ark was and then you had the holy place and in the holy place you'll notice here was the table for showbread the altar of incense and the golden lamp stand. So this is an important section tonight to look at and consider the importance of this lamp stand. Now, it would have been a lot like a cave in there. There were no windows. There was no moisture. It would have been very silent in there. The setting would have been similar to what I described in Carlsbad. Complete darkness had engulfed the holy place. so the basic purpose then was you'll notice it was said to provide light for aaron and his sons the priests to minister on behalf of the people that gave them light the lamps lit up the holy place shining light on the table of showbread now you remember how important the table of showbread was for there we remembered in the the table of showbread that taught that god would care for his people. That was tonight in the Heidelberg. It taught the same thing in the wilderness. God would supply his people with bread. He would care for all of their needs. He would provide them the manna from heaven. And we looked at that. Well, what about this lamp stand? I want us to think about this tonight, this lamp stand and the light that was given in the holy place. From the center shaft grew out three branches on each side they were to construct decorated in gold with buds and knobs and bowls and flowers what is this let me ask the question what is this the golden lamp stand was a great symbol of god's life giving power this is how it's generally received that they were showing branches that are flourishing with fruit there's fruit all over these branches buds and blossoming flowers and almonds you notice almond flowers and and think of the beauty of this in the wilderness here in the wilderness they are in a dry and thirsty land where there is no water, and here is this lampstand, and all over it is the symbolism of life in the wilderness. A tree-like structure. Everything flowing out of this center shaft. Now, that's a wonderful psalm that we sing this morning, didn't we? We think of the psalm, Psalm 63, and I think that's the one we sang this morning see i'm going to get myself in trouble here no it's psalm 63 i was right saying this one thou art my god oh god of grace and earnestly i seek your face my heart cries out for you my spirit thirsts thy grace to taste and exile in this desert waste in which no waters be in which no waters be i long as in the times of old thy power and glory to behold within thy holy place because thy tender love I see more precious far than life to me my lips shall praise thy grace my lips shall praise thy grace thus will I bless thee while I live and with uplifted hands will give praise to thy holy name when by thy bounty well supplied then shall my soul be satisfied my mouth shall praise proclaim my lips shall thy praise delight when on my bed I rest at night and meditate on thee because thy hand assistance brings beneath the shadow of thy wings my heart shall joyful be this is all about holy place blessings flowing in the wilderness out of the holy place that's what that psalm is that's what we're singing when we sing in the wilderness where there's no water life is coming out of that place this is what they understood about that well think about this this beautiful section then where in the wilderness not only would He provide for them and give them bread and be their bread in the manna from heaven, but that He was the source of their life. That's the first thing. But that's not it. He was also their light. On the top of the lamp was a wick, all of which again was dependent on this sinner shaft. And at the top was an immense sort of source of light. Light to them. In the darkness, it lit up the whole place where the priests ministered. And the meaning was clear. Not only was the Lord the source of their life, the Lord was their light. Israel had already experienced this from the Lord. When he brought them through the sea, you remember how scary that was. He was their light. He went before them as light. He surrounded them as light. The Egyptians, remember what the Lord did. He came between the camp of the Egyptians and the camp of Israel. So there was a cloud and darkness to the one and it gave light by night to the other. He was the light. He had come and surrounded them. So that one did not come near the other all night. The Lord was reminding them by a perpetual decree, he is their light. And notice the reason it was never to be put out. The lampstand burned continually to tell them As long as the Lord was with them, there is light. It'll never go out. They'll never be in darkness. Now what an encouragement that he was their light and their life. Remember, the tabernacle structure was God coming down to dwell with them. You can't help but think about what was lost in the fall. That there was a tree of life there. There was a light there at the beginning when God, when his presence dwelt with man in the garden of Eden. And when Adam and Eve ate of the fruit and they forfeited, you remember what happened. They were essentially thrust out of the garden away from the tree of life. They had no more access to the life of the Lord. No more access to that tree. And then the swords went up and the whole picture being east of Eden out in the land of Nod is that mankind wandered in the darkness now. That's our problem. They had no access again to the tree. They were kept out. They were kept away. Well, this is an interesting study in Exodus because now the Lord is coming down to them and here He set up the life and the light. But how would they get to it? The way of access to God's presence was taken away in the fall. Sin has left us barred from the presence of God. And that's why there was a big 4-inch, 6-inch, 4-inch thick curtain that sealed off everything. Well, when God had this candlestick made and erected, He was announcing something. He was announcing something to Israel. I really believe that when Hebrews says the gospel was preached to them in the wilderness, the author's thinking of these things. That he had come down to dwell with them. And that he was their light in their life. And these priests would minister on their behalf. All anticipating something greater. How could they receive light? How could they receive life? Well, you come to the New Testament and you have spiritual significance becomes much more clear when we ultimately understand all of the language in the New Testament that is used to describe this. If the whole thing spoke of light and life of the Lord, how wonderful it is how the New Testament takes and applies these themes and the lampstand of Christ. Listen to what Jesus said one day. For as the Father has life in Himself, So He has granted the Son to have life in Himself. The Son is life-giving. And He gives His life to whom He will. The Son has the power to reverse what happened. When death reigned, it is now death reigned in the first Adam. The second Adam has come to give light and life again. Access to the tree again. But one of the most powerful statements comes by our Lord and in John's Gospel, when John said, and I quoted part of it this morning, if anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. And how can we miss John 1? The Word became flesh and tabernacle among us, fulfilling the whole tabernacle structure. We'll get more to that. And we beheld his glory, the glory of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, to which John begins the gospel by saying, not only is he our tabernacle, but in him was the life and the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness does not comprehend it. So Christ is fulfilling both of these realities, showing us significance of the golden lampstand that He's the tabernacle, that He is the light, and He is the life. This middle shaft towering was the source for all of the branches to which life went into them. And they budded. And they bore fruit. You can't help but think of Jesus when He says, I'm the vine and you're the branches. He who abides in Me and I in him bears much fruit, but without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he's cast out as a branch and is withered. And they gather them and throw them into the fire and they're burned. If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you. By this my Father is glorified that you bear much fruit. Buds were all over these branches. He's the support. He's the source of light. He's the source of life. He's the light of men. John 8 is remarkable. John is taking all these themes and there's real ties with John's Gospel in Exodus. And in John 8, Jesus is in the court of women. There were 13 trumpet-shaped boxes there for the people to offer their money. But you know what was also there? They were giant gilded candelabra. What that means is they were lampstands 50 feet high. Two of which stood in the court of women. Near these collection boxes. He stands right in front of these candlesticks. In the court of women one day. John 8. And says, now this is where you have to know the history to pick this up. He stands right in front of these candlesticks and says, I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness. but have the light of life it's right there right in front of him if you follow me my light i will lead you to the land is what he was saying and you won't walk in darkness but you have the light of life if you turn away from this light your alternative is to go on in the darkness and perish in the darkness jesus was saying this all the time light and life were huge themes in the gospel it's remarkable how many times in that little epistle first john light our life is used life let me give you a big picture tonight i think hebrews does this well now this is the main point of the things we're saying we have such a high priest think of the high priest that would go in there and serve we have such a high priest who is seated at the right hand of the throne of the majesty in the heavens a minister of the sanctuary and of the true tabernacle which the lord erected and not man but christ came as high priest of the good things to come with a greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands that is not of this creation and then goes into chapter 9 for christ has not entered the holy places made with hands which are copies of the true but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. That's securing your place. So Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for him, he will appear a second time apart from sin for salvation. He's there serving you. Think of this morning. He's your high priest. He's there as your light. He's there who secures the place before the throne for you and gives in your life right now light and life. This is what he did for Bartimaeus this morning. He gave the man life and light right in front of you in that set. He's the one. He's what the candlestick is all about. He's our light. Now, maybe as a point of closing tonight, what happens to those who are walking in the light? Well, who have received this life, you have to think a little bit about branches, don't you? They begin to bud. You can't hear all these things and not begin to bud. He's life-giving. He gives you this light and he gives you life so that he can now say to you, you are my lights. Isn't that beautiful? You are my lights in this world. Every good branch will bear fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down. The evidence is what? A budding branch. I've always loved john 10 i have come that they may have life and have it to the full again getting back to heidelberg's night that's his will for you it's his desire for you on himself was so moved by that i have it here 13 times he mentions life in first john and light the branch full of fruit on the top is a lamp on these tops the six branches connected with the center shaft or lit lit up what was the lord teaching us when you have life and the light has come to you your light shines and this is what jesus is thinking about it was his great concern you are the light of the world a city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket but on a lamp stand and it gives light to all who are in the house let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your father in heaven what Jesus was saying is you're in union with me this means your light is going to shine that's what's going to happen I think Bill Ryken captures it beautifully when he says we are called to shine for Christ giving a glowing testimony of saving grace we shine for Christ when we go out of our way to show special kindness We shine when we do our work cheerfully, without complaining. We shine when we give generously to those who are in need. We shine brightest of all when we share the gospel, telling people what God has done to save us through the death and resurrection of Christ. Amen. That's how you shine. So what an opportunity we have then to go out this week and after hearing that He has given us light and He has given us life, that He has taken away our blindness, That He has given us to see Him by faith as blind Bartimaeus and filled our hearts with light to now to go and be light as He wants us to be. That's His resurrection life. I believe that's a lot what Paul was saying that I want you to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. It's resurrection life that He has done and given to you. I hope that helps a little bit to understand some of the lampstand tonight and to praise God that He has given you this day both things, light and life. Let's thank Him together tonight. Heavenly Father, we praise You and thank You for the light and the life that You've given to us. And we see how all these things are pointing us forward to Christ and all that He's accomplished and done for us. And may we then understand how special it is to be light in life, to be light to people, knowing that the life we have from Christ has given us to be able to see and to enjoy these blessings. And so this week, would you give us some opportunity to be a light to someone, as we heard, by some kindness, doing our work cheerfully, by giving generously to those who are in need, by sharing and telling others the gospel. of what Christ has done for us in His life, death, and resurrection. Thank You so much for lighting our path and giving us a Word that is a lamp to our feet and a light to our path. We praise You today for being our light and our life. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen.