-stand, with one perpendicular shaft, and six branches,
three springing, one above another, from each side of the shaft, and all
curving up to the same height. Upon these were laid the seven lamps,
which were altogether separate in their construction (ver. 37). It was
of pure gold, the base and the main shaft being of one piece of beaten
metal. Each of the six branches was ornamented with three cups, made
like almond blossoms; above these a "knop," variously compared by Jewish
writers to an apple and a pomegranate, and still higher, a flower or
bud. It is believed that there was a fruit and flower above each of the
cups, making nine ornaments on each branch. The "candlestick" in ver. 34
can only mean the central shaft, and upon this there were "four cups
with their knops and flowers" instead of three. With the lamp were
tongs, and snuff-dishes in which to remove the charred wick from the
temple.

As we are told that when the Lord called the child Samuel, "the lamp of
God was not yet gone out" (1 Sam. iii. 3), it follows that the lights
were kept burning only during the night.

We have now to ascertain the spiritual meaning of this stately symbol.
There are two other passages in Scripture which take up the figure and
carry it forward. In Zechariah (iv. 2-12) we are taught that the
separation of the lamps is a mere incident; they are to be conceived of
as organically one, and moreover as fed by secret ducts with oil from no
limited supply, but from living olive trees, vital, rooted in the system
of the universe. Whatever obscurity may veil those "two sons of oil"
(and this is not the place to discuss the subject), we are distinctly
told that the main lesson is that of lustre derived from supernatural,
invisible sources. Zerubbabel is confronted by a great mountain of
hindrance, but it shall become a plain before him, because the lesson of
the vision of the candlestick is this--"Not by might, nor by power, but
by My Spirit, saith the Lord." A lamp gives light not because the gold
shines, but because the oil burns; and yet the oil is the one thing
which the eye sees not. And so the Church is a witness for her Lord, a
light shining in a dark place, not because of its learning or culture,
its noble ritual, its stately buildings or its ample revenues. All these
things her children, having the power, ought to dedicate. The ancient
symbol put art and preciousness in an honourable place, worthily
upholding the lamp itself; and i