"You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand shall be made of hammered work: its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, 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 lampstand 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 almond blossoms, each with calyx and flower, on the other branch--so for the six branches going out of the lampstand. And on the lampstand 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 lampstand. Their calyxes and their branches shall be of one piece with it, the whole of it a single piece of hammered work of pure gold. You shall make seven lamps for it. And the lamps shall be set up so as to give light on the space in front of it. Its tongs and their trays shall be of 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 being shown you on the mountain.
Exodus 25:31-40
The golden candlestick is next described. The whole intricate structure was to be made of pure, beaten gold, all of one piece, from the one talent of gold. The gold would thus pass through two processes of discipline in becoming the finished candlestick. This is of deep 'typical' significance in relation to the word it speaks about Christ, the light of the world. Gold in itself symbolises purity, and Christ was without spot or blemish, but He was 'made perfect' through suffering, that is, He entered into His destiny as a Saviour and Redeemer only by passing through the fires and disciplines of suffering. Not otherwise could He become the captain of our salvation. Some have seen in the shape of the candlestick a picture not only of Christ as the light of the world, but also of Christ as the true Vine, with the branches of the candlestick representing those that are engrafted into Him by the Spirit. This is both legitimate and fruitful as an interpretation of the type; indeed, one can think of the believer's association with Christ not only in terms of the light (Jesus said, 'Ye are the light of the world', Matthew 5:14, and Paul speaks of our 'shining as lights in the world', Philippians 2:15), but also as branches of the Vine. A very challenging lesson thus emerges: the same process used to fashion the central shaft of the candlestick was used to fashion the branches, and this speaks of our becoming effective lights in the world and fruit-bearing branches only by sharing in the sufferings of Christ (see Philippians 3:10ff; 2 Corinthians 4:7-12). The disciplines of the fire and the hammer are ever necessary in making us what we are meant to be in the service of God.