Making the Lampstand and Incense Altar

Furniture for the Holy Place included not only the table of showbread but also the lampstand and the altar of incense (Ex. 25:31–40; 26:35; 30:1–10). In today’s passage, we read about the construction of these items, which were made directly by or perhaps under the supervision of Bezalel. Again, he followed the directions for this furniture exactly (Ex. 37:17–29).

As we saw in our study of Exodus 27:20–21, the light on the lampstand burned all night, unlike the lamps in the tents of the Israelites that were put out when the family went to bed. This conveyed an important theological lesson—namely, that God never sleeps, for the tabernacle was His home among the Israelites, and if His lamp remains burning all night, then He must stay awake. Indeed, “he who keeps Israel will neither slumber nor sleep” (Ps. 121:4). That the Lord never sleeps points to His infinite life and power. We must sleep because we run out of energy, but God never tires, and so He never slumbers. The ever-burning lampstand also associates continual light with the Lord and His presence, giving another object lesson about His character. Eternal light is intrinsic to God’s character, and while the phenomenon of brilliance is a consequence of this, the connection between light and moral purity is to be remembered. Later, the Apostle John says that “God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5). In other words, the Lord is pure goodness, with no evil whatsoever staining His character. He is sovereign over evil, but He cannot do evil Himself and He has no sinful thoughts or inclinations. He cannot change and become evil, and the constantly burning lampstand points to the truth that His own light cannot be extinguished. Darkness will never overcome Him. We cannot help but think of the Son of God, for He is the Light shining in the darkness that the darkness cannot put out (John 1:5). He must, therefore, be very God of very God.

As we have seen, the altar of incense is connected to prayer; David in Psalm 141:2 likens his prayers to incense rising before God. Incense provides a pleasing odor, so we can rightly associate this with prayers offered in faith to our Creator. In other words, our prayers have a sweet smell to our Father, not in that He has an olfactory sense but in that faithful prayers are pleasing to Him. Perhaps we would pray more often and more fervently if we were to remember that God delights in our prayers. Our prayers are not perfect as we offer them, but the Holy Spirit makes them fully pleasing to the Lord (Rom. 8:26–27).