Spirit of God, by which the congregation of God was tilled with higher light and life. By the power of this Spirit, Israel, in covenant with the Lord, was to let its light shine, the light of its knowledge of God and spiritual illumination, before all the nations of the earth. In its seven arms the stamp of the covenant relationship was impressed upon the candlestick; and the almond-blossom with which it was ornamented represented the seasonable offering of the flowers and fruits of the Spirit, the almond-tree deriving its name שׁקד from the fact that it is the earliest of all the trees in both its blossom and its fruit (cf. Jer 1:11-12). The symbolical character of the candlestick is clearly indicated in the Scriptures. The prophet Zechariah (Zec 4:1-14) sees a golden candlestick with seven lamps and two olive-trees, one on either side, from which the oil-vessel is supplied; and the angel who is talking with him informs him that the olive-trees are the two sons of oil, that is to say, the representatives of the kingdom and priesthood, the divinely appointed organs through which the Spirit of God was communicated to the covenant nation. And in Rev 1:20, the seven churches, which represent the new people of God, i.e., the Christian Church, are shown to the holy seer in the form of seven candlesticks standing before the throne of God. - On Exo 25:40, see at Exo 25:9.
Chap. 26
Verse 1
Exo 26:1 (cf. Ex 36:8-38). The Dwelling-Place. - This was to be formed of a framework of wood, and of tapestry and curtains. The description commences with the tapestry or tent-cloth (Exo 26:1-14), which made the framework (vv. 15-30) into a dwelling. The inner lining is mentioned first (Exo 26:1-6), because this made the dwelling into a tent (tabernacle). This inner tent-cloth was to consist of ten curtains (יריעת, αὐλαίαι), or, as Luther has more aptly rendered it, Teppiche, pieces of tapestry, i.e., of cloth composed of byssus yarn, hyacinth, purple, and scarlet. משׁזר twisted, signifies yarn composed of various colours twisted together, from which the finer kinds of byssus, for which the Egyptians were so celebrated, were made (vid., Hengstenberg, Egypt, pp. 139ff.). The byssus yarn was of a clear white, and this was woven into mixed cloth by combination with dark blue, and dark and fiery red. It was not to be in simple stripes or checks, however; but the variegated yarn was to be woven (embroidered) into the
