The word translated “candlestick” is the Hebrew word menorah. A menorah held oil lamps rather than wax candles. The Lampstand was not made of wood covered with gold as were the Ark and the Table of Showbread, but it was made of pure gold.

A few chapters from now, we will see how Aaron made a calf from molten gold. Unlike that false god, this Lampstand, which speaks of Jesus Christ as the Light of the Word, was made of beaten gold. Many people say, “You Christians claim that Jesus is the single answer, the only Way, the one true Light. But how do you know what you’re declaring is right?” The answer is that, like the gold of the Candlestick, He was beaten, yet He rose again from the dead.

Truly, it’s when you are beaten and yet continue to burn bright that the beauty, the reality of the Light of the Word is most clearly seen. This means that the point at which you choose to embrace the difficulty that seems to beat upon you is the point where you will see Jesus in ways you’ve never seen Him before. It is when you’re being beaten, when you’re in the fiery trial that Jesus is clearer to you than you ever dreamed possible.

Ask Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego. As they were in the furnace, whom did they see? The Son of God in their midst. How real was He? So real they didn’t want to leave the furnace (Daniel 3:25–26). A lot of people try to get out of the fire, when in reality, it is the fire itself which causes the Lord to be seen most clearly.