The Golden Lampstand, Exodus 25

1. No dimensions given. Unlike other furnishings, we are not given specific dimensions for the lampstand. We are given only the weight of gold used (one talent, approximately 75 lbs/34 kg), specific visuals (the lamps, flowers, calyxes and branches), and the method of construction: beaten gold, all of one piece.
2. What does “beaten gold” mean? The ancient process involved creating metal sheets and hammering them into a pre-made negative of the desired form. This means it is likely that the branches were hollow cylinders, bent into branches, so the talent of gold could create larger forms using less metal. It’s unclear exactly how large this lampstand could have been, since we don’t know the thickness of the metal.
3. Other famous depictions. A famous ancient depiction is on the Arch of Titus in Rome. According to the Oral Torah, the Lampstand stood approximately 18 handbreadths high, about 5 ft (1.6 m). The Temple Institute’s reconstruction is suitable as a permanent temple fixture, but certainly not one that could be picked up and carried great distances through the wilderness.
4. Arched branches, like a tree. In the debate over arched or straight branches, I lean more toward the arc. The whole appearance seems to point toward an abstract version of a tree, with limbs arched upwards into the flames: perhaps the burning bush, or even the Tree of Life. Like Aaron’s budding rod, the Lampstand references the almond tree, with 22 calyxes and almond blossoms on its 7 branches.
5. A lesson in the making. The construction of the only light in the tabernacle involved the violent deformation of a malleable metal into a pre-determined form. Jesus was the “Word made flesh” (John 1:14), malleable to God’s will as he was struck again and again into the pattern for the deliverer that God had foretold. He now stands as a lamp to the world, lighting the path for those who pass between the laver and the altar (baptism and sacrifice) into the Holy Place that God has established.
6. What about the base? Presumably there was a base of some kind, since it was the only light in the Tabernacle and would almost certainly not have been left near the floor. However, without any Biblical specifics, we cannot be sure.

“Again, much of this is my own assumption and should not be taken as absolute! Perhaps with further study and research a better alternative will present itself.”

See also my notes on the Mishkan, where I estimate the Lampstand’s size, and on the lampstands of Revelation 1.