The arrangement of the furniture inside the tabernacle was not arbitrary. Intentionality is evident in Numbers 8:2: “When you set up the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.” In 8:3–4, the lampstand had been fashioned and set up according to God’s instructions.
The tabernacle—the portable tent constructed in Exodus 35-40—had a larger room and a smaller room. Inside the tabernacle’s eastern doorway was the larger room, the Holy Place. And in the Holy Place there was a golden lampstand, a golden table for bread, and a golden altar for incense. The instruction in Numbers 8:2 is about the direction of the light for the golden lampstand.
The Holy Place was rectangular. The lampstand was located on the south side, and the table of bread was located on the north side. According to the instructions in Numbers 8:2, the lamps would shine in front of the lampstand, which meant the light was toward the table of bread. The furniture placement is practical, yes, because a lit table is better than a table sitting in the dark. But more is going on.
Two chapters earlier, in Numbers 6, there is shining language. The priestly prayer for the people of Israel goes like this: “The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace” (Num. 6:24–26).
The priestly blessing is a prayer that God would shine upon his people. That imagery is about his blessing and favor upon the Israelites. And now in Numbers 8, the lampstand is shining upon the table of bread. There is a connection between Numbers 6:25 and Numbers 8:2, because the lampstand represents the light of God’s presence, and the table of bread (with its twelve loaves divided into two stacks of six) represents fellowship between God and his people.
The reason the lampstand shines on the table of bread in the Holy Place is because God’s people dwell in the light of his presence. In the Torah, light has already been associated with the presence of God. He had led the Israelites by cloud and firelight in the book of Exodus. He had descended on Mount Sinai in fire and cloud as well.
The direction of the lamps in Numbers 8:2 was making a theological point. God has come to shine upon his people, to commune and fellowship with them. The placement of the lamps in the Holy Place reinforces this point.
The connection between Numbers 6:25 and Numbers 8:2 is textually strong for at least two reasons.
The same verb (אור) is used in both verses to depict light shining upon something. God’s face shines upon the Israelites, and the lamps of the lampstand shine upon the table of bread.
This verb (אור) is only used twice in the whole book of Numbers—in 6:25 and 8:2. The rarity of this verb, then, should cause us to consider whether there’s a relationship between the two occurrences. The close proximity of these two occurrences may add further support for a relationship between them.
When readers first encounter Numbers 8:1–4, they might consider it a rather bland passage about the direction that the lamps were shining. But don’t sleep on those four verses. Think about Numbers 8:1–4 in light (no pun intended) of the book as a whole as well as in regard to the tabernacle symbolism of God’s presence in Israel’s camp.
The instruction about the lamp placement in Numbers 8:2 was no throwaway line. God’s face would shine upon his people, and there in the tabernacle stood a visible reminder of that truth.
For more information about subjects like typology and allegory in the Scripture, see my book 40 Questions About Typology and Allegory, published by Kregel Academic in 2020.