Menorah

The Menorah is the seven-lamped lampstand made of pure gold for the Tabernacle, its branches and almond-blossom details formed as one beaten work. Its design turns a source of light into a distinctive piece of sanctuary furnishing, specified in detail and then recorded as made according to that pattern.

Design and Materials

The instructions call for a lampstand of pure gold, beaten into one piece with its base and shaft. Six branches extend from its sides, three on either side of the central shaft. The cups, knobs, and flowers are to be integral with the structure rather than separate attachments.

The branches carry three cups shaped like almond blossoms, each with a knob and a flower; the central shaft has four such cups, with knobs and flowers. A knob is placed beneath each pair of branches. The repeated botanical forms give the metalwork a patterned, branching profile, while the insistence that the parts be of one piece emphasizes its unity.

The lampstand has seven lamps, arranged to cast light in front of it. Its tongs and snuff dishes are also to be made of pure gold, and the total weight of the lampstand and its vessels is one talent of gold.

Construction and Record

The account of the Tabernacle’s construction confirms that the prescribed object was made: its base, shaft, cups, knobs, flowers, and six side branches are described as one beaten work of pure gold. The seven lamps, tongs, and snuff dishes are likewise reported as made of pure gold, with the completed lampstand and its vessels weighing one talent.

The design is presented as a pattern shown on the mountain, then carried into the work of construction. The close correspondence between instruction and execution makes the Menorah an example of the care with which the sanctuary’s furnishings were specified and realized.