“Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,” (Exodus 25:6)
This is part of the list of things the Lord required the Hebrews to bring to Moses for the sanctuary. Some may use the term sanctuary for the Tabernacle and it’s relatively the same, except that the sanctuary refers to any place that is sacred and consecrated for religious service. The Tabernacle was the portable sanctuary. A curtain seven- and one-half feet tall hung on poles and surrounded the entire area of about one half the size of a football field. It housed the Holy Place, a building in which was the Ark of the Covenant, the Golden Lampstand, The Altar of Incense and the Table of Showbread. The Ark of the Covenant was behind a curtain four inches thick in the place known as the Holy of Holies. The outside of the building was known as the Outer Court and had the Brazen Laver on which the sacrifices were slaughtered and the Brazen Altar upon which the sacrifices were burned.
The oil had three uses, for light, for anointing and for sweet incense. (Exodus 25:6) The Lampstand was used for light. It had seven branches representing the seven churches mentioned in Revelation. Jesus explains it in His revelation to John. “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.” (Revelation 1:20) In this we see how intricately the Lord God wove the Old Testament edicts to represent what was to come in the New Testament. It has such symbolism. It’s the church that is the light in the darkness. This light was to never be put out and to burn continually. “And thou shalt command the children of Israel, that they bring thee pure oil olive beaten for the light, to cause the lamp to burn always.” (Exodus 27:20) It lights the Holy Place, but not the Holy of Holies. God is the light in the Holy of Holies.
The oil for anointing contained different spices. “Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels, And of cassia five hundred shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, and of oil olive an hin: And thou shalt make it an oil of holy ointment, an ointment compound after the art of the apothecary: it shall be an holy anointing oil.” (Exodus 30:23-25) Sweet cinnamon is a spice called calamus which has a scent similar to the combination of cinnamon, nugmeg and ginger. It’s also called Sweet Flag or Sweet Rush. Myrrh is the resin that comes from the tree of the same name that grows in northern Africa and the Middle East. It’s a sap like substance that has a sweet smoky scent. It has powerful medicinal properties. Cassia is another kind of cinnamon spice made from the bark of the cassia tree. It’s bark is thicker than regular cinnamon. It’s also known as Chinese cinnamon, part of the 5 spices in Chinese five spice powder and is used in Mediterranean dishes. We can get a sense of how the oil smelled because of its similarity to the scent of pumpin spice used during our Thanksgiving Day celebration meals.
The oil was also to be used for incense. A different altar was to be built for this. “And thou shalt make an altar to burn incense upon: of shittim wood shalt thou make it.” (Exodus 30:1) Because of the excess of the slaughter of animals, incense was to burn constantly in the morning and evening during the killing of the sacrifices to probably overcome the disagreeable scent of the slaughter. This altar was to have no other purpose but to burn incense. “And Aaron shall burn thereon sweet incense every morning: when he dresseth the lamps, he shall burn incense upon it. And when Aaron lighteth the lamps at even, he shall burn incense upon it, a perpetual incense before the LORD throughout your generations. Ye shall offer no strange incense thereon, nor burnt sacrifice, nor meat offering; neither shall ye pour drink offering thereon.” (Exodus 30:7-9)
The spices used for the incense were holy and were not to be duplicated for any other purpose. “And the LORD said unto Moses, Take unto thee sweet spices, stacte, and onycha, and galbanum; these sweet spices with pure frankincense: of each shall there be a like weight: And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy: And thou shalt beat some of it very small, and put of it before the testimony in the tabernacle of the congregation, where I will meet with thee: it shall be unto you most holy. And as for the perfume which thou shalt make, ye shall not make to yourselves according to the composition thereof: it shall be unto thee holy for the LORD.” (Exodus 30:34-37) Stacte is believed to be the oil from myrrh. Onycha is also known as Finger Nail in Greek and is the door membrane of a snail-like mollusk found in the Red Sea and imported from Oman. It was used as a binder that fixed all the scents together. Galbanum is a gum resin that has a strong green scent with a turpentine odor. So, we can imagine that it did cover up the scent of animal slaughter. We can see that symbolically this strong scent covered up the scent of sin represented by the slaughter of animals.
All this information is important to understand the role of Jesus as the Light, the Anointed One and Sweet-Smelling Savor in God’s nostrils, covering up the repulsive smell of sin to God. He is the Light of the World giving life to those who believe and trust in Him, His church, represented by the Lampstand, His church which will live eternally in the Holy Place. He is the Anointed One Who has healing for spirit, soul and body. And He is the incense that has removed the stench of sin from us. This is just a tiny bit of knowledge and understanding of the great length of God’s wisdom of His work in the Old Testament and the New Testament, God’s great work in the salvation and the redemption of mankind.
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