81 And Jehovah speaketh unto Moses, saying, 2 'Speak unto Aaron, and thou hast said unto him, In thy causing the lights to go up, over-against the face of the candlestick do the seven lights give light.' 3 And Aaron doth so; over-against the face of the candlestick he hath caused its lights to go up, as Jehovah hath commanded Moses. 4 And this 'is' the work of the candlestick: beaten work of gold; unto its thigh, unto its flower it 'is' beaten work; as the appearance which Jehovah shewed Moses, so he hath made the candlestick.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 8:1-4
Commentary on Numbers 8:1-4
(Read Numbers 8:1-4)
Aaron himself lighted the lamps, thus representing his Divine Master. The Scripture is a light shining in a dark place, 2 Peter 1:19. A dark place even the church would be without it; as the tabernacle, which had no window, would have been without the lamps. The work of ministers is to light these lamps, by expounding and applying the word of God. Jesus Christ is the only Light of our dark, sinful world; and by his atonement, by his word and the Holy Spirit, he diffuses light around.