Revelation 1:12

And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. By saying to see, he shows that it was not a physical voice, which cannot be seen, but a spiritual one, with which seeing it is no different from hearing it. Allegorically, the Church …

And having turned, etc. Here the form of the Church is beautifully described, bearing the light of divine love in the brightness of a pure heart. According to what the Lord says: "Let your loins be girded and your lamps burning" (Luke XII). He designates …

And I turned to see the voice that spake with me,....

And I turned For he had heard the voice behind him. To see the voice; i.e., the person from whom the voice came. Seven golden candlesticks - Ἑπτα λυχνιας χρυσας· Seven golden lamps. It is absurd to say, a golden silver, or brazen candlestick. These seven lamps represented the seven Churches, in which the light of God was continually shining, and the love of God continually burning. And they are here represented as golden, to show how precious they were in the sight of God.

She is to be a light-bearer to His glory. The candlestick stood in the holy place, the type of the Church on earth, as the holiest place was type of the Church in heaven. The holy place's only light was derived from the candlestick, daylight being excluded; so the Lord God is the Church's only light; hers is the light of grace, not nature.

THE Lord Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Having neither beginning of days, nor end of years, He is a priest forever after the order of Melchisedek. But the views which His people have of Him are extremely varied. According to our progress in Grace, will be the standpoint from which we view the Savior; and according to the position from which we look at Him, will be what we see of Him.

THE Lord Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Having neither beginning of days, nor end of years, He is a priest forever after the order of Melchisedek. But the views which His people have of Him are extremely varied. According to our progress in Grace, will be the standpoint from which we view the Savior; and according to the position from which we look at Him, will be what we see of Him. Christ is the same, but Believers do not all see Him in the same clear light, nor do they all approach to the same nearness of fellowship. Some only know His offices; others only admire His Character; far fewer commune with His Person; but there are some who have advanced still further—who have come to feel the unity of all the Church with the Person of Christ Jesus their Lord. Under the Old Testament, the lesson to be taught was the same, but the capacity of the learners differed, and hence the mode of teaching the lesson differed also. A poor man, under the Jewish dispensation, was the type of an uninstructed Christian; the rich man was the picture of the well-taught Believer. Now, the poor Jew brought a turtle dove or two young pigeons (Lev 1:4-11). The necks of these were wrung, and they were offered. The poor man in that was only taught this lesson—that it was only by death and blood that his sin could be put away. The richer Israelite who had it within his power, brought a bullock (Lev 1:3-9). This bullock was not only slain, but it had to be cut in pieces; the legs, the fat, the innards were washed in water, and all these were laid in special order upon the altar. This was to teach him even as Christ now teaches the intelligent and instructed Believer, that there is within the mere act of shedding blood an order and a fullness of wisdom which only advanced Believers can perceive.

And I turned to see the voice that spake with me - He naturally turned round to see who it was that spake to him in this solitary and desolate place, where he thought himself to be alone. To see the “voice” here means to see the “person” who spake. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks - These were the “first” things that met his eye. This must have been in “vision,” of course, and the meaning is, that there “seemed” to be there seven such lamps or candelabras. The word rendered “candlesticks” (λυχνία luchnia) means properly a light-stand, lampstand - something to bear up a light. It would be applied to anything that was used for this purpose; and nothing is intimated, in the use of the word, in regard to the form or dimensions of the light-bearers. Lamps were more commonly used at that time than candles, and it is rather to be supposed that these were designed to be lamp-bearers, or lamp-sustainers, than candle-sticks. They were seven in number; not one branching into seven, but seven standing apart, and so far from each other that he who appeared to John could stand among them. The lamp-bearers evidently sustained each a light, and these gave a special brilliancy to the scene. It is not improbable that, as they were designed to represent the seven churches of Asia, they were arranged in an order resembling these churches. The scene is not laid in the temple, as many suppose, for there is nothing that resembles the arrangements in the temple except the mere fact of the lights. The scene as yet is in Patmos, and there is no evidence that John did not regard himself as there, or that he fancied for a moment that he was translated to the temple in Jerusalem. There can be no doubt as to the design of this representation, for it is expressly declared Rev 1:20 that the seven lamp-bearers were intended to represent the seven churches. […]