From the first light of creation’s day one, Elohim placed lights in the heavens on day four, launching the weekly seven-day cycle and the annual seven-month Feast cycle.  The first and fourth creation days point to the light of God’s presence on the seventh day, forming a 1-4-7 sequence of time measurement. Later we will see how the seventh-day Sabbath stabilizes the Calculated Hebrew Calendar (CHC), determining when YHWH’s annual worship days (feasts, holy assemblies) occur. It is why the Sabbath begins Leviticus 23’s list of YHWH’s sacred appointed times (mow-a-dim, מוֹעֲדִים).

In the Ancient Near East worldview, God sat enthroned above the sky dome (raqia), and in Israel’s creation story, He also inhabited the seventh day without end. Below Him, the seven visible celestial lights among the twelve tethered constellations in the raqia, known as meh-o-raw, מְאֹר, resembled the tabernacle’s almond tree lampstand, men-o-raw, מִנֹרָה, with its seven blossoms radiating fiery glory upon the twelve loaves. The blessing of His Presence was replicated in the Tent of Meeting by the twelve loaves basking in the menorah’s seven ever-burning flames.  The two heavenly luminaries (sun and moon), with the lesser reflecting the greater, represented God’s enduring life-giving Presence shining His Word of Light through His people. 

Within the holy place of the tabernacle, the seven lamps of the menorah tilted toward the twelve loaves of His Presence. The High Priest tended the tree every evening and morning to keep its fire burning brightly. Each Sabbath, under the lamp’s life-giving energy, the Bread in His Presence was renewed. The idea was that Israel, in God’s presence daily, received the light of His words and the blessings of Eden constantly. And each Sabbath, Israel’s twelve tribes were revitalized (replaced). The state of being renewed, restored, face-to-face with YHWH was why Elohim created humans in His own image.

Following the pattern of the seven-day creation narrative, after YHWH gave Moses six instructions about building the tabernacle, He spoke a seventh time, telling Israel to keep the Sabbath holy. The Sabbath served as a sign of their identity (as His light to the nations), so the twelve tribes might know their Creator, YHWH, who sanctified and made them holy through His presence (Exo. 31:13). To know YHWH meant worshiping Him by living according to the details of the covenant law, His justice and mercy. [Note: The 93-word Sabbath command in Exodus 31:12-17 has a letter sum of 25,744, which equals (12² + 4²)² + 12², alluding to the twelve tribes’ foundational role in God’s house.]

The priestly blessing linked Israel’s twelve tribes standing in God’s house before YHWH’s fiery glory with His placing His name upon Israel.

YHWH bless you and keep you;
YHWH make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
YHWH lift up His face upon you and give you peace.
So shall they put my name upon the sons of Israel, and I Myself will bless them (Num. 6:23-27).

YHWH’s tent housed the blaze of His glory, the name of YHWH. Each Sabbath, His household is cleansed and restored to holiness until God’s purpose in His creation of the cosmos is fully realized.

“Sing and rejoice, O Daughter of Zion; for behold, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of
you, says YHWH.
For I, says YHWH, will be to her a wall of fire round about, and I will be the glory in the
midst of her.
And many nations shall join themselves to YHWH in that day and shall be My people.” (Zec. 2:10, 5,11a AMP)

Takeaway:
Elohim created us to live face-to-face with Him, standing before His Presence in His light and reflecting it to the nations. The Sabbath is the telos of God’s creation of Eden and of the tabernacle. Within its sacred space of time, by His light shining upon us, we become children of Light, bearing the light of His glory and name. The Word of God is not just words written on a scroll; God’s life-giving Word has dimensions of space and time.

Fun factors:
In God’s wisdom, the seven-lamp menorah was designed with a 3-1-3 pattern, matching the seven Hebrew words of Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”

The construction of the menorah, as outlined in Exodus 25:31–37, involves a seven-verse passage with 403 letters, which factor to 31 × 13; the product of 403’s nonzero digits is 12 while the sum is 7. This relates to  John’s Gospel of Light, specifically John 1:1’s “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” with letter sum of 93 × 39, or (3 × 31 × 13 × 3), totaling 3627. The Hebrew word for tent (sum of 36) contains His light (sum of 207).

Like Genesis 1:3, “and God called” (403, 31 × 13), naming light, in John 1:1 (3 × 31 × 13 × 3), God calls (names) His children of Light into existence.