Olive oil for the light; spices for the anointing oil and for the fragrant incense. The oil and spices are for specific liturgical functions: the lampstand oil that keeps the light burning perpetually, the anointing oil that consecrates the sanctuary and its servants, and the incense that rises as fragrant prayer before God. Psalm 141:2 says may my prayer be set before you like incense. James 5:14 says let them pray over the sick person and anoint them with oil in the name of the Lord — the anointing oil of the tabernacle is the prototype of the anointing that James commends. The fragrant incense that rises before God is the visual form of prayer ascending, making the invisible visible.

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