Shalom and thank you for your question! The placement of the Menorah is mentioned in the Torah: “And the Menorah, opposite the Table on the eastern ridge of the Mishkan, and place the Table on the northern ridge.” (The Talmud says that the Table is on the northern side and the Menorah on the south side.)

The Table was located at a distance of two and a half Amot (Biblical measure approximately between 48 to 57 centimeters) from the northern wall, and the Menorah was two and a half  from Amot from the southern wall. The Golden Altar stood between them, somewhat towards the east, in the direction of the Heichal, in order that the Menorah should ‘see’ the table without any barrier between them. The commentator Rashi writes that the holy vessels were placed away from the walls was so that there would be room for two Cohanim (priests) to move around the Table on Shabbat to arrange the shewbread, and because of the Table, the Menorah also had to be moved the same amount of distance from the wall, in order to be opposite the Table.

The commentary of the Netziv holds a different opinion. He maintains that the Table was distanced from the wall due to the Menorah, so that the garments of the Cohanim would not be blackened by the smoke from the Menorah, as explained in the Tractate of Yoma.

According to the esoteric, or inner dimension of Torah, (expressed in Chassidic  and Kabbalistic teachings), the purpose of the Menorah was to generate light and wisdom, and thus it was placed to the right, which was the southern side, the side of Chesed. (Chesed is the supernal attribute, or G-dly energy, of loving-kindness.) The sages of the Babylonian Talmud teach us that “He who wishes to  become wise should go southwards.”  This means that a person who wishes to develop his wisdom should be sure to reveal within himself the ‘south’, meaning the place of kindness and love.

The connection between wisdom and love manifests also in the relationship between the Jew and his Creator. When a person becomes acquainted with G-dly wisdom, he is filled with pleasure, and this brings about a feeling of love. The Ramban (Maimonides) in his Sefer haMitzvot, explains the commandment of loving G-d: “The third (of the 613) commandments of the Torah is the commandment we have been given to love the Exalted One, and this means we must contemplate and observe His commandments and instructions, so that we may comprehend Him and take consummate joy in this comprehension – and this is the love that we are commanded to achieve.”

The commentary of the Sifrei says: “As it says (in Deuteronomy) ‘And you shall love the L-rd your G-d…’ How do I know how to love G-d? We are taught ‘And may these words which I command you today be upon your hearts – through this one comes to know He who spoke and the world came into being.’. Thus we have explained that by looking you will come to comprehension, find pleasure through this, and love will necessarily follow.”

Wisdom is the expression of this spiritual pleasure, and the love referred to here is loving one’s fellow in a manner of enjoying the closeness with them, and through giving, which is the practical expression of love.This is taught in the book Etz Chaim (Shaar haklalim,) “The nature of good is to do good. Someone who is happy within himself can also do good for his fellow. Someone who does not have this internal happiness will find difficulty connecting with love and giving to his fellow.”

We hope this helps and feel free to ask more…