The small jug of ritually pure oil that was found in the Temple, when all other oil there had been desecrated by the Greeks, symbolizes the drop of goodness and light that exists in every Jew and in every situation. The mitzvot, and in particular the Hanukkah lights, help people to find this concealed element.

This jug is an allusion to the fact that there always remains in every Jew an element that the Holy One, blessed be He, protects, where there is no admittance to outsiders [alien influence]…yet this element must be searched for. If one believes that there is a concealed element [of purity] in everything, and searches with all his might, he will find it…. This is the essence of the Hanukkah candles; they shine so that we are able to find the concealed element. Just as in the exile there is a concealed element that does not become defiled…so too, within every Jew there is such an element, a divine soul from above. The mitzvot are candles with which we are able to find this element. (Rabbi Yehuda Aryeh Leib Alter, Sefat Emet, Hanukkah 5633)