Not Getting 12 Volts at Coil

I have verified that all sparkplug wires are connected to the proper tower on the distributor. Starting with rotor positioned under #1 tower of cap and rotating distributor clockwise 1-5-3-6-2-4. This is the correct firing order for a slant six. Before hotwiring it I pulled #1 sparkplug wire, put a test light in the number one wire connection, and tried cranking it. The test light lit up.