And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark.
The temple stands complete, but one thing is still missing: the ark. In verse 3 its last journey begins. The elders gather, and the priests lift the ark onto their shoulders to carry it into the house built for it.
What Was Being Carried
The chest the priests lifted was not valued for its gold. Commentators read it as a picture, and they connect its long homelessness with the One it pictures:
Leslie M. GrantThe ark is the symbol of Christ as the Sustainer of the throne of God (the mercy seat). For many years it had lived in tents. This speaks of Christ as a Sojourner with His people, until the day when He will take His rightful throne in the millennial kingdom.
All Israel, Not a Chosen Few
The elders named in this verse mark a contrast with an earlier day:
H. L. RossierSolomon sets about bringing it up from there to the temple. With him are all the men of Israel, all the elders, all the heads of the tribes, and the priests. It is no longer "the chosen men of Israel" (2 Sam. 6:1), as in the time of David. All the people take part in this complete and final celebration.
Why Priests Lifted It
Ordinarily the ark was not a priest's burden at all. The law assigned it to one Levite family, which is why the parallel account in 2 Chronicles 5:4 says the Levites took it up:
Leslie M. GrantGod's method was only for the Levites of the family of Kohath to carry the ark by means of the staves (Ex. 25:13-14; Num. 3:27-32), though named "priests" in Joshua 4:16-17.
Priests shouldering the ark had happened before, and always at a turning point. One writer traces the whole pattern and reads this occasion as its closing chapter:
C. E. StuartUntil Solomon the Prince of Peace was on the throne, the ark did not enter its final resting-place. God will not rest until the true Prince of Peace is made King over all the earth. What was taking place foreshadowed that future, so the priests were appointed to carry the ark into its final home. When the people went through the Jordan — that river which stands for death — by the way prepared for them, the priests bore the ark on their shoulders. The Lord, it was foreshadowed, would make a way for His own through death. When the Lord was pulling down the stronghold of the enemy, the ark was again carried on the shoulders of the sons of Aaron. When God took possession of the land through His people, the priests carried the ark. And now the ark was about to enter His resting-place on earth. The priests carried it on their shoulders into its prepared place in the inner sanctuary, never to leave it.
The Month It Happened
The date given in the previous verse is not incidental. The ark was moved during Israel's harvest festival, the Feast of Tabernacles — the week when the nation lived in shelters and remembered the wilderness:
Leslie M. GrantIt was at the time of the Feast of Tabernacles in the seventh month that the priests carried the ark into the temple (vv. 2-3). This feast itself pictures the peace of the millennial kingdom of the Lord Jesus. Together with the ark, all the tabernacle furnishings were brought to the temple (v. 4). This teaches us that all the lessons of the tabernacle are taken up into the fuller teaching of the temple. Nothing was to be lost.
Two Centres Become One
This day ends something as well as starting something. Israel's worship had been split between two places, and neither of them wins:
C. E. StuartFor years there had been two centres of interest: the tabernacle with the altar at Gibeon, and the ark in the city of David. From now on there was to be only one. Gibeon did not yield first place to Zion. Instead both stepped aside, as it were, in favour of Mount Moriah.
The tent itself goes up to the temple as well — and then drops out of the record:
H. L. RossierAll the vessels of the holy place, the altar, and even the tent (vv. 4, 64) are now brought together where the ark is. This is the end of the tabernacle — there is no further mention of it. In this great feast, the memorial of God stands alone — the memorial that the tent was linked with all through Israel's pilgrimage. At last God has found a final resting place in the midst of His people.
Summary
- Gathered. Every elder and tribal head came, not a hand-picked few as in David's day. The whole nation shares this final celebration.
- Lifted. The ark stands for Christ upholding God's throne. Its years under tents picture Him as a Sojourner among His people, until He takes His rightful throne.
- Carried. Priests bore the ark at every turning point — through the Jordan, at the fall of the enemy's stronghold, at the taking of the land, and now on its last journey home.
- Converged. Gibeon and Zion both give way to Mount Moriah. The tabernacle is never mentioned again, yet nothing it taught is lost.
- Rested. The ark reached the inner sanctuary during the Feast of Tabernacles, never to move again. God at last had a resting place among His people — a picture of the peace of Christ's kingdom.