What is the Ark of the Covenant?

This is also called 'ARK OF THE COVENANT,' 'ARK OF THE TESTIMONY,' 'ARK OF JEHOVAH.' The sacred chest belonging to the Tabernacle and the Temple. It was made of shittim wood, overlaid within and without with pure gold. It was 2-1/2 cubits long, 1-1/2 cubits in breadth, and the same in height, with a crown or cornice of gold. On each side were rings of gold in which were inserted the staves by which it was carried. Its lid, on which were the two cherubim made wholly of gold, was called the MERCY-SEAT, q.v. The ark was typical of Christ, in that it figured the manifestation of divine righteousness (gold) in man; the mercy-seat was Jehovah's throne, the place of His dwelling on earth. In the ark were placed the two tables of stone (the righteousness demanded by God from man), and afterwards the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded. For the place of the ark and the manner of its being moved see the TABERNACLE.

In the first journey of the children of Israel from Mount Sinai the ark of the covenant went before them to "search out a resting place for them," type of God's tender care for them. When the ark set forward Moses said, "Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered;" and when it rested he said, "Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel." Num. 10:33-36. When they arrived at Jordan, the ark was carried by the priests 2000 cubits in front of the host that they might know the way they must go, Joshua 3:3-4, and the ark remained on the shoulders of the priests in the bed of the river, until all had passed over. Joshua 3:17. This typifies association with Christ's death and resurrection.

Within the holy of holies but one sacred vessel was found - that was the Ark of the Covenant - a chest of acacia wood of two cubits and a half in length, a cubit and a half in breadth, and the same in height, overlaid with pure gold within and without, and having a crown or rim of gold upon it round about. Its top, or lid, was the Mercy-Seat, made of pure gold, with two Cherubim of beaten gold, one at either end which had their wings outstretched, and so covering it, and their faces towards it, looking down on it. In this Ark were deposited the two Tables of the Law. And four gold rings at its feet, two on each side, in which the staves of acacia wood covered with gold were to be placed, for it to be carried aloft on the shoulders of the Kohathites, completed this sacred chest. This Ark with the two Tables of the Law was typical of the Lord Jesus with the law within His heart (Ps. 40:8). It was the symbol of God's presence too, as we shall see clearly further on. On, or between the Cherubim, God was said to sit (Ps. 80:1). So the Mercy-Seat was the place of His throne, from which He gave Moses commandments (Ex. 25:22; Numbers 7:89) for the children of Israel. And on the Mercy-Seat the Blood of Atonement was sprinkled once every year, the cloud of glory, the token of Jehovah's presence, shining thereon.

First, then, the ark may be viewed as a figure of the person of Christ. This is seen from its composition. It was made of shittim-wood, overlaid with pure gold. The shittim was a kind of acacia, a wood said by some to be imperishable. Be this as it may, it is a type of what is human; and if a wood, as some affirm, that would not rot, incorruptible, it was a most suitable emblem of the humanity of our Lord. The gold is always a symbol of what is divine. The structure of the ark, therefore, figures the union of the two natures in the person of Christ. He was "very God, and very man." "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God." Thereafter we read, "And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth." (John 1:1-14.) He was thus God and man, God manifest in flesh. The contents of the ark are also significant in this connection: "And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee." (v. 16.) That is, the two tables of stone, with the ten commandments written thereon, were deposited in the ark, and hence it is frequently termed the ark of the covenant (Num. 10:33; Deut. 31:26, etc.), because it contained the law on which the covenant was founded. But it points in a marked way to Christ. Speaking thus in the Spirit in the Psalms, He says, "Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of Me, I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy Law is within My heart." (Ps. 40:7-8.) The testimony in the ark, therefore, exhibits the law of God in the heart of Christ; setting forth, first, that as born into this world, being of the seed of David according to the flesh, He was "made under the law" (Gal. 4:4); and secondly, that He obeyed it perfectly. The law within the heart, indeed, brings before us the perfection of His obedience — the fact that God found in Him, and in Him alone, truth in the inward parts, a full and complete answer to all the requirements of His holiness, so that he could ever rest in Him with perfect complacency, and, as He beheld Him always doing the things that pleased Him, expressing the delight of His own heart in the words, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Matt. 3:17.)

Within the Holy of Holies stood the Ark of the Covenant which was the greatest of the Tabernacle treasures and one of the most important of the Old Testament types of our Lord. The Ark was two cubits and a half in length, a cubit and a half in breadth, and a cubit and a half in height, and was made of shittim wood and was overlaid, both inside and outside, with gold (Ex. 25:10-22).

The significant combination of wood and gold in Ark, Table and Altar foreshadowed the mystery of the Incarnation; in which perfect Manhood (pictured by the wood) and true Deity (pictured by the gold) are both revealed in Him Who, being God, became Man, and is very God and very Man in one unique Person.

We have now before us the completed building, with the hanging at the entrance and the veil before the holy of holies. We come next to consider the ark and the mercy-seat upon it, whose place was in the inmost sanctuary.

It was a chest or coffer of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits broad, and one and a half cubits high. It was overlaid with gold, within and without, so that nothing but gold was visible. Around the top was a crown of gold, and on the four corners were placed four rings of gold, two on a side, through which were passed two staves of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, which were never to be removed from the ark. Upon the ark was a cover of pure gold, with a cherub at each end beaten out of one piece with it. This was called the mercy-seat, which will occupy us later.

Into the ark was put "the testimony," or two tables of the law, and in addition also, as we learn from Hebrews 9:4, "the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded."

The detailed instructions begin at verse 10, and the first word is as to that which was to be the centre-piece of the whole typical system. Here at the start we see that God's thoughts are not ours. We should have begun with the tabernacle in which all was to be housed, working from the circumference to the centre. God begins with the centre, and works outward from that. The shadow definitely declares that the centre of all God's thoughts is — CHRIST.

The details as to the ark are given to us in verses 10-16. It was the very centre of the whole typical system and yet in itself nothing could have been simpler. It was a rectangular wooden box, but made of the very durable "shittim," or "acacia" wood, and then overlaid both without and within with pure gold. It is clear then that the wood gave to the ark its form, and the gold imparted to it its character.

At once we can see how aptly this typifies the incarnate Saviour, in whom both Humanity and Deity were perfectly found. The very durable shittim wood, which gave form to the ark, indicated His humanity, for He was in "the form of a Servant, and was made in the likeness of men" (Phil. 2:7). But when the ark was completed only gold was visible, though it was supported by the wood. His Deity gave character to all He said and did.

The ark was God's throne in Israel, by the blood put upon the mercy-seat, at least typically, a "throne of grace." In the double material of which it was constructed (the shittim-wood and gold) it symbolized the Lord, through whom alone God dwells amongst His people. This was further shown by its being wrapped in the covering veil, the humanity or "flesh" of Christ. This was further covered with the badger-(or seal-)skin covering, which seems fitly to typify the impenetrable holiness which resists all outside influences; while over all the cloth of blue displayed the heavenly color.

"And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them." The ark of the covenant was to accompany the people in all their wanderings. It never rested while they were a travelling or a conflicting host. It moved from place to place in the wilderness. It went before them into the midst of Jordan; it was their grand rallying point in all the wars of Canaan; it was the sure and certain earnest of power wherever it went. No power of the enemy could stand before that which was the well-known expression of the divine presence and power. The ark was to be Israel's companion in travel, in the desert; and "the staves" and "the rings" were the apt expression of its travelling character.

The ark having gone into captivity, Israel's whole religious system lay in ruins. The ark was the visible symbol of Jehovah dwelling in grace in the midst of His people. No more expressive type of the promised Christ existed in Old Testament days. The materials of which it was made spoke of His Person; the Shittim wood of His incorruptible humanity, and the gold of His deity. The mercy-seat spoke of His great propitiatory sacrifice accepted by God, for the atoning blood was never absent from it; and the contents of the ark — the budding rod, the pot of manna, and the tables of the Covenant — spoke of the various offices which He is graciously pleased to fill. When the tabernacle became arkless, it might justly be said that Jehovah had departed. The proper ministry of the priesthood became impossible. How could the ordinances of the Day of Atonement be observed, seeing that the throne of Jehovah was no longer in the sanctuary to receive the sprinkled blood! Yet this was the basis of all God's dealings with His people. The foundations were now truly out of course, to the intense grief of every pious soul in the nation.

Be it noted that the ark never returned to the tabernacle. It found no resting place again until Solomon built the temple. Thus there was no resumption of proper priestly services until the reigns of both Saul and David had run their course.

When Solomon had built the temple, the ark was removed thither, and the staves by which it had been carried were taken out: the ark had now found its resting place in the kingdom of Solomon, whose reign is typical of the millennium. It is significant too that now there were only the two tables of stone in the ark, 1 Kings 8:1-11: the manna had ceased when they ate of the old corn of the land, which is typical of a heavenly Christ; and the witness of Aaron's rod was no longer needed now they were in the kingdom. The wilderness circumstances, in which the manna and the priesthood of Christ were so necessary, were now passed. These are both mentioned in Heb. 9:4, for there the tabernacle, and not the temple is in contemplation.

No further mention is made of the ark: it is supposed to have been carried away with the sacred vessels to Babylon, and to have never been returned: if so there was no ark in the second temple nor in the temple built by Herod, nor do we read of the ark in connection with the temple described by Ezekiel. In Rev. 11:19 the ark of God's covenant is seen in the temple of God in heaven: symbol here of the resumption of God's dealings with His earthly people Israel.