The Ark of the Covenant

You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I shall give to you, and there I will meet with you...

Exodus 25:21,22

The Elements of the Tabernacle

As we have noted, the description of the Tabernacle and its construction moves from the centre out, from the pivotal role and significance of the Ark of the Covenant to the outer courtyard, where preparation was made for entering into the presence of the Lord. It is not going too far to suggest that the significance of the whole construction depends to a large measure on the significance of the Ark, which was so central and fundamental to the whole.

The tabernacle, as the New Testament makes clear, was rich in symbolism and in typology. But three general points are worth making regarding the items which made up the whole.

1. Not every detail is given. Descriptions of items like the Ark are detailed, but are not exhaustive.

2. Not every detail may be significant. There is some level of contention among interpreters of the OT here. Is there spiritual significance in every single detail recorded? For example, when 25:12 tells us that there were four rings of gold in the Ark, one in each corner, what is the spiritual significance of that? Is there a spiritual lesson to be learned from each ring? Or from the significance and function of the rings? Or simply from the fact that they were part of this all-important Ark? Patrick Fairbain warns against the view that the only purpose for every element of the Tabernacle was to demonstrate the reality of Christ and his salvation: this view, he says, "is too exclusively typical"; and many writers, he says, swim "in a kind of uncertainty, because no care was taken to investigate the meaning of the symbols before they were interpreted as types" (Typology of Scripture, Vol 2, pp252-3). Just as the garments of the High Priest were "for glory (or ornament) and beauty" (28:2), so many details were either aesthetic or functional. They symbolised nothing, and typified less. On the other hand, the effect of the whole is to demonstrate the glory and beauty of the salvation that there is in Christ.

3. The units of measurement varied. A 'cubit' is the measurement between elbow and fingertips, but there seems to have been a difference between the Egyptian 'royal' cubit, and the cubit whose length was later employed in the construction of the Temple (see 2 Chronicles 3:3 which refers to a cubit 'of the first measure', or 'according to the former standard'). It is difficult, therefore, to convert these measurements into modern lengths.

The Ark of the Covenant

The first item for the Tabernacle was the Ark. It was the only item of furniture which would inhabit three different places: the Tabernacle of Moses, the tent which David provided for it (1 Chronicles 16:1) and Solomon's Temple (1 Kings 8:6).

The Ark was 21/2 cubits long, and 11/2 cubits wide and high. According to the shorter measurement for the cubit, the Ark would have measured 31/2 feet long, by 21/4 feet wide and high (111x67x67cm). It was constructed of acacia wood (the word 'shittim' is simply the transliteration of the Hebrew form). The wood of the acacia trees, which flourish in dry, arid conditions, is durable and non-perishable (interestingly, the LXX renders acacia wood as 'incorruptible').

This wood was to be overlaid with pure gold (25:11); note that 'pure gold' (v11) is distinguished from 'gold' (v12ff). The purity of the gold was a measure of its being refined, and was specifically used in materials central to the Tabernacle. This overlay was to be both inside and out, so that the appearance of the Ark was of solid gold. Many interpreters have seen here a type of the two natures of Christ, the gold representing his deity, and the wood, that which belonged to the earth and yet was incorruptible. The Ark also had a crown of gold (as did the table of showbread (v24) and the altar of incense (30:3)). These trappings of deity remind us that the purpose of the Ark was not merely to be a chest, but a throne -- the King was dwelling among his people.

This is further revealed in the manner in which the Ark was to be transported. Two staves, again of acacia wood overlaid with gold, would be used to transport the Ark by means of four rings of gold in the four 'corners' of the Ark. It is possible that the word 'corner' could mean 'feet', which would mean that the staves on the shoulders of the priest would allow the Ark to tower over those who carried it, as a fitting emblem of the enthroned God. More importantly, the staves were to remain in the Ark -- they were the symbols of an unsettled Ark, an Ark which could be transported and relocated at any moment. In a dramatic moment in 1 Kings 8:8, when the Ark is finally settled in the Temple, we read "and they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without, and there they are unto this day." There was finally a place found for the Ark to rest, at the heart of the Temple construction in Jerusalem.

What did the Ark contain? According to v16, it contained "the testimony which I shall give thee". That would imply the written tables of the law; thus 1 Kings 8:9 reads: "there was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone which Moses put there at Horeb.." The Ark of the covenant testified to the God of the covenant, whose blessings and favours could only be secured through obedience. Hence the need to have the written witness of the law deposited in the Ark.

Note: Hebrews 9:4 suggests that the Ark of the Covenant also contained the golden pot of manna and Aaron's rod that budded. A pot of manna was commanded to be laid up "before the Testimony, to be kept" (Exodus 16:34). The same phrase is used in Numbers 17:10, when the Lord asked Moses to keep Aaron's rod "before the Testimony". The writer to the Hebrews understood this to mean that these items were placed inside the Ark, and we have no reason to doubt this, although the Old Testament is silent regarding this detail. It was certainly true that by 1Kings 8:9, when the Ark was deposited in the Temple, it contained only the tables of the law. Calvin's explanation was that these items were arranged in a different order in the permanence of the Temple; alternatively, it must be remembered that the Ark was held captive by the Philistines, and these holy treasures may have been removed then.

The important point was that the Ark was an Ark of Testimony, in which the law given in the theophany of Sinai, was housed.

The Ark was not open, however: a lid of pure gold was to be made for it. The Hebrew word is 'covering'; the phrase 'mercy seat' of v17 is the rendering of Martin Luther's German translation, which was adopted by William Tyndale. It is a paraphrase, drawn from the ritual which was carried out at this location.

The piece of gold which formed the covering for the Ark was to be shaped at either end into the form of a cherub, with the two cherubim stretching their wings over the covering and looking at one another. The cherubim are mentioned almost one hundred times in the Old Testament, and function as guardians of the throne of God (cf Genesis 3:24, where the cherubim guard the way to the tree of life, and Psalm 80:1 where God is said to be enthroned between the cherubim). In 26:31, this is further emphasised with the image of cherubim upon the veil which separated the holy from the most holy place.

The whole item was given with the promise of v22: "And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel". The Ark therefore was the meeting-place, the place of fellowship and communion, and the symbol of the presence of the covenant God in the midst of his people. It was the symbol which gave meaning to the whole Tabernacle structure. It taught that the only way in which God and man may commune is on the basis of obedience to God's law and commandments. Yet in grace and mercy, God made provision for those who had broken his law; mercy was provided through atonement. Sin could be covered, not as something that could be ignored, but as something that could be dealt with only with the keeping of the demands of God's law and justice. That is why the Ark is an Ark of witness: it witnesses to the righteousness which we need if we are to approach God, and to the righteousness which has been provided in the perfect obedience of Jesus Christ.