Ark of the Covenant
“Chest or coffer; used broadly for any box, but applied specifically to the sacred chest of the covenant”
Summary
The sacred chest of acacia wood overlaid with gold, housing the tablets of the law and crowned by the mercy seat, which served as the throne of God's presence among Israel.
☩Description and Construction
The Ark of the Covenant was a chest of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide and high, overlaid with gold inside and out. Gold rings at its four corners held poles of acacia wood for carrying, which were never to be removed. Its cover, the mercy seat, was a solid gold plate upon which stood two cherubim facing each other with wings outstretched, forming a throne above the ark. God commanded Moses to place the ark in the Most Holy Place of the tabernacle, behind the inner veil, where it remained the central object of Israelite worship.
☩Contents and Significance
According to Scripture, the ark contained only the two tablets of stone on which were written the Ten Commandments, the fundamental terms of God's covenant with Israel. Tradition places the pot of manna and Aaron's rod 'before the testimony,' but these were likely beside the ark rather than inside it. The ark represented God enthroned over His law, the holy King dwelling in the midst of His people. From between the cherubim, God spoke to Moses, making the ark the oracle of divine communication and the place where atonement was made on the Day of Atonement.
☩History and Movements
The ark led Israel through the wilderness and across the Jordan into Canaan, the waters parting as the priests' feet touched the river. During the conquest it accompanied the march around Jericho and was housed at various locations—Gilgal, Shiloh, and Beth-shemesh. When the Philistines captured the ark in battle, plagues struck every city where it was placed until they returned it on a new cart. David later brought the ark to Jerusalem with great celebration, though when Uzzah touched the ark to steady it he was struck dead, demonstrating its awful sanctity. Solomon finally placed it in the inner sanctuary of the newly built temple, where the glory of the Lord filled the house.
☩Disappearance
The ark vanished from history after the Babylonian destruction of the temple in 586 BC, and the second temple had no ark in its Most Holy Place. Jeremiah prophesied a day when the ark would neither be remembered nor made again, for Jerusalem itself would be called the throne of the Lord. In the Revelation, John saw the ark of God's covenant in the heavenly temple, suggesting the earthly ark was always a copy of the heavenly reality.
Related Verses181 mentions
References
- 1.Philip Schaff and Johann Herzog (ed.), "Ark of the Covenant," in The New Schaff-Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge, vol. I (Funk and Wagnalls, 1908–1914).
- 2.John McClintock and James Strong, "Ark," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. I (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).