What The Bible Says
Good Sam's Penny Pulpit by Pastor Ed Rice
Msg#810
Mar 09 2008, The Ark of Covenant
It is curious that when approaching the Hebrew Tabernacle the Ark of the Covenant would be the very last of the furnishings seen; found buried deep under curtains and shrouded behind a veil. Yet when God instructs the construction of this tabernacle the very first thing in His priority is this ark of the testimony. Think of these words, ... the 'chest' where the testimony of a covenant between God and man is carried. God had said “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.” (Exod 25:8) At the tabernacle's first mention, the central point and priority of God's description begins with this 'chest' called the 'ark of the testimony', the ark of the covenant', the 'ark of the LORD', and the 'ark of God'. The word 'covenant' is for an alliance or pledge, treaty or league, agreement or marriage; while the word 'testament' is more for a witness, a testimony, or evidence of the agreement. In the whole of Exodus it is referred to as the evidence of the agreement, 'Ark of the Testimony.' Shittim wood used in the ark represents the feeble, frail, fallen, flesh of humanity. The word became vulgar in colloquial use for what is separated and discarded from the flesh, but in this ark of testimony the base wood is not discarded, it is gold plated. The awesome representation brings together the depraved humanity of man, shittim wood, with the full deity of God, pure gold, and combines them into one ark of testimony. It is a portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ, flesh and deity in one. If your a Christian, your old wood is to be gold plated and be beaming forth the image of the Lord Jesus Christ. Learn more of this Hebrew Tabernacle at GSBaptistChurch.com/temple
It is curious that when one would physically approach the Hebrew Tabernacle the Ark of the Covenant would be the very last of the seven furnishings found buried deep under the covers and curtains and shrouded behind the Veil. Yet when God instructs the construction of this tabernacle the very first thing in His priority is this Ark of the Covenant. It had God's highest priority. Notice the descriptions given were to be followed meticulously. Exod 25:9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it. And notice again that the first piece of furniture described is this 'chest' or ark.
10 ¶ And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
11 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.
12 And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.
13 And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.
14 And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.
15 The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.
16 And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.
Think of these words “The Ark of The Covenant.” The 'chest' where the testimony of covenant between God and man is carried. Remember God had said “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.” (Exod 25:8) Here in Exodus 25, at the tabernacles first mention, the central point and priority of God's description begins with this 'chest.'1 This chest is called the 'ark of the testimony', the ark of the covenant', the 'ark of the LORD', and the 'ark of God'. The word 'covenant' (Hbrw bariyth) is for an alliance or pledge, treaty or league, agreement or marriage; while the word 'testament' (Hbrw ‘eduwth) is more for a witness, a testimony, or evidence of the agreement. In the Bible all during it's construction in the Book of Exodus it is referred to as the evidence of the agreement, 'Ark of the Testimony' used 10 times.2 Throughout the rest of the Bible it is referred to as the 'Ark of the Covenant', used 41 times, and the 'Ark of the LORD' or 'Ark of God' used 68 times. Consider again what is being said in 'The Ark of the Testimony', 'The Ark of the Covenant.', 'The Ark of the Lord', or 'The Ark of God.' In the initiation and description of the Hebrew Tabernacle, this ark is given first prioroty.
Examining the construction of this ark is equally informative.10 ¶ And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. Shittim wood is wood from the shittah tree. Shittim wood is called acacia wood by the less informed but more squeamish speakers. It is possible that the shittah tree was a species of the acacia family. There is such a shittah tree native to the north east in America that is likely the same, it is a deciduous tree having very hard wood and black, fleshy fruit. If the same, the black fleshy fruit, is a striking picture of humanities fruit.
Shittim is also a place in Palestine and the name for this wood may have come from the place where it grew, or the place may have derived its name from the presence of the tree. Either way the picture is still bleak and representative of the weakness and frailty of flesh. Nu 25:1 And Israel abode in Shittim, and the people began to commit whoredom with the daughters of Moab.3
This wood used in the temple furniture represents the feeble frail fallen flesh of humanity. Its depraved separated condition connected to this wood called shittim likely resulted in the vulgarity of the word in colloquial use for what is separated and discarded from that same flesh. But here in symbolism and in reality the separated depraved base wood is not discarded, it is gold plated. The awesome representation brings together the depraved humanity of man, shittim wood, with the full deity of God, pure gold, and combines them into one ark of testimony. It is testimony of the coming messiah where God “became 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)
The cubit is a universal measure for man because you need not go to market to buy a ruler and it is neither SI nor English; it is Bible. A cubit is the distance from the elbow to the fingers and we have reason to believe that Moses' cubit was longer than ours because of 4,000 years of devil-loution in mankind. This ark measured 2 ½ by 1 ½ by 1 ½. To picture that touch your fingertips together with your writs straight and note how far apart your elbows are; it was a handspread longer. Touch your full handspread to your fingertips and from there to your elbow is the width and height of this chest that was to hold the testimony of the covenant of God.
The contents of the ark are given distinctly in the New Testament book of Hebrews 9: 3 And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; 4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
As we unfold backward this list of contents we discover why each has important bearing on the covenant that they give testimony of.
First note that the ark of the covenant had the tables of stone: De 10:5 And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the LORD commanded me. The testimony of the covenant begins with the commandments of God. As it was for Israel in the old covenant, so it is for the born again in the new covenant. Recall that God has given commandment that all men everywhere repent. (Acts 17:30) It is only by the keeping of that command that you can enter the kingdom of God in the new covenant. God said of His commandments.
Det 30:11 ¶ For this commandment which I command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off.
12 It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
13 Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that we may hear it, and do it?
14 But the word is very nigh unto thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it.
15 ¶ See, I have set before thee this day life and good, and death and evil;
16 In that I command thee this day to love the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, that thou mayest live and multiply: and the LORD thy God shall bless thee in the land whither thou goest to possess it.
17 But if thine heart turn away, so that thou wilt not hear, but shalt be drawn away, ...
The problems we see in our nation today result when the commandments of God are torn from our schools government offices and now even our court houses. America despises the commandments of God and exposes the worm and moth of God's wrath4. Coming to bear on our nation are the curses found in Deuteronomy and belonging to a people who reject God's commandments. They are a testimony of a covenant.
Num 28:15 ¶ But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee:
16 Cursed shalt thou be in the city, and cursed shalt thou be in the field.
17 Cursed shall be thy basket and thy store.
18 Cursed shall be the fruit of thy body, and the fruit of thy land, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep.
19 Cursed shalt thou be when thou comest in, and cursed shalt thou be when thou goest out.
20 The LORD shall send upon thee cursing, vexation, and rebuke, in all that thou settest thine hand unto for to do, until thou be destroyed, and until thou perish quickly; because of the wickedness of thy doings, whereby thou hast forsaken me.
The problems coming to bear on our homes; the divorces the molestations, the unwed mothers the fatherless juveniles are the direct result of homes that refuse the commandments of an almighty God. The covenant between God and man has as it's testimony the commands that wives submit yourself unto your own husband, and that husbands love your wives as Christ loved his church.
Num 28:15 ¶ But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: ...
30 Thou shalt betroth a wife, and another man shall lie with her: thou shalt build an house, and thou shalt not dwell therein: thou shalt plant a vineyard, and shalt not gather the grapes thereof.
31 Thine ox shall be slain before thine eyes, and thou shalt not eat thereof: thine ass shall be violently taken away from before thy face, and shall not be restored to thee: thy sheep shall be given unto thine enemies, and thou shalt have none to rescue them.
32 Thy sons and thy daughters shall be given unto another people, and thine eyes shall look, and fail with longing for them all the day long: and there shall be no might in thine hand.
33 The fruit of thy land, and all thy labours, shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up; and thou shalt be only oppressed and crushed alway:
34 So that thou shalt be mad for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
35 The LORD shall smite thee in the knees, and in the legs, with a sore botch that cannot be healed, from the sole of thy foot unto the top of thy head.
36 The LORD shall bring thee, and thy king which thou shalt set over thee, unto a nation which neither thou nor thy fathers have known; and there shalt thou serve other gods, wood and stone.
37 And thou shalt become an astonishment, a proverb, and a byword, among all nations whither the LORD shall lead thee.
The problems and pestilence in our individual lives, the personal rebellion and disobedience of people, yea even of those who call themselves Christians, the casting away of God's commands and our taking up Roman-Unitarian-Modernists translations of God's Word that do not recognize the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ, that do not recognize salvation by faith through grace, that do not recognize sin and sodomy as an abomination to a Holy God as His Word clearly states it. We forsake and dismiss the commands of God but there is a price to be paid. His covenant with man has as it's basis, first that we follow His commandments. Doing so brings us into covenant promise. To not hearken takes us out of covenant, into destruction. Here is how God put it for the nation of Israel..
Num 28:15 ¶ But it shall come to pass, if thou wilt not hearken unto the voice of the LORD thy God, to observe to do all his commandments and his statutes which I command thee this day; that all these curses shall come upon thee, and overtake thee: ...
21 The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it.
22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.
23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.
24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.
25 The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
26 And thy carcase shall be meat unto all fowls of the air, and unto the beasts of the earth, and no man shall fray them away.
27 The LORD will smite thee with the botch of Egypt, and with the emerods, and with the scab, and with the itch, whereof thou canst not be healed.
28 The LORD shall smite thee with madness, and blindness, and astonishment of heart:
29 And thou shalt grope at noonday, as the blind gropeth in darkness, and thou shalt not prosper in thy ways: and thou shalt be only oppressed and spoiled evermore, and no man shall save thee.
The first thing found in the ark of the covenant, the testimony that there is a covenant between God and man are the commandments of God. Keeping his commandments is essential even in the New Covenant we are only allowed in through the blood of Jesus Christ. Mt 26:28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. ... Lu 22:20 Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you5 When you break His commandments you step outside his promises, you step outside of his covenant. Recall again that God has given commandment that all men everywhere repent. (Acts 17:30) It is only by the keeping of that command that you can find the next content of the ark. Aaron's rod that budded.
The ark of the testimony contained Aaron's rod that budded. Num 17: 7 And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. 8 ¶ And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. The symbolism found in Aaron's rod that budded is striking and enlightening; it is indeed a revelation from God; a manifestation of the dead coming to life. In context it was used to determine who would be the Aaronic priesthood; i.e. which family line would be allowed into the holy place and given access to the most holy place. In the previous chapter, Numbers 16, Korah rose up against Moses and Aaron, and insisted that others in the congregation of Israel were holy and had equal right to enter the presence of God. Their error proved fatal and God was now, in chapter 17, showing only Arronic priests would be allowed in the holy place or the most holy place. The portrait is clear, only his only begotten Son, who died for the sins of man and rose from the dead as the first fruits of eternal life could stand in His presence as our mediator. A born again Christian, who was once dead in trespasses and sin is now quickened like that dead budding almond stick came to life. We are given new life, as was Christ, thus we are called 'Christians,' i.e. little Christlike living ones.
Notice that the almond stick not only budded but it blossomed and brought forth fruit. In this symbolism we see that the Christ, the only begotten Son of God, would likewise come alive from the dead, He, God in the flesh, would blossom and bring forth eternal fruit. Explained in fff
Lastly, the ark of the testimony contained the golden bowl of manna Exod16:33 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.
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17 And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
Travel with the Ark of the Covenant.
The whole of the Hebrew Tabernacle had an air of mobility in its design. The description of how the sons of Kohath were to move the tabernacle is given in Numbers 17. Notice first that only the Aaronic Priesthood was to touch the holy vessels. The Bible says:
5 And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it:
6 And shall put thereon the covering of badgers’ skins, and shall spread over it a cloth wholly of blue, and shall put in the staves thereof. ...
15 And when Aaron and his sons have made an end of covering the sanctuary, and all the vessels of the sanctuary, as the camp is to set forward; after that, the sons of Kohath shall come to bear it: but they shall not touch any holy thing, lest they die. These things are the burden of the sons of Kohath in the tabernacle of the congregation.
The moving of the ark of the covenant is, again the first of the furnishings that has God's attention.
1 The English word 'Ark' has been used two times previous to this. It was used to describe the vessel that carried eight souls, Noah and his family, safely through God's wrath , the world flood. It was used to describe the vessel that carried Moses safely through the wrath of Pharaoh in the Nile river. That word in Hebrew was tebah for vessel. This ark of the covenant, is a different use altogether being the Hebrew word arown for a chest for gathering or containing.
2Three other times, Josh 4:16, and 'ark of testimony' in Num 4:5,7:89
3See Also Jos 2:1, 3:1, Joel 3:18, and Mic 6:5 “O my people, remember now what Balak king of Moab consulted, and what Balaam the son of Beor answered him from Shittim unto Gilgal; that ye may know the righteousness of the LORD.”
4Isa 51:8 For the moth shall eat them up like a garment, and the worm shall eat them like wool: but my righteousness shall be for ever, and my salvation from generation to generation.
5Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel. ... Heb 13:20 Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
