The Seven Furnishing Items Of The TabernacleSample

THE ARK OF THE TESTIMONY

The only two items in the Holy of Holies behind the veil are the ark and the mercy seat. The ark is the sixth item in the tabernacle that we will look at now. The ark is usually called the:

• Ark of the Testimony (Exod. 26:34), because the constant witness of the Law was in the ark.
• Ark of the covenant (Num. 10:33; Heb. 9:4), because it represented the Mosaic covenant between God and Israel.
• Ark of Your strength (2 Chron. 6:41), because the ark represented what God was to Israel in power      and blessings, and all the wondrous works with it.
• The holy ark (2 Chron. 35:3), because the ark of God, represented the holiness of God.

The ark with its accompanying mercy seat was the place where God came together with the children of Israel (Exod. 25:22). A detailed description of the ark is found in Exodus and Hebrews:

• Exodus 25:10-22
• Hebrews 9:1-5

The ark was a rectangular box in which the two stone tablets and the Ten Commandments were kept (Exod. 25:16). The ark was made from acacia wood and the only item in the tabernacle specially mentioned been covered inside and outside with gold. The ark had a moulding of gold all round it on its sides at the top. It was made just below the upper edge of the box in a manner that it stood slightly out to hold the mercy seat in position. 

The size of the ark was measured at 1.15 meters long, 0.7 meters wide and 0.7 meters high. At the four corners of the ark were four gold rings into which the two poles were placed, they could never be taken away from it. In this way the ark could be transported during the desert journeys. The Holy Ark may never be touched by human hands (Num. 4:15; Exod. 25:15). Uzzah stretched out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it; he did it at the expense of his life (2 Sam. 6:6, 7). Through all the wanderings of Israel the ark was specifically carried by the priest, but particularly by the priestly family of Kohath, the Kohathites (Num. 3:27-31; 4:1-4, 15, 17, 18).

In Hebrews 9:4 we read of the objects in the ark:

• The tablets of the covenant (Exod. 25:16).
• The golden pot that had the manna (Exod. 16:33-35).
• Aaron’s rod that budded (Num. 17).

Besides the ark, the law book or Torah was also placed in the Holy of Holies (Deut. 31:9, 24-26). Every seventh year the entire law book was read during the feast of tabernacles by the priests to all the people (Neh. 8:1-19).

The ark of the Covenant or Testimony was the focal point in the entire tabernacle; it stood in the most Holy place where God's voice was heard above the mercy seat - the place where the two cherubim with outstretched wings facing each other were on the mercy seat. Once a year the high priest had to sprinkle the blood of the sin offering on the mercy seat (Lev. 16:3-16).

The ark made of acacia wood speaks once again of Jesus Christ's humanity. Also, it was overlaid with gold that characterises Christ's divinity. The ark was the place where God came together with the people (Exod. 25:22), in the same way, man and God in the New Testament could also only come together in no other place than in Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12 , 1 Tim. 2: 3-6). At the time of Israel's journey through the wilderness, the priests carried the ark (although covered) on their shoulders so that all could see and follow (Num. 10:33, Josh. 3:3-4). The last cloth which covered the ark was, purple: literally blue-purple (Exod. 25:4, Num. 4:5, 6). Similarly, the Church must lift Jesus in the world (John 12:32). The golden crown (moulding) of pure gold around the ark speaks of the fact that God crowned Christ with glory and honour in heaven (Heb. 2:9, Phil. 2:9-11). The Glory (Shekinah) of God rested on the ark (Exod. 40:21, 33, 34).

The tablets of the covenant

This was the second set of tablets that contained the written law of God, which He wrote with His own finger (Deut. 10:1-5).

Here is no shadow or image; here in the heart of the ark is literally the living Word of God, written with his own finger on two tablets of stone. This was the most precious treasure that God entrusted to Moses and the people of Israel.

The ark with the law in it speaks of Christ of whom we read: Then I said, Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me. I delight to do Your will, O my God, And Your law is within my heart. (Ps. 40:7). When Jesus came in the flesh, He could say: Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. (Matt. 5:17). How did He fulfil the law? By complying with the requirements of the law (Gal. 3:10, 13), and that was after He had fulfilled it (John 8:46; 1 Pet. 2:22), and died for sinners on the cross. The law is now satisfied that the sinner-man in Christ was punished and so Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes (Rom. 10:4). The apostle Paul also explains: Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith apart from the deeds of the law (Rom. 3:28; 10:8-13). For sin shall not have dominion over you, for you are not under law but under grace (Rom. 6:14). See Acts 15 where a decisive answer on the matter concerning the law and the Church was given.

The golden pot that had the manna 

There was a pot of manna in the ark (Exod. 16:13-15, 33-35).

The manna was the bread which the Lord gave the people out of heaven in the wilderness to eat while they were on the way to the Promised Land. The golden pot of manna was one of two reminders which the Lord commanded Moses; Aaron had to place the pot in the ark. The golden pot with manna would remind the people of and bring into memory the divine mercy and grace in God's provision for their needs. God fed his people for forty years with the bread of heaven. The manna in the jar was a miracle considering that the people had to gather according to the demands of every day. If they gathered more than what was required for the day it went bad (Exod. 16). And yet the manna in the golden pot was preserved.

Jesus Christ Himself shows us that He is the great anti-type of the manna in John 6. When the Jews gave Moses credit for manna from heaven, Jesus sets the record straight by saying that it was His father that gave the manna bread (John 6:31, 32): “Our fathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ Then Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven.” Jesus went ahead and explained that He is the true bread (manna) from heaven (John 6:33-35): “For the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.” Then they said to Him, “Lord, give us this bread always.” And Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to Me shall never hunger, and he who believes in Me shall never thirst”, and that they must eat the bread (John 6:47-51): “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me has everlasting life. I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” The believer is nourished by the Lord Jesus Christ, the humiliated, crucified, but also the glorified. It is He then that also gave to his Church (the congregation) a precious promise: “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give some of the hidden manna to eat. . . .” (Rev. 2:17). Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (1 John 5:5)

Aaron’s rod

Besides the tablets of the covenant and the manna, Aaron's rod was also in the ark (Heb. 9:4). The rod was the symbol of God's chosen priesthood, that of Aaron.

Korah - one of the leaders in Israel - and with him; Dathan, Abiram and two hundred and fifty men, rebelled against the authority of Aaron and his priestly family. We read of this rebellion, and the disastrous consequences thereof, in Numbers 16. God had to punish the rebels and confirm the authority and service of his chosen servants. As far as the chosen priesthood is concerned, we read in Numbers 17:1-10:

Each of the twelve tribes had to lay a rod, with the name of the head of their tribe on it, before the Lord in the tabernacle in front of the ark. The next day when Moses went into the most Holy Place, he saw that: the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds (verse 8). There was after this no doubt among the tribe leaders and the people whom God had chosen as his priestly tribe.

In the rod of Aaron, we have an illustrative image of Christ's incarnation: For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, And as a root out of dry ground (Isa. 53:2). Just like the rod of Aaron was brought before others, so also was Christ brought before man, to be crucified (John 19:5). He was killed: cut off from the land of the living (Isa. 53:8). But then He rose from the dead (Rom. 6:9). Among the trees, the almond tree is the first to bloom. The flowers speak of life and resurrection. He is: the firstborn from the dead (Col. 1:18). Flowers speak of beauty: You are fairer than the sons of men (Ps. 45:2). Almonds speak of fertility: He shall see His seed (Isa. 53:10); A posterity shall serve Him (Ps. 22:30), and Here am I and the children whom God has given Me. (Heb. 2:13). In the rod we see death, resurrection and the glory of Christ.