Exodus 25:10-16

Make an ark.

The ark

I. The veil, by which the ark was hidden from view. This veil of the Tabernacle was the same as that which subsequently hung in the Temple, and was rent in twain when our Lord expired on the Cross. We may look at it from two points of view, considering what it symbolized when it was an unrent veil, and what the rending of it signifies. The unrent veil was a symbol of darkness and difficulty. To the Jew, it shut out his view of heavenly things, and obstructed his way of approach to them. That veil was a concealing thing. All that stood behind it was effectually hidden from sight. But that Most Holy Place represented heaven. And thus, by the unrent veil, as St. Paul says: “The Holy Ghost thus signified, that the way into the Holiest of all was not yet made manifest” (Hebrews 9:8). That unrent veil was a darkening thing. It was at the same time an obstructing thing. It barred the entrance to the heavenly place. The holiest and best of God’s people could not pass within that veil. The high-priest alone might enter, and he but once a year. But what does the rent veil signify? of course the opposite of that which the unrent veil represented. Jesus, we know, came as “the light of the world.” He is the revealer of secrets; the unraveller of mysteries.

II. The place in which the ark stood. The dimensions of this part of the Tabernacle were those of a cube. The measure of its sides, its ceiling, and its floor was all the same. The cube is the most perfect of all forms, the natural emblem of perfection. And as the form of this place denoted its perfection, so did the material of which it was composed. Gold, pure gold was the material. This met the eye on every side. Gold is the purest and most precious of the metals. In its way, too, gold stands as the symbol of perfection. When we say of a thing that it reaches the golden stage, we say that which expresses the highest idea of its development. And then the furniture of this hallowed place spoke the same language. This told of perfection too. And what was this? One object alone met the eye here. This was that great central object of interest in this whole sacred structure--that keystone of this arch--that sun in the midst of this grand system--that gem in the heaven-formed ring of these hallowed services--the ark of the covenant.

III. The structure of the ark. This ark was a symbol of Christ. The constituent parts of it seemed to represent the two natures of our Saviour. The wood of the ark aptly emblemized the human nature of Christ. The tree from which this wood was obtained had its growth in the wilderness. And so in the development of His humanity, it was declared of Christ that “He should grow up like a root out of a dry ground.” The acacia wood was incorruptible. It was not subject to decay. And it is just so with the humanity of Christ. That humanity experienced no decay in life; it was the subject of none in death. He saw no corruption in the grave. He will see none for ever. And in like manner the gold of the ark represented Christ’s Divinity.

IV. The contents of the ark. The two tables of the law were preserved in the ark. This was a very significant fact. It illustrates two important truths. It proclaims the perfect righteousness and the absolute security of the children of the covenant. In conclusion: How striking are some of the points of contrast between the Jewish and the Christian ark. The one was composed of created materials. The time had been when the wood and the gold, wrought up into the form of the ark, had no existence. The other, as to the most important part of His being, at least, was constituted “from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the world was.” (R. Newton, D. D.)

The ark of the testimony: the transient symbol of an eternal truth

I. The ark may be taken as symbolical of the Divine presence, or the Divine plan in human life. It was a visible form of an invisible power.

1. In the ark, for example, you find law. See, too, the peculiar place occupied by law: the ark is in the Tabernacle; not only in the Tabernacle, but in the most sacred part of that sacred place; not only in the holiest part of the holy house, but actually in the midst of the ark is found the immutable law of God. Thus we have law at the very centre and heart of things! That which is at the heart of things is right: not something fickle, eccentric, tantalizing; but law, righteousness, God!

2. But, happily, the ark represents something more than law; and every reflective man will acknowledge that in the system within which we live, there is a mystery for which some gentler name than law must be found. The lid of the ark was the seat of mercy. It signified propitiation, favour, mediation, ground and medium of communion with God. Study that tender symbol a moment, if you please. Law, in coming up from the centre, comes through the lid or covering of mercy; it is, so to speak, attempered, or it would come like a sword, or a fire, or a judgment terrible in righteousness. On the other hand, starting the movement from the outside, in our appeal to law we go through the medium of mercy. We do not, dare not, challenge the law in its own name or on its own merits. “By the deeds of the law shall no flesh living be justified.” Our approach is through mercy, and our daily prayer is, “God be merciful unto me a sinner.”

II. We now pass onward to notice a few remarkable points in the history of the ark. In doing this, we shall be more careful about the spiritual teaching than about the mere chronology of that history, and thus we shall secure closer continuity of doctrine and illustration.

1. As our song is to be of mercy and judgment, it will be grateful to us first to see how the mercy of the Lord was revealed amongst His people (see Numbers 10:1). Unquestionably there is a law of movement. We must go forward. How? Into darkness? Into danger? Into thickening mysteries that bring with them sevenfold darkness, and trouble that makes the soul afraid? No; we are offered guidance, defence, and rest!

2. As we have thus seen the goodness of the Lord, we may now behold also His severity, as shown here and there in the history of the ark. Fall of Jericho, Dagon, Bethshemesh, Uzza. Will man attempt to eke out the failing strength of Omnipotence? Doth it become us to watch the stars lest they fall, or to open the clouds at dawn lest the sun should miss his way? Shall we appoint ourselves the special guardians of the truth, and surround it with our defences, lest God should have no foothold on His own earth?

III. We now come still more closely to practical applications. Here and there in the course of the study we have indicated one or two modern bearings of the subject, which admit of obvious amplification. Let us look at one or two others. The Israelites had a visible symbol of the Divine presence so long as they retained the ark in their midst. It was something to look at--something for the heart to stay itself upon in the time of fear and trouble. But look at our own case. Are we not left without a centre that can be seen, and without a locality sanctified above all other places? Have we not fallen on mean times--all poetry dead and gone, all music hushed for ever? To such questionings the Scriptures give a distinct reply. They tell us that ours are the brightest and noblest of all the days of time (see 2 Corinthians 3:7; Jeremiah 3:16). The local has become the universal, and all things are inscribed--“Holy unto the Lord.” That law and mercy are still at the heart of things is a truth which is acknowledged in some form even by others than Christian believers; but by Christian believers it ought to be ardently and gratefully maintained as at once the glory and the security of life. And yet we are not left without a visible sign of God’s presence. So long as we have the Bible we have the ark of the covenant. (J. Parker, D. D.)

The ark

Of all the appurtenances of the Tabernacle, the highest in the estimation of the Hebrews was a chest of acacia wood three feet and nine inches in length, two feet and three inches both in width and in height, plated within and without with gold, which they called the ark. Around it was a band of gold called a crown. This name would seem to indicate that the band was wrought in imitation of leaves and flowers, a crown having originally consisted of such materials, and having retained the semblance of them when the perishable chaplet gave place to the unfading gold. The specifications do not state how far from the base of the ark this crown was attached; and some have assumed that, as a crown, it must necessarily have been placed at the top. It may however have been merely an ornamental band of gold, wrought in imitation of leaves and flowers, and attached just above the rings and staves, by means of which the ark was borne from place to place. The rings just mentioned were of solid metal, like the ornamental cincture, and four in number, one at each corner. They held in place two staves of acacia wood overlaid with gold, by means of which the Levites might bear the ark on their shoulders. The lid of the ark was of pure, solid gold; and two cherubs of the same material stood upon it, one at each end, face to face, and stretching forth their wings over the ark. The position and attitude of these figures make it, necessary to infer that they were of small size; but their exact measure is not known. This golden cover was called the mercy-seat, or throne of grace; and is sometimes mentioned by this name, as if it were something independent of the ark. More frequently, however, it is in some way connected with the sacred coffer beneath. It was in particular what the whole Tabernacle was, the dwelling-place of Jehovah, the place where He would meet His people; it was the point in which the significance of the whole institution centred. Within the ark were deposited, according to the direction given to Moses, the two tablets of stone on which Jehovah had written with His own finger the words of the Ten Commandments. There has been a difference of opinion on the question whether the ark contained anything more than the two tablets of stone. From statements in Exodus 16:33 and Numbers 17:6, it appears that Aaron’s rod and the pot of manna were deposited near, but not within, the ark. But this does not forbid the supposition that afterward (see Hebrews 9:4) they were kept within the ark, till, in some way unknown to us, they were lost. On such an hypothesis, the passage in 1 Kings 8:9, which testifies of what was the case on the day when the ark was deposited in the Temple, has a deeper significance than if the ark had never contained anything but the tablets of stone. The appointed place for the ark of the covenant was in the holy of holies; where it probably stood in the middle of the chamber, with the longer sides toward the east and the west respectively, and the cherubs looking northward and southward toward each other. (E. E. Atwater.)

The ark

Was the ark a treasure chest? In Christ dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead. Was it a small chest? Christ made Himself of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant. Was it made after a heavenly pattern? Christ came down from heaven. Was it made of wood? Behold the Man! Was it made of incorruptible wood? Behold the purity of His character! Was it overlaid within and without with gold? Behold your God! God was in Christ. The Spirit of the Lord was upon Him. Had it a crown of gold round about? Behold your King! Had it rings and staves that it might be moved from place to place? “I will give to Jerusalem one that bringeth good tidings.” Were the staves always to be in the rings? Christ is always ready to bless and to save. “The Lord was ready to save me.” The staves in the rings give a warning to the careless. Privileges despised may soon be removed. (R E. Sears.)

And shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.

The crowns of gold around the holy vessels of the tabernacle

There is nothing insignificant in God’s universe. Everything that He has made has a meaning and a purpose. There is not a curl in a cloud, or a curve in a leaf, or a tint on a blossom, but has a reason for it, and speaks of its origin. We may be sure that the Jews at the time read in these objects moral and spiritual truths that had a direct practical bearing upon their daily religious life. I wish to deal in this manner with one of the details in the construction of the Tabernacle, to which attention is not usually directed, because it seems a very insignificant and unimportant feature. You place under the microscope a single hair of cotton-wool, which to the naked eye is so fine as to be little more than visible. In this magnified fibre you see a peculiar twist, produced by its mode of growth in the cotton-pod. You would think that twist of no consequence or meaning, and yet it is by means of this peculiarity that the fibre can unite with other fibres, and form together a thread strong enough to be woven. Without this apparently accidental irregularity on the surface of a hair, it would be impossible to spin cotton thread or to weave cotton cloth; and thus one of the staple manufactures of one of the greatest nations in the world would not have come into existence, and mankind would have lacked the principal material of their clothing. You see about the end of June, hanging out of the ears of the green corn when it is in flower, slender white filaments tipped with a powdery substance. These are the vital organs by which the grains of corn are formed and filled; and without their agency, the whole produce of the fields would fail, and there would be no bread for man. As it is with these details of nature that seem so insignificant, and yet in reality are so important, so it is with the crown of gold that was round about the ark, and the table of shewbread and the altar of incense, which seems at first an insignificant detail. It was purposely designed by God, and is full of meaning to us. Now what did this feature mean? The word translated “crown” in the text occurs only in connection with the holy vessels of the tabernacle. It means literally a border or rim of wreathed work; and it comes from a root which signifies to bind together. This border or rim was put upon the top of the ark, and of the table of shewbread, and of the altar of incense, projecting a little beyond the sides of these vessels, in order that the objects placed upon them might not slip off. Usually there was no danger of this when the vessels remained in their appointed places in the stationary Tabernacle. But from time to time the Tabernacle had to be taken down when the Israelites required to remove their camp and journey to another place in the wilderness. These vessels had therefore to be transported along with them. But there was this significant distinction between them and the rest of the furniture and frame work of the Tabernacle--that while the other articles were removed in waggons by means of oxen, the holy vessels had to be carried by the hands of man. For this purpose they were furnished with rings at their sides, through which staves were passed, by the help of which the Levites bore them in front of the cavalcade, without daring to touch them. It may be asked why was it of so much consequence that the objects belonging to the sacred vessels should be kept unmoved in their proper places? Look first at the mercy-seat or lid of the ark--why must it not be displaced in the slightest degree? The ark, we know, contained the two tables of stone, on which was inscribed the law which promised life on condition of obedience, but threatened death without mercy against transgression. At Sinai the Israelites entered into a solemn covenant with God which bound them to obedience, and bound God to punish disobedience. But, as we all know, the covenant was speedily broken. The Israelites who, in their ignorant self-confidence, had resolved that “all that the Lord hath said will we do,” almost immediately sinned grievously against the Lord, so that Moses broke the first tables of the law, and the law, as the Apostle Paul said, “was found unto death.” It ended in the ministration of condemnation. But while the Israelites thus bound judgment upon themselves, God devised an expedient by which the failure and ruin might be remedied. In the midst of wrath He remembered mercy: He commanded the ark to be formed in order that the tables of the law might be put into it, and it might thus shut out of sight the ministration of death. The law was to be carefully preserved, but it was to be no less carefully concealed, so that its ministration of death should not break out in vengeance. The cover of the mercy-seat was put over the ark, so as exactly to fit it. By this expressive symbol it was indicated that mercy triumphed over judgment--that mercy is the deepest element in every judgment, and the end for which it is graciously designed; the first sentence against our fallen first parents being the key to all other judgments. God, while inflexibly just, could still pardon the sinner. But if by accident or intention the lid of the mercy-seat were to be displaced, the law would have no cover or concealment; it would break forth and carry out without hindrance the threatened punishment of sin, and all Israel would be destroyed, for they had all sinned, and broken God’s commandments. We are told that on one occasion the inhabitants of Bethshemesh looked into the ark while it rested on a great stone in their fields, and many of them were smitten to death in consequence of their unhallowed curiosity. They had removed the mercy-seat and so let loose the law to carry out its threatened vengeance against sin without restraint. Equally important was the use of the crown of gold round about the table of shewbread. That table symbolized the provision which God made for the spiritual wants of His people. The twelve loaves upon it indicated that each tribe had its own portion prepared for it before the Lord, of the same weight and of the same size. The bread was changed from week to week; for, after remaining during that period in the presence of the Lord, it was afterwards partaken of by the priests, who were thus specially strengthened and refreshed for their service in the Tabernacle. But it was ever the same bread. It was called the “continual” shewbread, because it was always before the Lord. And the object of the golden crown or raised rim round about it, was to keep the shewbread securely in its position on the table, so that it might not fall to the ground, or have its place--which was carefully arranged--altered in the least degree, through the stumbling of the Levites who bore it on their shoulders in their journeys through the wilderness. Unchanged by the wanderings of His people, unhindered by their frequent murmurings and backslidings--the crown of gold around the table of the shewbread kept the bread securely in its place. The mercy-seat kept on the ark by its golden crown indicated God’s unchanging mercy; and the shewbread, kept in its place by the golden crown of its table, indicated God’s unvarying care for His people. The crown of gold around the altar of incense was also most significant. The altar of incense was not for sacrifice, for no victim was offered upon it; it was ordained in order that the fragrance of sweet spices might constantly ascend from it to God. It indicated not atonement for sin, but the cleansing of the sinner from sin, and his acceptance before God. It was ministered to by the priests only. But it was most closely connected with the brazen altar of burnt-offering outside, to which all Israel had access; for it was through the death of the victim that the sinner was accepted, and through the blood of atonement that he had communion with God. The coals of fire that were put on the incense altar to burn the fragrant spices, were previously taken from the altar of burnt-offering on which the victim had been reduced to ashes. The golden vessel was, therefore, of especial importance, because it indicated the highest priestly ministration. The crown of gold which encircled it at the top was meant to keep the coals of fire and the holy spices on it from being scattered or displaced. Morning and evening and all the night long the priests had to burn incense before the Lord. During the journeys of the Israelites the coals were to remain burning, and the spices were not to be removed. The incense offering was to be continuous and uninterrupted even while the altar was being carried by the Levites from one place to another. There was to be no cessation of the service during the transit. From its top a cloud of fragrance was to rise up constantly to heaven, typifying an ever active unceasing ministry in God’s presence. The office of the golden crown was, therefore, to enable the altar to fulfil this important function, to keep the materials of the offering in their proper position while the altar was stationary, or while it was being carried on the shoulders of the Kohathites. Were the live coals to be extinguished, or to fall off the altar, were the cloud of incense to cease travelling onwards with the host of Israel, then there would be no Divine intercession on their behalf. Their murmurings because of the difficulties and privations of the way would have nothing to screen them from the judgment of heaven. The crown of gold around the holy vessels might seem of no use when the Tabernacle was stationary and all its furniture fixed. And yet its very existence testified silently of the faithfulness of God. Looking upon this interesting and significant feature of all the holy vessels, the priests realized that God was not a capricious Being, moved by impulse in regard to the provision which He made for the wants of His people, but was the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever; that the qualities of grace in Him were eternal qualities, and not merely assumed for the occasion. His provision of grace was not one called forth by the necessity of the time, but was pre-ordained and prearranged from all eternity. But it was on the march that the active use of the golden crown was called forth. When the vessels were in transit, the crown was indispensable to keep their contents in their places. It was when they were journeying from place to place that the Israelites required most to realize the uninterrupted grace of God, for it was then that they were most inclined to stumble and fail, because of the difficulties and privations of the wilderness. Now, what is the use to us who live under the Christian dispensation of this interesting feature of the Old Testament ritual? It means to us now that God remains true to His original purpose of grace; and that His idea in the creation and redemption of man will yet be realized. God never forsakes the work of His own hands. The Christian Church corrupted its ways and went to awful lengths of worldliness and ungodliness, but still His long-suffering faithfulness opened a vision of hope in the darkest days. Around all the symbols and tokens of His grace is the golden crown of His faithfulness to the primeval promise that the seed of the woman shall bruise the head of the serpent; and He looks forward steadfastly to a time, far over the gulf of ages, when a great salvation shall compensate for all the misery of the world, and Christ shall see of the travail of His soul and be satisfied. And to the individual believer is it not an inspiring thought that the golden crown is still around the mercy-seat; that it is kept ever unshaken amid all his stumblings and backslidings by God’s unchanging purpose of love? Mercy that endureth for ever has been established on the ground of everlasting righteousness. You who believe in Christ are not under the law, but under grace; and God is not merely pitiful and merciful, but faithful and just to forgive all your iniquities. How comforting, too, is the thought that the golden crown is ever around the table of shewbread, securing and maintaining unshaken all your blessings in Christ! Having given you His own Son, God with Him will freely give you all things. And lastly, how comforting is the thought that around the altar of incense is ever the golden crown; assuring you that the sweet savour of Christ’s name, and the very person of the once crucified but now glorified Redeemer, are ever a fragrant memorial on your behalf in the presence of God! Jesus Christ ever liveth to make intercession for you. (H. Macmillan, D. D.)