The Ark of the Covenant

My mother has a thing for ottomans, chests of drawers, and antiques. For as long as I can remember, she has always had at least one item from each of those categories around the house. Over the years, those items have numbered in the hundreds, predominantly the antiques. Of relation to today’s discussion is the ottoman - big wooden chests mainly made for storage. The design of an ottoman ranges from simple plywood nailed together, to expertly curved tree trunks with intricate patterns etched into the sides. Each design varies in value - monetary or otherwise.

While the Israelites were wandering the wilderness, God gave Moses the blueprints to an exquisite 'ottoman' that would come to serve multiple purposes, primarily, to hold the presence of God. This 'ottoman' would be called The Ark of the Covenant or The Ark of the Testimony. While this Ark was of great value to the Old Testament Israelites, is it of any relevance to the Christian today?

The Ark

The Ark of the Covenant was a sacred chest constructed by a Judean man called Bezalel, under the directions of Moses as described in Exodus 25:10-22. It was made of acacia wood, overlaid with gold, and housed the two stone tablets of the Ten Commandments – also called The Testimony - (Deuteronomy 10:1-5). The Ark symbolized God's presence and covenant with His people, serving as a physical representation of His divine guidance and authority.

The Purpose of the Ark

The Ark played a central role in Israelite worship and guidance. It was kept in the Holy of Holies within the Tabernacle and later in the Temple of Solomon (1 Kings 8:6-9). The Ark also contained Aaron’s rod that budded/blossomed (Numbers 17:10) and a golden jar of manna (Exodus 16:32-34), reinforcing God's provision and priestly authority.

The Ark was integral to Israel's military and spiritual victories. When carried into battle, it signified God’s presence and ensured triumph, such as at Jericho, where the walls fell after the Ark was marched around the city (Joshua 6:6-21). Conversely, its improper handling led to severe consequences, as seen when Uzzah was struck dead for touching it (2 Samuel 6:6-7).

“… which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat.” (Heb 9:4–5)

The Significance to the Israelites

The Ark symbolized God's covenant, guidance, and power. It was where God’s presence manifested between the cherubim on the Mercy Seat, from which He spoke to Moses (Exodus 25:22). It reinforced Israel’s identity as God's chosen people and served as a tangible link to divine law and worship.

After the Ark was placed in Solomon’s Temple, its whereabouts became unknown. Despite its disappearance, its spiritual significance endures, representing God's holiness, justice, and faithfulness to His promises.

The significance and importance of the Ark to the people of Israel was and is unquestionable. Indeed, it is unquestionable to any bible believing Christian. Having said that, my mind wandered to the contents of the Ark. Often, we refer to, and sing of the Mercy Seat, but the contents of the Ark are mentioned in passing. Are the items significant? If they are, how.

The Ten Commandments Tablets

Deuteronomy 10:1-11 describes how the two tablets of the Ten Commandments got into the Ark. Moses had destroyed the first set of tablets in his anger at the peoples’ worship of the golden calf (Exodus 32). Deuteronomy 10 is a summary of the building of the Ark as described in Exodus 25 and the writing of the Ten Commandments on new stone tablets. God instructs Moses to place the tablets in the ‘ark of wood.’

And you shall put into the ark the Testimony (Tablets) which I will give you. Ex 25:16.

Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are, just as the LORD commanded me.” Deut 10:5.

The Ten Commandments were not laws. Commandments are eternal, unchanging, and foundational while laws are time bound and situational.

• A commandment is a divine directive given by God, often carrying moral and spiritual significance. It is an absolute rule meant to guide behavior, particularly in relation to God and others.

• A law is a broader set of rules that governs behavior within a society, religion, or legal system. Laws can be divine (God-given) or human-made and may include civil, ceremonial, and judicial regulations.

Feature	Commandment	Law
Source	Directly from God	Can be from God or human authorities
Scope	Moral and spiritual	Broader, includes civil and ritual aspects
Timelessness	Eternal and universal	May be temporary or situational
Example	"You shall not murder" (Exodus 20:13)	"Do not eat pork" (Leviticus 11:7-8)

I have heard that the application of the law is subject to its interpretation. This is demonstrated in the conflict between the Letter of the Law and the Spirit of the Law. This conflict suggests that there is inherent ambiguity in the law, and by extension, in what is true. To be sure, law is important. God instructed Moses to place a copy of the Book of the Law beside the Ark of the Covenant (Deut 31:26). Its purpose, however, was to be a witness against the people.

This ambiguity does not exist with commandments. Commandments are unequivocal, absolute, unconditional, unqualified, unambiguous – they are black and white. They are not open to diverse interpretation, nor do they differ in application based on situation or circumstance. They remain uncompromising. As such, we can depend on commandments to define a baseline or benchmark. The Ten Commandments symbolized to the Israelites the first sacred testament: THE TRUTH.

Aaron’s Rod

Aaron was Moses’ elder brother. He was his mouthpiece before Pharaoh – Moses had a stammer - and the first high priest to the Israelites. Through the years in the wilderness, Aaron took lead in all religious matters for Israel, giving the blueprint on how the Levites would be the priestly tribe to the Israelite nation.

Numbers 16 tells us of a rebellion against Moses and Aaron, led by some Levite leaders and their followers numbering about 250 individuals. The troublemakers questioned why Moses and Aaron “exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord.” They wanted Moses and Aaron to step aside and hand over leadership of the nation to them. More specifically, they were usurping God’s authority. This rebellion led to some serious and immediate consequences for the usurpers and their families – death.

Having dealt with the usurpers, God sought to show the whole nation whom He had chosen as the high priest. As such, each family was to produce a rod – 12 in total. Aaron’s rod was in place for the tribe of Levi. Moses placed the rods in the Tabernacle overnight, before the Ark. The sign of the chosen rod would be the one that had budded and borne fruit. Come the morning, only Aaron’s rod had done so, and per God’s instructions, his rod was place in the Ark as a sign against rebellion.

Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds. (Numbers 17:8)  

And the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die.” Thus did Moses; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did. Num 17:8–11.

Rods are mainly used for three things: Shepherding, Walking Aids, and Weapons. Spiritually, they symbolize Authority & Leadership, Discipline & Correction, and Judgement. We use rods to find the way, clear the way, keep ourselves steady along the way, and to protect ourselves from predators along the way. It is no wonder David stated, “Your rod and your staff, they comfort me” (Psalms 23:4).

Aaron’s rod had budded, blossomed, and produced almonds. This rod would not only perform the purpose of a rod, but it would also provide sustenance along the way. This showed that unlike the other rods, Aaron’s rod was living. It was still connected to the source of life while the others were dead and would eventually return to soil. Aaron’s budded staff symbolized to the Israelites a second sacred testament: THE WAY

The Golden Jar of Manna

The Israelites were in the wilderness for around 40 years. The term ‘wilderness’ could be a bit broad as the Amazon, Arctic Tundra and Deserts can all be defined as wilderness. The Israelites were in the Wilderness of Sinai, also known as the Wilderness of the Desert of Sinai. They were in a dry and barren desert for 40 years. As such, food and water were extremely scarce. We will discuss the provision of water in a later blog. God provided food to His people in the form of Manna.

Manna was a substance that fell like dew every morning, except the sabbath, and the Israelites consumed it as food. God provided Manna for the 40 years the Israelites were in the desert. Manna was the only consistent source of food plentiful enough to feed the whole nation. Without manna, they would surely have perished from starvation. It was a daily sign of God’s providence and sustenance through the most difficult of terrain and circumstances.

Now the manna was like coriander seed, and its color like the color of bdellium. The people went about and gathered it, ground it on millstones or beat it in the mortar, cooked it in pans, and made cakes of it; and its taste was like the taste of pastry prepared with oil.  And when the dew fell on the camp in the night, the manna fell on it. (Number 11:7-9)

One interesting aspect of Manna was that it went stale if kept overnight. The Israelites had tried collecting more than they needed for the day and kept the surplus for the following day. They woke up to the previous day’s manna having bred worms and stank. Additionally, the excess that was left on the ground melted away as the sun got more intense through the day. Only on the sixth day were they allowed to collect for two days to cater for the sabbath, the day of rest.

Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’” And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.” As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. (Exodus 16:32–34)

God provided manna to sustain the lives of His people through their time in the desert. The golden jar of Manna symbolized to the Israelites a third sacred testament: LIFE. 

Of The Covenant

As mentioned in the introduction, the Ark was a symbol God’s Covenant with His people. It was where His presence would be found, where He would give guidance through Moses, and show His power and might to His people. The contents of the Ark were physical emblems that represented attributes of God to His people:

• The Truth (Ten Commandments) amid divergent philosophies and religions.

• The Way (Aaron’s Rod) in a vast, dry, and weary wasteland.

• The Life (Golden Jar of Manna) in the face of death through starvation.

After the Israelites settled in Canaan, the Ark was resident in several places in differing circumstances:

• Kept in the Tabernacle at Shiloh for several centuries (Joshua 18:1, 1 Samuel 3:3).

• At Aphek, the Philistines capture the Ark and take it to their territory after a failed intervention at war (1 Samuel 4).

• The Ark moves through Philistine cities (Ashdod, Gath, Ekron), bringing plagues and suffering (1 Samuel 5-6).

• The Ark is returned by the Philistines and arrives at Beth-Shemesh, but many Israelites die after looking inside it (1 Samuel 6:13-20).

• The Ark is taken to the house of Abinadab in Kiriath-Jearim, where it stays for about 20 years (1 Samuel 7:1-2).

• King David brings the Ark to Jerusalem, but Uzzah is struck dead for touching it (2 Samuel 6).

• The Ark stays at the house of Obed-Edom for three months before being successfully brought into the city with great celebration.

• King Solomon places the Ark inside the Holy of Holies in the newly built First Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 8).

• At this point, only the stone tablets remain inside the Ark (1 Kings 8:9).

• The Ark vanishes from history when Babylon destroys the First Temple.

What is evident is that the Ark was meant for the Israelites, and it brought destruction to everyone else. To the Israelites, it brought death when handled contrary to God’s directions. By the time Solomon brought the Ark to the temple, only the stone tablets were inside it. While God remained their God and they had the truth of the commandments, the Israelites had lost their connection to the source of life and their guide along their way of life.

In my opinion, this was symbolic of the inadequacy of the initial covenant God had with His people. It was set in emblems that are mortal and worldly. It harkened to the promise of a new covenant that would have the same promise – Truth, Way, and Life – but these from God and truly eternal. As mentioned in another post, the whole bible is the story of one man. The story of the Ark of the Covenant is about that one man.

Jesus

"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6)

We asked earlier if and how the Ark was relevant to Christians today. We are much like the Israelites in the desert. We are hopeless, helpless and lost in the wilderness of our sin. We constantly rebel against God and seek to fulfill our mortal desires through means prescribed by other influences. We are on a journey to a land of milk and honey, yet we long for the cucumbers, melons, leeks, onions, and garlic of our former captive land.

But by God’s grace and mercy, we have received the Word that tells us what is true and what is false. We receive our daily bread to sustain our lives through this wilderness. We have a good shepherd whose staff and rod comfort, guide and protects us against the ravishes of the wild. We live under a new covenant sealed shut in the blood of the lamb, never to be broken again.

• Unlike the covenant of old, the new covenant is for all: Jew and Gentile.

• Unlike the covenant of old, the new covenant brings life, and life in abundance.

• Unlike the covenant of old, the new covenant is made manifest in an eternal God, not mortal emblems.

Is the old Ark of the Covenant relevant to us today? In my view, it is only an item of biblical teaching. We are to take lessons about the old Ark of the Covenant and apply them in our lives so that we may not miss our place in the new Ark of the Covenant in heaven – Jesus the Christ. As per Jeremaiah, the old Ark of the Covenant shall not be remembered nor made any more. The new covenant was not made, neither was it based on mankind. It is an eternal covenant based solely and fully on our eternal savior, Jesus Christ.

Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days,” says the Lord, “that they will say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore. (Jeremiah 3:16)

Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail. (Revelation 11:19)

Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah— not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. (Jeremiah 31:31-33)

For this is My blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission of sins. But I say to you, I will not drink of this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in My Father’s kingdom.” (Matthew 26:28)

The Old Covenant, the Ark of the Covenant, the Testimony, the Manna, and the Rod and the New Covenants are all refer to one thing: Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Be Blessed!