Lesson 23 – The Ark of the Covenant

1.    Ex. 21 -23 Laws

2.    Ex. 23 the conquest of Canaan is promised.

3.    Ex 24 the reading of the Covenant to the people

4.    Ex. 26

1.    Flip through the following pages to see the detail about the ark.

2.    Still we don't know what happened to it.  It dropped out of sight soon after it was delivered to the temple. Probably it was lost during a foreign raid upon Jerusalem.

    • Exodus 40:16-21, 3-38

  • Making the story your own.
    God is spirit and goes where God chooses.  But we, like the Israelites, sense God’s presence more easily in certain places.  We respond by trying to make or keep those places as beautiful as possible. (Notice that the ark’s materials were freewill donations by the Israelites.)
    • What places are sacred for you?
    • What makes them sacred?

 

  • Memory verse: Deuteronomy 6:4-5

“Hear, O Israel: The HOLY ONE is our God, the HOLY ONE alone.  You shall love the HOLY ONE your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your might.”

 

Bible Background (taken from Journey through the Bible, Christian Board of Publications, 1995, p. 75)

 

 

1Is the description of the tabernacle in the wilderness a late description based on the temple in Jerusalem built by Solomon in the tenth century? Or was there a tabernacle in the wilderness that later gave some guidance to Solomon and his workers when the temple was built? The answer maybe yes to both questions. In all likelihood, there was a portable place of worship carried along by the Israelites as they traveled through the wilderness and entered into Canaan under Joshua. But if so, it must have been much simpler than that described in Exodus 25-31. The temple built by Solomon in Jerusalem was modeled after Canaanite temples, as we know from the remains of a few of them that have been excavated in the Middle East. But Solomon's temple also must have preserved elements of earlier Israelite worship, probably going back to the wilderness period. Let us examine the wilderness tabernacle, then, recognizing that it may well contain descriptions of elements of worship that belong to a much later time.

2We are told that there is a pattern (the Hebrew word is tabnith) available on the basis of which the tabernacle and its furnishings are constructed. This pattern was revealed to Moses atop Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:9,40). This idea of a pattern, present to God and revealed to special individuals on earth, is a widespread motif in religions of the Middle East and the Mediterranean area. For many of these religious communities, life on earth is understood to be patterned after the life of the gods in heaven.

3The Israelites believe that this world and everything in it were created by the one God. God does indeed have a pattern for the universe. But if human beings are to discover this pattern, it must be revealed by God through an act of special revelation. Or alternatively, human beings, who are created in the image of God, may be able to search out God's pattern and plan for much of the creation. Special objects, such as the tabernacle and its furnishings, however, must be built in accordance with a very special pattern that God reveals. Once the pattern is given through Moses, then skillful artists like Bezalel (Exodus 31:2) can construct these objects.

4The description begins with the most important object first-the ark, its cover, the cherubim that stand on either side of it with their wings outstretched, and the poles by which the ark is to be carried. The cubit measured a little more than eighteen inches, which means that the ark was a rather small object-less than four feet long by about two and one-fourth feet wide and high. Although the wilderness ark was probably simple and plain, the ark described here is quite ornate, with gold overlays. The cherubim, undoubtedly added later, were winged creatures, serving to symbolize God's constant protection of the ark.

5Inside the ark was the "covenant," the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses. In earliest times, the ark may well have contained other holy objects. But its chief function seems to have been not to house sacred objects but to assure the people of God's active presence with them. That is why the ark always went in procession at the head of Israel's armies-to assure the people that God would lead them and grant them victory.

6The remainder of our present chapters (chapters 25-31) give details of the rest of the portable tabernacle, which was a large tent capable of being set up fairly quickly, providing a place of worship and ceremony for the priests. We should remember that this was not a tent within which the people would gather for worship, like the tent of a traveling revivalist. The people would gather around the tabernacle, and the priests would go inside.

7We should not overlook the fact that the details we have about the ark and the altars and the tabernacle itself tell us much about how ancient Israelites viewed the worship of God. While the worship had to be led by priests and Levites who were set apart for that purpose, the things that the priests did were not hidden from the people. The entire Israelite community had the description of how the ark was made, what was in it, what its purpose was. The same is true of all the rest of the ceremonies and the trappings of worship. in most societies, a special class of people would keep this knowledge to itself. In Israel, however, the entire community was entitled to know what priests did and why. There were no religious secrets here.

8Chapters 35-40 of Exodus tell us that the instructions given by God were carried out faithfully. And when the whole was completed, God's glory entered the tabernacle in the form of a dense cloud. The tradition makes clear that Moses was touched by this glory of God-so powerfully that his face shone, and he had to wear a veil (Exodus 34:29-35) to protect the people from too much exposure to God's glorious and awesome presence, reflected in Moses' face. The same must have been true of the tabernacle; it was holy and glorious because God was gracious enough to appear there, giving guidance to the people regularly on their journeys toward the land of the promise.

  Back to lesson

 

 Scripture

Exodus 25:10-16

They shall make an ark of acacia wood; it shall be two and a half cubits

long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.

You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside you shall overlay it,

and you shall make a molding of gold upon it all around.

You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two

rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side.

You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.

And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, by which

to carry the ark. The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it.  You shall put into the ark the covenant that I shall give you.

 

Exodus 40:16-38

Moses did everything just as the LORD had commanded him.

In the first month in the second year, on the first day of the month, the

tabernacle was set up.

Moses set up the tabernacle; he laid its bases, and set up its frames, and

put in its poles, and raised up its pillars; and he spread the tent over the tabernacle, and put the covering of the tent over it; as the LORD had commanded Moses.

He took the covenant and put it into the ark, and put the poles on the ark,

and set the mercy seat above the ark; and he brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up the curtain for screening, and screened the ark of the covenant; as the LORD had commanded Moses.

22 He put the table in the tent of meeting, on the north side of the tabernacle, outside the curtain,  and set the bread in order on it before the LORD; as the LORD had commanded Moses.   He put the lampstand in the tent of meeting, opposite the table on the south side of the tabernacle,  and set up the lamps before the LORD; as the LORD had commanded Moses.   He put the golden altar in the tent of meeting before the curtain,  and offered fragrant incense on it; as the LORD had commanded Moses.   He also put in place the screen for the entrance of the tabernacle.  He set the altar of burnt offering at the entrance of the tabernacle of the tent of meeting, and offered on it the burnt offering and the grain offering as the LORD had commanded Moses.   He set the basin between the tent of meeting and the altar, and put water in it for washing,  with which Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet. 32 When they went into the tent of meeting, and when they approached the altar,

they washed; as the LORD had commanded Moses.

He set up the court around the tabernacle and the altar, and put up the

screen at the gate of the court. So Moses finished the work.

Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled

upon it, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle.

Whenever the cloud was taken up from the tabernacle, the Israelites would set out on each stage of their journey; but if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out until the day that it was taken up.

For the cloud of the LORD was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, before the eyes of all the house of Israel at each stage of

their journey.

 

Back to lesson