The tabernacle and Christ

The Ark of the Covenant

In the tabernacle of Moses · Exodus 25 to 40 · The throne of God

The ark of the covenant was the golden chest at the heart of the most holy place, holding the tablets of the law, over which the mercy seat formed a lid and God's glory dwelt between the cherubim. It was the meeting place of God and man under the old covenant. Its contents and its mercy seat together tell the story that comes true in Christ, in whom the law is kept, mercy is given, and God meets his people.

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.Exodus 25:10 (KJV)

What the ark was

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. It was a chest of acacia wood overlaid with pure gold inside and out, about three and three-quarter feet long, carried on golden staves through gold rings so that no hand touched it. Upon it rested the mercy seat of solid gold with its two cherubim, and this the ark and its lid together were the most sacred object in Israel.

Into the ark went the testimony: And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee, the two tablets of stone on which God had written the ten commandments. In time, Hebrews tells us, the ark also held the golden pot of manna and Aaron's rod that budded, tokens of God's provision and of the priesthood he had chosen. But at its heart lay the law.

What it meant for Israel

The ark was the throne of God on earth, the footstool of his presence, over which he had said he would meet with his people. Where it went, God's presence was understood to go; it led Israel across the Jordan and around Jericho, and its loss in battle was mourned as though the glory had departed. It was so holy that to touch it or look into it irreverently brought death.

But consider what lay inside: the broken law of God, the very commandments Israel had failed to keep. Under the lid was the standard that condemned them, and yet God met them there in mercy, because the lid itself, the mercy seat, was sprinkled with atoning blood. The ark held together, in one golden box, the law that accuses and the mercy that saves, with the blood between.

How it points to Christ

The ark itself is not named in the New Testament as a symbol of Jesus, so the fuller connections are best held as devotional reflection, but the reflection is rich and faithful. What the ark contained, Christ fulfills. The law written on stone and shut in the ark, Christ kept perfectly and wrote on the heart, for he could say, Thy law is within my heart, and God promised a new covenant in which he would put his laws into their minds, and write them in their hearts. The manna, the bread from heaven, points to him who said, I am the living bread. Aaron's rod that budded, dead wood brought to life and bearing fruit, has long been seen as a picture of resurrection and of the priesthood God vindicates, which finds its truth in the risen Christ.

Most surely of all, the mercy seat upon the ark points to Jesus, and here the New Testament does speak directly, for the same Greek word used of the mercy seat is used of Christ, whom God set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood. That fulfillment has its own page. Taken whole, the ark is a picture of how a holy God dwells with sinners: the law within, the mercy seat above, the blood upon it, and the glory between the cherubim. Every part of that is answered in Christ, in whom the law is honored, mercy is poured out, and God draws near.

So we handle the ark with care, distinguishing what Scripture states from what it invites us to see. Its mercy seat is tied to Christ explicitly; its contents are tied to him by clear echoes the New Testament sounds elsewhere. Together they show the ark for what it was, a golden parable of the gospel, kept in the dark heart of the tent until the day the true meeting place of God and man would stand among us in flesh.

The law within, the mercy above

The most striking thing about the ark is what it did with the law of God. The tablets of stone, the very commandments Israel had broken, were not destroyed and not displayed in accusation; they were placed inside the chest and covered by the mercy seat. The law was honored, kept, and preserved, for God does not set his righteousness aside. But it was covered, and upon the covering, once a year, atoning blood was sprinkled. God looked down not on the broken law that condemned his people but on the blood that answered for them.

This is the whole difficulty of salvation solved in a golden box. How can God be just and still forgive? How can the law that says the soul that sinneth, it shall die be upheld, and the sinner still live? The ark answers: the law is kept, under the mercy seat, and the mercy seat is sprinkled with blood. Justice is not waived; it is satisfied. And every part of that finds its yes in Christ, who kept the law perfectly, bore its penalty fully, and became the mercy seat where God and sinners meet.

So the ark was carried at the head of Israel through the wilderness and across the Jordan, the throne of God going before his people, and wherever it went, God's presence went. It was the most sacred thing they owned, and it was, when you look inside, a picture of grace: the broken law, the covering lid, the atoning blood, the glory between the cherubim. What was hidden in the dark most holy place has stepped into the light in Jesus, in whom the law is fulfilled, the blood is shed, and God draws near to dwell.

The ark as a whole is not named in the New Testament as a type of Christ, so the connections through its contents (the law, the manna, Aaron's rod) are devotional reflections grounded in clear biblical echoes (Hebrews 9:4; Jeremiah 31:33; John 6:51). Its mercy seat, however, is tied to Christ explicitly (Romans 3:25; Hebrews 9:5) and is treated on its own page.

Related: The mercy seat · The most holy place · The table of showbread · The whole tabernacle