Several years ago at our church, one of the elderly ladies made a small-scale replica of the Ark of the Covenant. It was made out of everyday materials anyone could find at Hobby Lobby, but I remember that the attention to detail was exquisite. Every side measured, every cloth cut to specifications. It was clear she had put a lot of time into it, and it showed in the final product.
Unfortunately, that lady has moved away, but we still have that model of the Ark in one of our classrooms (which she graciously gave to us). No telling how many people have passed by to see her work in the years since, but it has to have numbered into the thousands.
Every time I see it, I take a few seconds to appreciate the work. Not her work, necessarily, but the work of God. It’s such a simple design; the Ark is nothing more than a box, after all. But to the Jews—and to God—the Ark represented a meeting place between human and the divine.
There was always a need for such a place to exist. God cannot dwell with humans, so the Tabernacle—and, by extension, the Ark—formed a place where the two could meet.
But God can’t be around sin, so the idea of the Tabernacle was also to provide a place where mankind could be sanctified. Everything about the Tabernacle funnels to that point. The bowls, incense, altars—it all provides steps of purification before you meet God.
Then, once the High Priest enters into the Most Holy Place (where the Ark of the Covenant is), they’re confronted with a physical representation of the glory of God.
It’s no secret that the Ark, with the angels perched on top and gold material covering every square inch, looks just like other throne rooms in Scripture. Isaiah 6:1-4, Ezekiel 1, and Revelation 4-5 all picture God being surrounded by angelic beings, just like the cherubim on the mercy seat of the Ark.
Even the gold reminds us of Heaven. In Exodus 25:10-22, everything is covered in gold. The moulding is gold, the rings for the poles are gold, the poles themselves are covered with gold, the cover is gold, and the angels are gold, to name a few. Isn’t that what the streets of Heaven will look like (Revelation 21:21)?
But it’s what’s inside that always counts, right? And inside the Ark, God told Moses to place one thing: the Law given to him on the mountain. Eventually, a golden pot of manna and Aaron’s rod that budded would also be put inside, but for now, it was just the Law.
That creates an interesting connection between the way to approach God and God Himself. He’s willing to dwell with man, but the fundamental part of that approach is through His Law. Those are the guidelines for that relationship; anyone that wants to approach Him in the Old Testament must come through those regulations.
The mercy of God is juxtaposed with the authority of God. The fact that He’s willing to commune with us is beyond special, but we must do it under His authority. No man can create their own path to God. He is divine, so we must approach Him on His terms.
