Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Exodus 25:10
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.
10. an ark ] The Heb. word (’ rn: not the word used of Moses ‘ark,’ Exo 2:3) signifies a box or chest: it is used in Gen 50:26 of a mummy case, and in 2Ki 12:9-10, of a coffer for the collection of money. The cubit may be reckoned approximately at 18 inches 1 [200] .
[200] The dimensions of the restored Temple, pictured by Ezek., are given (Eze 40:5; Eze 43:13) in cubits measuring ‘a cubit and an handbreadth’ (=a cubit +1/6); and this fact, taken in conjunction with 2Ch 3:3 [read former for first ], has led to the conclusion that the cubit in use when the Temple was built was longer than the common cubit of Ez.’s day by 1/6th. The shorter cubit is estimated at 17.6 7 inches, and the longer at 20.5 6 inches (see DB. iv. 906 b ff.; or EB. iv. 5292 f.). Which cubit is referred to by P is uncertain: but for the purpose of forming a general idea of the Tabernacle, as conceived by him, the difference is immaterial. It is remarkable that in Egypt also two cubits were in use, of almost exactly the same lengths, the ‘short cubit (= 17.68 in.) of 6 handbreadths, and the ‘royal’ cubit of 7 handbreadths (DB iv. 907 b ).
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
(compare Exo 37:1-5). The ark is uniformly designated in Exodus the ark of the testimony. Elsewhere it is called the testimony, the ark of the covenant (most frequently in Deuteronomy and the other books of the Old Testament), the ark of the lord, the ark of god, the ark of the strength of the lord, and the holy ark.
The ark of the covenant was the central point of the sanctuary. It was designed to contain the testimony Exo 25:16; Exo 40:20; Deu 31:26, that is, the tables of the divine law, the terms of the covenant between Yahweh and His people: and it was to support the mercy-seat with its cherubim, from between which He was to hold communion with them Exo 25:22. On this account, in these directions for the construction of the sanctuary, it is named first of all the parts. But on the other hand, in the narrative of the work as it was actually carried out, we find that it was not made until after the tabernacle Exo 37:1-9. It was suitable that the receptacle should be first provided to receive and shelter the most sacred of the contents of the sanctuary as soon as it was completed. The order in which the works were executed seems to be given in Exo 31:7-10, and Exo 35:11-19. The completion of the ark is recorded in Exo 37:1-5. On its history, see the concluding $$note to Exo. 40.
Exo 25:10
An ark – Taking the cubit at 18 inches (see Gen 6:15 note), the ark of the covenant was a box 3 ft. 9 in. long, 2 ft. 3 in. wide, and 2 ft. 3 in. deep.
Exo 25:11
Overlay it with pure gold – Words descriptive of the common process of gilding. The Egyptians in early times were acquainted with both the art of gilding and that of covering a substance with thin plates of gold.
A crown of gold – That is, an edging or moulding of gold round the top of the ark, within which the cover or mercy-seat Exo 25:17 may have fitted (compare Exo 38:2). There were golden mouldings, called by the same name, to the table of showbread Exo 25:24; Exo 37:11-12, and to the golden altar Exo 30:3; Exo 37:26.
Exo 25:12
Four corners thereof – Rather, its four bases, or feet. It is not unlikely that there were low blocks, or plinths, placed under the corners to which the rings were attached (see Exo 25:26), and that it is to them the word is here applied. The ark, when it was carried, must thus have been raised above the shoulders of the bearers.
Exo 25:15
They shall not be taken from it – This direction was probably given in order that the ark might not be touched by the hand (compare 2Sa 6:6).
Exo 25:16
The testimony – Literally, something spoken again and again. The stone tables of the Ten Commandments are called the Testimony, or, the tables of the Testimony, as the ark which contained them is called the ark of the Testimony, and the tabernacle in which the ark was placed, the tabernacle of the testimony. Taking this in connection with the prohibitory form of the commandments, the name must have been understood as signifying the direct testimony of Yahweh against sin in man Deu 31:26-27.
The ark of the covenant has been most generally likened to the arks, or moveable shrines, which are represented on Egyptian monuments. The Egyptian arks were carried by poles on the shoulders, and some of them had on the cover two winged figures not unlike what we conceive the golden cherubim to have been. Thus far the similarity is striking. But there were points of great dissimilarity. Between the winged figures on the Egyptian arks there was placed the material symbol of a deity, and the arks themselves were carried about in religious processions, so as to make a show in the eyes of the people. We know not what they contained. As regards the ark of the covenant, the absence of any symbol of God was one of its great characteristics. It was never carried in a ceremonial procession: when it was moved from one place to another, it was closely packed up, concealed from the eyes even of the Levites who bore it. When the tabernacle was pitched, the ark was never exhibited, but was kept in solemn darkness. Rest, it is evident, was its appointed condition. It was occasionally moved out of its place in the holy of holies, but only so long as the nation was without a settled capital, and had something of the character of an army on the march. Not less was it distinguished from all other arks in the simple grandeur of its purpose: it was constructed to contain the plain text of the Ten Commandments written on stone in words that were intelligible to all.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Exo 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 (Heb 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 Gods 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 Christs 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 Num 10:1-36). 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 2Co 3:7-8; Jer 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 Gods 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 Exo 16:33-34 and Num 17:6-10, it appears that Aarons rod and the pot of manna were deposited near, but not within, the ark. But this does not forbid the supposition that afterward (see Heb 9:4-5) they were kept within the ark, till, in some way unknown to us, they were lost. On such an hypothesis, the passage in 1Ki 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 Gods 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 Gods 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 Gods unchanging mercy; and the shewbread, kept in its place by the golden crown of its table, indicated Gods 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 Gods 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 Gods 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 Christs 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.)
Fuente: Biblical Illustrator Edited by Joseph S. Exell
Verse 10. They shall make an ark] aron signifies an ark, chest, coffer, or coffin. It is used particularly to designate that chest or coffer in which the testimony or two tables of the covenant was laid up, on the top of which was the propitiatory or mercy-seat, (see on Ex 25:17), and at the end of which were the cherubim of gold, (Ex 25:18-20), between whom the visible sign of the presence of the supreme God appeared as seated upon his throne. The ark was the most excellent of all the holy things which belonged to the Mosaic economy, and for its sake the tabernacle and the temple were built, Ex 26:33; Ex 40:18; Ex 40:21. It was considered as conferring a sanctity wherever it was fixed, 2Ch 8:11; 2Sa 6:12.
Two cubits and a half shall be the length, &c.] About four feet five inches in length, taking the cubit as twenty-one inches, and two feet six inches in breadth and in depth. As this ark was chiefly intended to deposit the two tables of stone in, which had been written by the finger of God, we may very reasonably conjecture that the length of those tables was not less than four feet and their breadth not less than two. As to their thickness we can say nothing, as the depth of the ark was intended for other matters besides the two tables, such as Aaron’s rod, the pot of manna, &c., &c., though probably these were laid up beside, not in, the ark.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
An ark, or little chest, or coffer, for the uses after mentioned.
Two cubits and a half; understand it of the common cubit, which is generally conceived to contain a foot and a half of our measure. See Gen 6:15.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
10. an arka coffer or chest,overlaid with gold, the dimensions of which, taking the cubit ateighteen inches, are computed to be three feet nine inches in length,two feet three inches in breadth.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And they shall make an ark of shittim wood,…. A chest or coffer to put things into, and into this were to be put the two tables of stone on which the law was written, and it was to be made of the wood before mentioned, Ex 25:5 this was a very eminent type of Christ, with whom the name of an ark, chest, or coffer where treasure lies, agrees; for the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, and the riches of grace, even all the fulness of it, lie in him; and all the epithets of this ark are suitable to him, as when it is called the ark of God, the ark of his strength, the glory of God, the face of God, Jehovah, and God himself, the holy ark, and ark of the covenant: and its being made of “shittim wood”, which is an incorruptible wood, a wood that rots not, by which the Septuagint version here, and in Ex 25:5 and elsewhere render it, may denote the duration of Christ in his person, and the natures united in it; in his divine nature, from everlasting to everlasting, he is God; in his human nature he saw no corruption, and though he died he lived again, and lives for evermore; in his offices, as Mediator, Redeemer, Saviour, prophet, priest, and King, he abideth for ever; and in his grace and the fulness of it, which, like himself, is the same today, yesterday, and forever:
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; if this cubit was a common cubit, consisting of a foot and a half or eighteen inches, then the length of this ark was forty five inches, and its breadth and height twenty seven each; according to Dr. Cumberland k, the Egyptian and Jewish cubit was above twenty one inches, and then the ark must be fifty three inches long or more, and thirty two and three quarters broad and high, or more: and Josephus l says, the length of it was five spans, and the breadth and height of it three spans each.
k Of Scripture Weights and Measures, ch. 2. p. 34, 56. l Antiqu. l. 3. c. 6. sect. 5.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Ark of the Covenant (cf. Exo 37:1-9). – They were to make an ark ( ) of acacia-wood, two cubits and a half long, one and a half broad, and one and a half high, and to plate it with pure gold both within and without. Round about it they were to construct a golden , i.e., probably a golden rim, encircling it like an ornamental wreath. They were also to cast four golden rings and fasten them to the four feet ( walking feet, feet bent as if for walking) of the ark, two on either side; and to cut four poles of acacia-wood and plate them with gold, and put them through the rings for carrying the ark. The poles were to remain in the rings, without moving from them, i.e., without being drawn out, that the bearers might not touch the ark itself (Num 4:15).
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
10 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. 11 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. 12 And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. 13 And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. 15 The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. 16 And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. 17 And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. 18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. 21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. 22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
The first thing which is here ordered to be made is the ark with its appurtenances, the furniture of the most holy place, and the special token of God’s presence, for which the tabernacle was erected to be the receptacle.
I. The ark itself was a chest, or coffer, in which the two tables of the law, written with the finger of God, were to be honourably deposited, and carefully kept. The dimensions of it are exactly ordered; if the Jewish cubit was, as some learned men compute, three inches longer than our half-yard (twenty-one inches in all), this chest or cabinet was about fifty-two inches long, thirty-one broad, and thirty-one deep. It was overlaid within and without with thin plates of gold. It had a crown, or cornice, of gold, round it, with rings and staves to carry it with; and in it he must put the testimony, v. 10-16. The tables of the law are called the testimony because God did in them testify his will: his giving them that law was in token of his favour to them; and their acceptance of it was in token of their subjection and obedience to him. This law was a testimony to them, to direct them in their duty, and would be a testimony against them if they transgressed. The ark is called the ark of the testimony (ch. xxx. 6), and the tabernacle the tabernacle of the testimony (Num. x. 11) or witness, Acts vii. 44. The gospel of Christ is also called a testimony or witness, Matt. xxiv. 14. It is observable, 1. That the tables of the law were carefully preserved in the ark for the purpose, to teach us to make much of the word of God, and to hide it in our hearts, in our innermost thoughts, as the ark was placed in the holy of holies. It intimates likewise the care which divine Providence ever did, and ever will, take to preserve the records of divine revelation in the church, so that even in the latter days there shall be seen in his temple the ark of his testament. See Rev. xi. 19. 2. That this ark was the chief token of God’s presence, which teaches us that the first and great evidence and assurance of God’s favour is the putting of his law in the heart. God dwells where that rules, Heb. viii. 10. 3. That provision was made for the carrying of this ark about with them in all their removals, which intimates to us that, wherever we go, we should take our religion along with us, always bearing about with us the love of the Lord Jesus, and his law.
II. The mercy-seat was the covering of the ark or chest, made of solid gold, exactly to fit the dimensions of the ark, Exo 25:17; Exo 25:21. This propitiatory covering, as it might well be translated, was a type of Christ, the great propitiation, whose satisfaction fully answers the demands of the law, covers our transgressions, and comes between us and the curse we deserve. Thus he is the end of the law for righteousness.
III. The cherubim of gold were fixed to the mercy-seat, and of a piece with it, and spread their wings over it, v. 18. It is supposed that these cherubim were designed to represent the holy angels, who always attended the shechinah, or divine Majesty, particularly at the giving of the law; not by any effigies of an angel, but some emblem of the angelical nature, probably some one of those four faces spoken of, Ezek. i. 10. Whatever the faces were, they looked one towards another, and both downward towards the ark, while their wings were stretched out so as to touch one another. The apostle calls them cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy-seat, Heb. ix. 5. It denotes their attendance upon the Redeemer, to whom they were ministering spirits, their readiness to do his will, their special presence in the assemblies of saints (Psa 68:17; 1Co 11:10), and their desire to look into the mysteries of the gospel which they diligently contemplate, 1 Pet. i. 12. God is said to dwell, or sit, between the cherubim, on the mercy-seat (Ps. lxxx. 1), and thence he here promises, for the future, to meet with Moses, and to commune with him, v. 22. There he would give law, and there he would give audience, as a prince on his throne; and thus he manifests himself willing to be reconciled to us, and keep up communion with us, in and by the mediation of Christ. In allusion to this mercy-seat, we are said to come boldly to the throne of grace (Heb. iv. 16); for we are not under the law, which is covered, but under grace, which is displayed; its wings are stretched out, and we are invited to come under the shadow of them, Ruth ii. 12.
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary
Verses 10-16:
God first showed Moses the pattern of the things the Tabernacle was to contain. He began with the most important of all: the “Ark” arom, “chest.” The term occurs 183 times in the Old Testament.
The dimensions of the Ark: 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, 27 inches deep. It was to be made of “shittim” (acacia) wood, and was to be overlaid inside and outside with pure gold.
The “crown” was an ornamental molding round the top of the chest.
A gold ring was to be placed on each corner of the Ark, through which staves of acacia wood overlaid with gold were passed. These were to remain permanently in place, and were designed to be used in carrying the Ark when necessary to transport it.
One purpose of the Ark was to serve as a repository for the tablets of stone on which the Law was written, see De 31:26, 27.
Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary
MAIN HOMILETICS OF THE PARAGRAPH.Exo. 25:10-17
THE LAW OF GOD
The ark of the covenant, containing the two tables of the testimony, was itself a symbol of its contents. It symbolised
I. The graciousness of the law. The chest was covered with gold (Exo. 25:11). Law is generally used as the antithesis of grace; but, really, the law in its inmost essence is love. Men speak sometimes of the beautiful laws of naturethe laws of the moral universe are beautiful also. The law is goodgenerous, just, unchallengeablethe expression of essential purity and kindness.
Moral law has become terrible in our eyes, because we have broken it and felt its penalty; but as we are forgiven and restored to purity and understanding, the moral law ever becomes more gracious and precious in our sight. The law was borne in a chest of gold, not of iron, for the law is not a harsh rule of life, propounded by despotism, but the rule of action delivered by Eternal Wisdom and Love to secure the protection and happiness of the whole universe. There is only what is tender and generous on the first table! God asks not from us blood, sweat, and tears, but love. And only the spirit of a noble justice and a generous love breathes in the second table.
II. The immortality of the law. The ark was made of acacia woodan incorruptible wood. The moral law abides for ever. When Christ came it was not to destroy, but to fulfil this law. His sacred humanity was the golden ark in which the moral law was republished with living power. All those systems which seek to abolish or relax the moral law, whether they are found within the Christian Church or without it, are intensely anti-Christian. This law is the law of the eternal universe. The fashion of the world passeth away, but the word of the Lord endureth for ever. Heaven and earth may pass away, but not a jot or tittle of the law shall perish.
III. The supremacy of the law. And shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about (Exo. 25:11). This law is sovereign. All must bow to it. The angel that keeps it not is cast from heaven. The kingdom that will not bow to it is broken. The life that will not obey it is damned. Blessed are all those who keep it, but woe to all who despise it. Let us remember this in our outward life of business, pleasure, politics, society; let us remember it in our inner life of imagination, thought, and passion.
IV. The holiness of the law. This is set forth by the fact that the staves of the ark were not to be taken from it (Exo. 25:15). So that there was no need for the ark to be touched. The law of God is glorious in holiness, and is not to be touched by us. How mixed are the graceful fables of Greece, the mythologies of India, the moral systems of China, the visions of Mahomet! But this law is altogether pure and sublime. Nothing must be added to itnothing must go into the ark besides it; nothing must be taken from it. It stands alone, the sublime manifestation of the mind and character and purpose of God.
1. Let the priests sustain the law. It was the duty of the priests to carry the ark, and it is the duty of the priests still to sustain, to hold up, to magnify the law.
2. Let the people follow the law. The ark directed the steps of Israel. Where the law does not lead us, let us not go: where it directs the way we shall be right and safe and happy.
SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS ON THE VERSES
Exo. 25:10 to Exo. 17:1. With reference to the ark, we believe that, in its materials, construction, and use, it might point to our Lord Jesus Christ as the true ark of the everlasting covenant; uniting in Himself the divine and human natures, and exhibiting in His life a most perfect conformity to all requirements of Gods just and holy law. Wherefore when He cometh into the world, He saith, Sacrifice and offering thou wouldest not but a body hast thou prepared Me: in burnt-offerings and sacrifices for sins Thou hast had no pleasure. Then said I, Lo, I come (in the volume of the book it is written of Me [namely, in Psa. 40:6-8], I delight to do Thy will, O God: yea, Thy law is within my heart (Heb. 10:5-7). Jesus Christ, then, is the grand depository of the Fathers will. The costliest and most exquisite productions of human art, although shittim-wood and gold alone may enter into their composition, afford but imperfect resemblances of the person and work of our glorious Immanuel. An understanding that is infinite; a power that is almighty; a love that is inestimable, and a mercy that is boundless and endless as eternity, combined to prepare a body for the Son of God (Luk. 1:35). No worm might corrode His flesh; no stain might soil His spirit. All was incorruptible and pure in the worlds Redeemer.
W. Mudge.
ILLUSTRATIONS
BY
REV. WILLIAM ADAMSON
Typology! Exo. 25:1-40. If you hold up your hand between the candle and the wall, what do you see? That shadow of your hand is not, however, of the same size and colour. It is only an outline. Holding up some beautiful object which we have never seen before, its shadow would give but a feeble impression of itself. So Heb. 10:1 says, that the Law had a shadow of good things to come. Those good things have come; and
Man has gazed on heavenly secrets,
Sunned himself in heavenly glow;
Seen the glory, heard the music,
We are wiser than we know.
Mackay.
Ark of Testimony! Exo. 25:11. It is Gods will that His Son should be set forth without a cloud, in full-orbed splendour. Hence, He first shows that which shows Him most clearly.
1. It was for the ark that the Holy Tent was rearedthat the holiest place was set apart. As the richest jewel in the sacred casket, as the topstone of the hallowed pile, is the Covenant-Ark given precedence.
2. It exhibits Christ in its substance of wood and goldas the ark of redemptionas very man, and spotless man, conjoined with perfect Deity.
3. It testifies to the kingship of Christ in the crown that surrounds its summit; for He hath on His vesture and on His thigh a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords (Rev. 19:16).
4. It speaks of Christ abiding as the inmate of the faithful heart, but passing on if not heeded; for the staves might not be taken out.
Jesus, Master! I am Thine;
Keep me faithful, keep me near;
Let Thy presence in me shine,
All my homeward way to cheer.
Jesus! at Thy feet I fall
Oh, be Thou my ALL IN ALL.
Mercy-Seat! Exo. 25:17 to Exo. 23:1. A lid is placed above the Ark for the purpose of hiding the Law from every eye. The requirements of the Law are very long and wide, their breadth embracing the whole of each mans life. But Christ covers the vast dimensions of the requiring and condemning code; for an exact covering conceals all claims.
2. A lid of solid gold is made, because mercy has no birthplace but in heaven. And what is mercy but Christ in His finished work? He is, says Law, the mirror of Gods loving heartthe pinnacle of tender grace. He is the mountain towering above mountains, in which every grain is Gods goodness.
While reason, like a Levite, waits
Where priest and people meet,
Faith, by a new and living way,
Hath gained the Mercy-Seat.
Mercy-Model! Exo. 25:17. Our Lord said, Be ye merciful, as your Father also in heaven is merciful.
1. Sterne says somewhat strongly that while we may imitate the Deity in all His attributes, mercy is the only one in which we can pretend to equal Him. We cannot, indeed, give like God; but surely we may forgive like Him.
2. Richter says, When thou showest mercy, the man who has pierced thy heart stands to thee in the relation of the sea-worm that perforates the shell of the oyster, which straightway closes the wound with a shining, precious pearl.
The quality of mercy is not strained;
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice blessd;
It blesseth him that gives, and him that takes.
Shakespeare.
Cherubims! Exo. 25:18. The form of the cherubim used in the tabernacle is uncertain. From the other descriptions of these symbolic figures in Scripture, we perceive that while the same type was adhered to, the details of the form varied.
1. Fairbairn considers them to have symbolised the fulness of life, i.e., life most nearly and essentially connected with God-life, as it is or shall be held by those who dwell in His immediate presencepreeminently, therefore, spiritual and holy life.
2. Brown is of opinion that these cherubim represent the redeemed themselves, preoccupied in the holy and delightful exercise of meditation upon the mysteries of gracethe same beings as were inwrought upon the Cherubic Veil.
3. Law says that, being of the same material as the Mercy-Seat, and indeed of one piece, they teach that the heirs of life have no dependence but on Christ; that they are one with Him, partakers of the Divine nature; and that their expanded wings indicate the devoted and ever-ready zeal of believers to serve God.
4. A reference to these has been found in Son. 6:12 : The chariots of My willing people. During the Gospel and Millennial, and even in the Eternal, ages, Christ will be borne abroad
Himself the Bridegroom on the right of power,
Where in the heaven of heavens He sate embosomd,
All in His Glorious Majesty, and deignd
Ascend the chariot of Omnipotence,
Borne onward by cherubic shapes.
Mercy-Mirror! Exo. 25:21. Trapp quaintly says that in the heaven-bow there are many wonders. Amongst these are its beautiful shape and various colours. It also has two contrary significations; fair weather and foul. It is a monument of Gods justice in drowning, and of Gods mercy in delivering the world. The Jews have an odd conceit, that the name JEHOVAH is written on it. Whenever, therefore, they behold its lovely arch they hide their eyes, confess their sins, and adore the Divine Mercy. But the rainbow is not visible after nightfall. Mercy is like it; we must never look for it when night has gathered. It shines not in the other world. If we refuse mercy here, says Le Bas, we shall not find it spanning the dark vault of death and hell. Mercys bow is only visible NOW, Justice
Doth bend itself into a hollow shroud,
On which, when MERCY doth but cast her face,
A thousand colours do the Bow enchase.
Fletcher.
Throne of Grace! Exo. 25:22. Ballow says that between the humble and contrite heart and the Majesty of heaven there are no barriers. The only password is Prayer.
1. It is, however, a blood-besprinkled mercy-seat before which the soul prostrates itself in supplication. There God is present to hear, answer, and bless. There He will open all His heart, and deal, as friend with friend, in all the freeness of familiar love.
2. The Mosaic throne of grace has disappeared. But Christ ever lives. In Him the Throne of Grace cannot be moved. Essential blessings have eternal life; and he who passes often to it through the parted veil, will return laden with blessingsrich in gracerefreshed with heavenly converse and meet for a heavenly home.
How dreary and how lonely
This changeful life would be,
Without the sweet communion,
The secret rest with Thee!
Table of Shewbread! Exo. 25:23.
1. A carved representation of this is visible on the famous Arch of Titus. In height it was to be coequal with the ark, whilst the measure of its length and breadth were to be less. The substance also was identical; the inner frame being incorruptible acacia wood, the outer case shining in the chaste splendour of pure gold.
2. The rings mentioned in Exo. 25:22 were not found in the table which was afterwards made for the Temple, nor indeed in any of the sacred furniture where they had previously been, except in the Ark of the Covenant. These rings were for the insertion of the staves to carry it from place to place during the wilderness wanderings.
3. Many see in this table a type of the Divine-human nature of Christ. He is the one full table which is ever full. And as the thought and plan of the shewbread table were wholly from above, and of no human pattern or design, so Christ is the offspring of full grace, and comes forth from God.
I would rejoice for all that Thou hast given in Christ to Me,
For grace, and peace, and gladdening hope of heaven,
Not bought, but FREE.
Fuente: The Preacher’s Complete Homiletical Commentary Edited by Joseph S. Exell
THE ARK.
(10) They shall make an ark.Arn, the word here rendered ark, is an entirely different word from that previously so translated in Gen. 6:14; Exo. 2:3, which is tebah. Arn is properly a chest or coffer of small dimensions, used to contain money or other valuables (2Ki. 12:9-10; 2Ch. 25:8-11, &c.). In one place it is applied to a mummy-case (Gen. 1:26). Here it designates a wooden chest three feet nine inches long, two feet three inches broad, and two feet three inches deep. The primary object of the ark was to contain the two tables of stone, written with the finger of God, which Moses was to receive before he came down from the mount. (See Exo. 24:12, and comp. Exo. 20:16.) Sacred coffers were important parts of the furniture of temples in Egypt. They usually contained the image or emblem of some deity, and were constructed so as to be readily carried in processions.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
THE ARK OF THE COVENANT, Exo 25:10-22.
he description of the tabernacle begins with the most sacred object, which, in addition to the above title, bore the several names of the Ark of the Testimony, (Exo 25:22,) or simply the Testimony, (Exo 27:21,) the Ark of Jehovah, (Jos 3:13,) the Ark of God, (1Sa 3:3,) the Ark of the strength of Jehovah, (Psa 132:8,) and the Holy Ark . 2Ch 35:3. This occupied the most holy place in the sanctuary, and symbolized the deepest mysteries of redemption . The monuments of Egypt have been found to bear images which strikingly resemble the ark here described . This no more conflicts with the statement that the tabernacle of the Hebrews was modelled after a heavenly pattern than does the fact that numerous other revelations embodied in well known forms of human thought conflict with their heavenly origin. Other nations and other religions have their altars, and sanctuaries, and ceremonials; but this does not hinder Israel from appropriating like objects to symbolize their holiest mysteries. In like manner, the new revelations both of Mosaism and of Christianity did not invent a new language for their use, but appropriated and adapted old ones. Moses’s acquaintance with the learning and wisdom of the Egyptians made him the more competent, under God, to fashion such objects as served the purpose he had in hand. Not so much the mere outward form as their arrangement and religious lessons give evidence of a heavenly origin.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
10. Shittim wood Its material, observes Stanley, “was not of oak, the usual wood of Palestine, nor of cedar, the usual wood employed in Palestine for sacred purposes, but of shittim, or acacia, a tree of rare growth in Syria, but the most frequent, not even excepting the palm, in the peninsula of Sinai . ” The size of the ark was about three feet nine inches long, and a little over two feet in breadth and height. Its probable form is best illustrated by the adjoining cut .
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
The Throne and Covenant Chest of Yahweh ( Exo 25:10-22 ).
The Making of the Ark ( Exo 25:10-14
The analysis of this section stresses the make up of the Ark (Exo 25:10-14).
a They were to make an Ark (chest) of acacia wood covered with gold and a moulding of gold round about (Exo 25:10-11).
b Four rings of gold were to be set at the bottom part of the sides of the chest, two on one side and two on the other (Exo 25:12).
b Staves were to be made of acacia wood covered with gold, and these were to be but into the rings in the side of the ark.
a This was for the purpose of carrying the Ark and all that pertained to it (Exo 25:13-14).
Note how in ‘a’ we have the making of the Ark and in the parallel the bearing of the Ark. And in ‘b’ we have the provision of the rings for carrying it, and of the staves which would fit into the rings.
The Purpose of the Ark ( Exo 25:15-22 ).
a
b A mercy-seat or place of propitiation was to be made to cover the Ark as a kind of lid, and on it, made as one piece with the lid, were to be two cherubim of gold at each end of the mercy-seat (Exo 25:17-19).
c And the cherubim were to spread their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat, with their faces facing each other and facing the centre of the mercy-seat (Exo 25:20).
c And the mercy-seat was to be put over the Ark and in the Ark was to be the Testimony that Yahweh had given them (Exo 25:21).
b And there Yahweh will meet with Moses, and commune with him from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim (Exo 25:22 a).
a Which are on the Ark of the Testimony, concerning all the commandments which He will give him for the children of Israel – compare Num 7:89 (Exo 25:22).
Note how in ‘a’ the Testimony (the covenant) was to be put into the Ark and in the parallel it is called the Ark of the Testimony, containing all the commandments given through Moss to the children of Israel. In ‘b’ the mercy-seat or place of propitiation is to be made, on which are set, at each end, the two cherubim looking inward, while in the parallel Yahweh will meet with Moses and commune with him from the mercy-seat or place of propitiation, from between the two cherubim. And in ‘c’ the cherubim were to ‘cover’ the mercy-seat, and in the parallel the mercy-seat was to cover the Ark.
The first and central object in the Tabernacle, although only known to the people by description, was the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh with its covering mercy seat. It represented the throne of Yahweh both for mercy and judgment, and confirmed the covenant that as their Overlord He had made with His people. It was the outward evidence of their unique position as His ‘holy people’, which they were required to live up to (when they finally failed to do so the Ark was finally destroyed).
It is to us a reminder that our God is enthroned in Heaven, the High and Lofty One, enshrouded in splendour, Who inhabits eternity Whose name is Holy, surrounded by a multitude of heavenly beings, and yet is One Who dwells among the humble and contrite (Isa 6:1-4; Isa 57:15). And it is a reminder that to those who trust in Him He offers mercy and forgiveness, and to be their God, to watch over them and keep them, and be perpetually among them.
That the Ark should be mentioned first emphasises its supreme importance. It represented the essential realities between Yahweh and His people. As His throne it declared Him to be their king, as His Mercy-seat (place of covering of sin) it declared His offer of continual mercy and propitiation (making satisfaction for sin), as containing the covenant tablets it declared that His people’s portion in Him lay though the covenant. Only by receiving and being bound by His covenant could they approach Him as their sovereign and merciful Lord.
Exo 25:10-11
“And you shall make a chest of acacia wood. Its length will be two and a half cubits and its breadth one and a half cubits and its height one and a half cubits. And you will overlay it with pure gold, you will overlay it both inside and outside, and you will make on it a moulding of gold round about.”
The chest or ark would contain the Testimony, the ten words (Exo 25:21). It was to be made of acacia wood and totally covered in gold. Thus it depicted His strength and His glory. Only gold was worthy of the throne of Yahweh. In the Tabernacle that which is gold must not come in contact with the more mundane. Thus it stresses the holiness of all that is in the Tabernacle which is made of gold. The word for ‘chest’ was used for Joseph’s coffin in Egypt (Gen 50:26) and a money chest for collecting the ‘ransom’ (Exo 30:12), as well as freewill gifts, when the people were numbered (2Ch 24:8-11; 2Ki 12:9). Otherwise it is exclusive to the Ark of the Covenant of Yahweh.
“Acacia wood.” This was obtainable in the Sinai region and came from a spreading, thorny tree which would produce hard wood of sufficient size. Some of the people already had some in stock (35:24).
“Totally covered in gold”, both inside and out. Gold represented all that was most splendid. In the Tabernacle it represented all that was most holy. The Semites were recognised as highly skilled craftsmen in precious metals, as various Egyptian tomb scenes, depicting the giving of tribute, demonstrate. The moulding was probably shaped to receive the covering, the throne seat (25:17). We must not just look on Israel as merely a desert people. They would have had ample opportunity to expand skills that were already among them while Joseph was vizier and these would have continued in use even when they were enslaved. Skilful slaves were always treasured.
“Cubits.” The cubit was the length from elbow to finger tip. This was the natural or common cubit. It was about 44:45 centimetres or 17:5 inches. The chest was thus about 111 centimetres or three foot eight inches long, and about 66:68 centimetres or two foot six inches wide.
Exo 25:12
“And you will cast four rings of gold for it, and put them on its four feet, and two rings shall be on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it.”
These rings were to receive the staves by which the Ark would be carried. They were probably at the bottom (its four feet), possibly at the corners. But we must recognise that in all the descriptions there may be technical terms which were far better understood then than they are now.
Exo 25:13-15
“And you shall make staves of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. And you will put the staves into the rings on the sides of the chest, to carry the chest by them. The staves shall be in the rings of the chest. They shall not be taken from it.”
The staves for carrying the chest were made of the same wood as the chest, providing strength, and overlaid with gold, demonstrating overlordship and holiness. For Yahweh all was to be the very best. The staves ensured that the Ark never needed to be touched and were to be kept in the rings permanently although it would appear that when the Ark was being elaborately prepared for travelling they would be temporarily removed and then immediately replaced (Num 4:5-6) by the priests. It was holy to Yahweh, as Mount Sinai had been (19:12-13). The staves were long enough to protrude into the Holy Place from the Most Holy Place (the Holy of Holies) (1Ki 8:8). One purpose therefore of keeping them permanently in the rings was so that they would be seen through the veil as a permanent reminder of the presence of the unseen Ark. Another was that having touched the Ark they were not to be treated casually by being stored away.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
The Furniture of the Tabernacle – The specifications for the building of the Tabernacle begin with its most important articles, which are those contained within the inner sanctuary: the Ark of the Covenant, the mercy seat and the Cherubim, the table of shewbread and the candlestick.
The Ark of the Covenant, Mercy Seat & Cherubim Exo 25:10-22
The Table of Shewbread and its Accessories Exo 25:23-30
The Candlestick Exo 25:31-39
Concluding Statement Exo 25:40
Exo 25:10-22 The Ark of the Covenant, Mercy Seat and the Cherubim Exo 25:10-22 gives a description of the building of the ark of the covenant with the mercy seat and the cherubim that are to be placed on top. While the Holy Place was lit by the candlestick, the Holy of Holies had no source of light but the glory of God above the mercy seat.
Exo 25:10 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.
Exo 25:10
Exo 25:11 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.
Exo 25:11
Exo 25:14 Word Study on “staves” Strong says the Hebrew word “staves” ( ) (H905) is a “bar for carrying.”
Exo 25:17 Word Study on “mercy seat” – Strong says the Hebrew word “mercy seat” ( ) (H3727) is a lid (used only for the covering of the sacred Ark). Holladay says it is “the gold covering slab of the ark used as a base for the two cherubim.”
Exo 25:18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
Exo 25:18
Exo 25:9, “According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.”
Exo 25:40, “And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.”
Act 7:44, “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen.”
Heb 8:5, “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the mount.”
The Hebrew word is first used in the Old Testament in Gen 3:24. Its second use is found in Exo 25:18.
Gen 3:24, “So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.”
Exo 25:19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
Exo 25:19
Joh 20:12, “And seeth two angels in white sitting, the one at the head, and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had lain.”
Exo 25:20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
Exo 25:21 Exo 25:22 Exo 25:23-30
Exo 25:25 Word Study on “border” – Strong says the Hebrew word “border” ( ) (H4526) means, “a margin.” Holladay says it means, “a rim (of a table or base).”
Exo 25:26 And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof.
Exo 25:29
Exo 25:29 Word Study on “covers” – Holladay says the Hebrew word “covers” ( ) or ( ) (H7184) means, “jars.” Note:
Num 4:7, “And upon the table of shewbread they shall spread a cloth of blue, and put thereon the dishes, and the spoons, and the bowls, and covers to cover withal: and the continual bread shall be thereon.”
Exo 25:30 And thou shalt set upon the table shewbread before me alway.
Exo 25:31-39
Exo 25:31 And thou shalt make a candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work shall the candlestick be made: his shaft, and his branches, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, shall be of the same.
Exo 25:31
Exo 25:31 Word Study on “knop” Strong says the Hebrew word “knop” ( ) (H3730) means, “a wreath-like button or disk on the candelabrum (a large, branched candlestick).” Holladay says it means, “a knob of a lampstand (shaped like the knobby fruit of a tree). Webster says a knob is “ A knoblike ornament or handle .” The NIV reads, “buds.” The RSV reads, “capital,” which is the top part of a column.
Exo 25:32 And six branches shall come out of the sides of it; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side:
Exo 25:33 Exo 25:33
Exo 25:33 Scripture References – Note:
Num 17:9, “And Moses brought out all the rods from before the LORD unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod.”
Exo 25:34 And in the candlestick shall be four bowls made like unto almonds, with their knops and their flowers.
Exo 25:35 Exo 25:36 Exo 25:37 Exo 25:37
Exo 25:37 “over against it” The NIV, and RSV read, “in front of it.”
Exo 25:38 And the tongs thereof, and the snuffdishes thereof, shall be of pure gold.
Exo 25:38
Num 4:9, “And they shall take a cloth of blue, and cover the candlestick of the light, and his lamps, and his tongs , and his snuffdishes , and all the oil vessels thereof, wherewith they minister unto it.”
Exo 25:38 Word Study on “snuff dishes” – Strong says the Hebrew word “snuff dishes” ( ) (H4289) means, “a pan for live coals, container with incense burnt, censer, fire pan, snuff dish.” Holladay says it means, “a small pan as an accessory of lamp stand.” The NIV, and RSV read, “trays.”
Exo 25:39 Of a talent of pure gold shall he make it, with all these vessels.
Exo 25:40
Exo 25:40 And look that thou make them after their pattern, which was shewed thee in the mount.
Exo 25:40
1Ch 28:11-13, “Then David gave to Solomon his son the pattern of the porch, and of the houses thereof, and of the treasuries thereof, and of the upper chambers thereof, and of the inner parlours thereof, and of the place of the mercy seat, And the pattern of all that he had by the spirit, of the courts of the house of the LORD, and of all the chambers round about, of the treasuries of the house of God, and of the treasuries of the dedicated things: Also for the courses of the priests and the Levites, and for all the work of the service of the house of the LORD, and for all the vessels of service in the house of the LORD.”
1Ch 28:19, “All this, said David, the LORD made me understand in writing by his hand upon me, even all the works of this pattern.”
2Ch 3:1, “Then Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem in mount Moriah, where the LORD appeared unto David his father, in the place that David had prepared in the threshingfloor of Ornan the Jebusite.”
Scripture References – Note:
Act 7:44, “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness in the wilderness, as he had appointed, speaking unto Moses, that he should make it according to the fashion that he had seen .”
Heb 8:5, “Who serve unto the example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was admonished of God when he was about to make the tabernacle: for, See, saith he, that thou make all things according to the pattern shewed to thee in the moun t.”
Fuente: Everett’s Study Notes on the Holy Scriptures
The Ark of the Tabernacle
v. 10. And they shall make an ark of shittim wood, a chest made of acacia wood; two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof v. 11. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about, v. 12. And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof, v. 13. And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, v. 14. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them, v. 15. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it, v. 16. And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee, v. 17. And thou shalt make a mercy-seat, v. 18. And thou shalt make two cherubim of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, v. 19. And make one cherub on the one end and the other cherub on the other end; even of the mercy-seat shall ye make the cherubim on the two ends thereof, v. 20. And the cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat with their wings, v. 21. And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony, v. 22. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the Ark of the Testimony, of all things which I give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
Fuente: The Popular Commentary on the Bible by Kretzmann
EXPOSITION
THE PATTERN OF THE ARK.Moses is first shown, not the pattern of the tabernacle, but the patterns of those things which it was to containthe ark, the table of shew-bread, and the seven-branched candlestick, or lamp-stand, with its appurtenances. The ark, as the very most essential part of the entire construction, is described first.
Exo 25:10
Thou shalt make an ark of shittim wood. Arks were an ordinary part of the religious furniture of temples in Egypt, and were greatly venerated. They usually contained a figure or emblem, of some deity. Occasionally they were in the shape of boats; but the most ordinary form was that of a cupboard or chest. They were especially constructed for the purpose of being carried about in a procession, and had commonly rings at the side, through which poles were passed on such occasions. It must be freely admitted, that the general idea of the “Ark,” as well as certain points in its ornamentation, was adopted from the Egyptian religion. Egyptian arks were commonly of sycamore wood. Two cubits and a half, etc. As there is no reason to believe that the Hebrew cubit differed seriously from the cubits of Greece and Rome, we may safely regard the Ark of the Covenant as a chest or box, three feet nine inches long, two feet three inches wide, and two feet three inches deep.
Exo 25:11
Thou shalt overlay it with pure gold. Or, “cover it with pure gold.” As gilding was well known in Egypt long before the time of the exodus, it is quite possible that the chest was simply gilt without and within. It may, however, have been overlaid with thin plates of gold (a practice also known in Egypt, and common elsewhere)which is the view taken by the Jewish commentators. The crown of gold was probably an ornamental moulding or edging round the top of the chest.
Exo 25:12
Four rings of gold. These rings were to be fixed, not at the upper, but at the lower corners of the chest, which are called pa’amoth, literally “feet” or “bases.” The object was, no doubt, that no part of the chest should come in contact with the persons of the priests when carrying it (see Exo 25:14). As Kalisch notes, “the smallness of the dimensions of the ark rendered its safe transportation, even with the rings at its feet, not impossible.”
Exo 25:13
Staves of shittim wood. Similar staves, or poles, are to be seen in the Egyptian sculptures, attached to arks, thrones, and litters, and resting on the shoulders of the men who carry such objects.
Exo 25:14
That the ark may be borne with them. The Hebrew ark was not made, like the Egyptian arks, for processions, and was never exhibited in the way of display, as they were. The need of carrying it arose from the fact, that the Israelites had not yet obtained a permanent abode. As soon as Canaan was reached, the ark had a fixed locality assigned to it, though the locality was changed from time to time (Jos 18:1; 1Sa 4:3; 1Sa 7:1; 2Sa 6:10, etc.); but in the desert it required to be moved each time that the congregation changed its camping-ground.
Exo 25:15
The staves, when once inserted into the rings of the ark, were never to be taken from them. The object probably was that there might be no need of touching even the rings, when the ark was set down or taken up. The bearers took hold of the staves only, which were no part of the ark. On the danger of touching the ark itself, see 2Sa 6:6, 2Sa 6:7.
Exo 25:16
The testimony which I will give thee, is undoubtedly the Decalogue, or in other words, the two tables of stone, written with the finger of God, and forming his testimony against sin. (Compare Deu 31:26, Deu 31:27.) The main intention of the ark was to be a repository in which the two tables should be laid up.
Exo 25:17
Thou shalt make a mercy seat. Modern exegesis has endeavoured to empty the word kapporeth of its true meaning, witnessed to by the Septuagint, as well as by the Epistle to the Hebrews (Heb 9:5). It tells us that a kapporeth is simply a cover, “being derived from kaphar, to cover,”used in Gen 5:14, with respect to covering the ark with pitch. But the truth is that kapporeth is not derived from kaphar, but from kipper, the Piel form of the same verb, which has never any other sense than that of covering, or forgiving sins. In this sense it is used in the Old Testament some seventy times. Whether the mercy seat was the real cover of the ark of the covenant, or whether that had its own lid of acacia wood, as Kalisch supposes, is uncertain. At any rate, it was not called kipporeth because it was a cover, but because it was a seat of propitiation. On the importance of the mercy seat, as in some sort transcending the ark itself, see Le Gen 16:2, and 1Ch 28:11. Atonement was made by sprinkling the blood of expiation upon it (Le 1Ch 16:14, 1Ch 16:15). Of pure gold, Not of wood, plated with metal, or richly gilt, but of solid goldan oblong slab, three feet nine inches long, two feet three inches wide, and probably not less than an inch thick. The weight of such a slab would be above 750 lbs. troy, and its value above 25,000l. of our money. The length and breadth were exactly those of the ark itself, which the mercy seat thus exactly covered (1Ch 28:10).
Exo 25:18
Two cherubims. The form “cherubims,” which our translators affect, is abnormal and indefensible. They should have said either “cherubim,” or “cherubs.” The exact shape of the Temple cherubim was kept a profound secret among the Jews, so that Josephus declares”No one is able to state, or conjecture of what form the cherubim were” (Ant. Jud. 8.3, 3). That they were winged figures appears from Exo 25:28 of this chapter, while from other parts of Scripture we learn that cherubim might be of either human or animal forms, or of the two combined (Eze 1:5-14; Eze 10:1-22). These last have been with some reason compared to the symbolical composite figures of other nations, the andro-sphinxes and crio-sphinxes of the Egyptians, the Assyrian winged bulls and lions, the Greek chimaerae, and the griffins of the northern nations. But it is doubtful whether the cherubim of Moses were of this character. The most sober of recent inquirers (Bp. Harold Browne, Canon Cook, Kalisch, Keil),while admitting the point to be doubtful, come to the conclusion that they were in all probability, “winged human figures, with human face too.” In this case their prototype would seem to have been the winged figures of Ma, the Goddess of Truth, frequently seen inside Egyptian arks, sheltering with their wings the scarabaeus or other emblem of the deity.. In the two ends. Rather, “From the two ends”i.e; “rising,” or, “standing up from the two ends.”
Exo 25:19
On the one end on the other end on the two ends. The preposition used is in every case the same as ,that of the last clause of Exo 25:18viz; min, “from.” The idea is that the figures rose from the two ends.
Exo 25:20
The cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high. Compare Exo 37:9. It would seem that the two wings of both cherubs were advanced in front of them, and elevated, so as to overshadow the mercy seat. This was a departure from the patterns furnished by the figures of Ma (see the comment on Exo 37:18), since in them one wing only was elevated, and the other depressed. It is clear that in no case was any part of the Hebrew sacred furniture a mere reproduction of Egyptian models. Whatever was made use of was so transformed or modified as to acquire a new and independent character. Their faces, etc. The words are not without difficulty; but the generally received meaning appears to be correct that the faces were bent one towards the other, but that both looked downwards, towards the mercy seat. Thus the figures, whether they were standing or kneeling, which is uncertain, presented the appearance of guardian angels, who watched over the precious deposit belowto wit, the two tables.
Exo 25:21
Thou shalt put the mercy seat above the ark. Rather, “upon the ark””thou shalt cover the ark with it.” This had not been expressed previously, though the dimensions (Exo 25:17), compared with those of the ark (Exo 25:10), would naturally have suggested the idea. In the ark thou shalt put the testimony. This is a mere repetition of Exo 25:16, marking the special importance which attached to the provision.
Exo 25:22
And there I will meet with thee. The whole of the foregoing description has been subordinate to this. In all the arrange-meats for the tabernacle God was, primarily and mainly, providing a fit place where he might manifest himself to Moses and his successors. The theocracy was to be a government by God in reality, and not in name only. There was to be constant “communing” between God and the earthly ruler of the nation, and therefore a place of communing. Compare Exo 29:42-45. The special seat of the Divine presence was to be the empty space above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim, and above the ark of the covenant.
HOMILETICS
Exo 25:10-22
The symbolism of the ark of the covenant.
The symbolical meaning of the ark of the covenant may be considered, either
(1) separately, as to its parts; or
(2) collectively, as to the bearing of its several parts one upon the other.
I. SEPARATELY, AS TO ITS PARTS. These were
(1) The ark itself, or chest;
(2) The mercy seat; and
(3) The cherubim.
(1) The ark, or coffer of acacia wood, coated within and without with pure gold, and intended as a receptacle for the law written by the finger of God, would seem to have represented Divine law as enshrined in the pure nature of God. Acacia is said to be one of the most incorruptible of woods, and gold is undoubtedly the most incorruptible, as well as the most precious, of metals. The law of God”holy, just, and good” (Rom 7:12)needs such a receptacle. It dwells fitly in God himselfin the incorruptible hearts of the sinless angelsand in the undefiled hearts of godly men. It is in itself pure and incorrupt, an emanation from him who is essential purity. It is a “golden” rule, perfect, lovely, beautiful. It is no cruel code of a tyrant, but the only rule of action by which the well-being of man can be secured. At the same time there is severity and sternness in it. It was written oft stone, and shrined in gold. It was fixed, unbending, unchangeable.
(2) The mercy seat represented God’s attribute of mercy. It covered up the law, as he “covers up” the sins and offences of his people (Psa 32:1; Psa 85:2; Rom 4:7). It was prepared to receive the expiatory blood wherewith the high-priest was to sprinkle it, the blood that typified the propitiatory sacrifice of Christ (Le Exo 16:14). It was of gold because mercy is the most precious of God’s attributes. It was placed over the law, because mercy transcends justice.
(3) The cherubim represented at once guardianship and worship. Doubtless holy angels at all times guarded invisibly the ark, and especially the “testimony” which it contained. The presence of the two golden figures signified this holy watchfulness to the Israelites, and spoke to them of the intense holiness of the place. The shadowing wings represented protecting care; and the cherubic form showed that the most exalted of creatures were fitly employed in watching and guarding the revelation of the will of the Almighty. By their attitude, standing or kneeling with bent heads end faces turned down toward the mercy seat, they further spoke of worship. On the Divine presence, which was manifested “from between them,” they dared not gazetheir eyes were lowered, and fixed for ever on the mercy seatthe embodiment of the Divine attribute of mercy. As under the new covenant angels desired to look into the mystery of redemption (1Pe 1:12), so, under the old, angels doubtless saw with admiring wonder God commencing the recovery of a lost world; they looked on his attribute of mercy with rapture but with amaze; it was a new thing to them; the angels who lost their first estate had not elicited it; man alone had been thought worthy of the “afterthought,” whereby sin was condoned, and the salvation of sinners made possible.
II. COLLECTIVELY, AS TO THE BEARING OF THE SEVERAL PARTS ONE UPON ANOTHER. The teaching of the ark in this respect was, primarily, that of David in the eighty-fifth psalm: “Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” Mercy without justice is a weak sentimentality, subversive of moral order. Justice without mercy is a moral severitytheoretically without a flaw, but revolting to man’s instinctive feelings. The synthesis of the two is required. The law, enshrined in the holiest place of the sanctuary, vindicated the awful purity and perfection of God. The mercy seat, extended above the law, assigned to mercy its superior directive position. The cherubic figures showed the gaze of angels riveted in astonishment and admiration on God’s mode of uniting mercy with justice, by means of vicarious suffering, which he can accept as atonement. Finally, the Divine presence, promised as a permanent thing, gave God’s sanction to the expiatory scheme, whereby alone man can be reconciled to him, and the claims both of justice and of mercy satisfied.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG
Exo 25:10-16; Exo 37:1-5
The ark of the testimony.
When Jehovah provided for Israel an abiding record of his holy will, it was needful that Israel should also provide an appropriate receptacle. Nor was it left to Moses and the people to determine what might be most appropriate. Jehovah arranged things so that all the religious service of the people gathered around the two tables of stone. An Israelite gazing upon the great holy place of another nation and inquiring what might be its innermost treasure hidden and guarded from all presumptuous approach, would get for answer that it was some image graven by art and man’s device; and he would further learn that the supposed will of this deity found its expression in all licentious and abominable rites. But, on the other hand, a gentile, looking towards Israel’s holy place and inquiring what might be behind the curtains of the tabernacle, and expecting perhaps to hear of some magnificent image, would be astounded with a very different reply. No image there! and not only no image, but words graven by God’s desire which forbade fabrication of everything in the shape of an image. Within that gilded box of shittim wood there lie written the leading requirements for those who would obey the will of Jehovah. Litera scripta manet. The spot where that ark had a resting-place was a sacred spot, not approachable by the common multitude: but this was not because there was anything to conceal. The recesses of heathenism will not bear inspection. The character of the deity worshipped corresponds with the degradation of the worshippers. But here is the great distinction of that Divine service found in Israel, that however vile the people might be, and even the officiating priests, an exposure of the hidden things of their sacred place would have been an exposure of their apostasy. No Israelite needed to be ashamed of what lay within the ark on which he was bound to look with such veneration, which he was bound to guard with such assiduity; and if it be true that every human heart ought to be a sanctuary of God, then the very heart of hearts should be as the ark of the testimony in the sanctuary of old. Our hearts should be better than our outward services. We should have the consciousness that God’s will has a real, an abiding, a cherished, a predominating place in our affections. All the actions of life should flow from the fountain formed by the ever living force of a Divine will within us. Let us ever consider the internal more than the external. If the internal be right, the external will come right in due time. If God’s commandmentsthe full scheme of Christian virtuesare indeed written in our hearts, then all superficial hindrances and roughness can only last for a little time. The Divine life ruling within must subdue all things to itself.Y.
Exo 25:17-22; Exo 37:6-9
The mercy seat and the cherubim.
The ark already indicated as the repository of the two tables, is now further indicated as the resting-place of the mercy seat and the cherubim. Thus there was presented to the thoughts of the people a Divinely constituted whole, a great symbolic unity which set forth the glory and the mystery of God’s presence as no unaided human conception could have done, however sublime, however sincere. The ark, the mercy seat, and the cherubim once made and placed in position, were hidden away from the general gaze. Bezaleel looked no more upon his handiwork. But though the things behind the veil were themselves hidden, yet their general character and relations were known. Hidden in one sense, in another sense they were all the more manifest just because they were hidden. It was perfectly well known that behind the veil God made himself known as the God of the commandments, the God of the mercy seat, the God shining forth between the cherubim. The proximity of the mercy seat to the tables of the law was an excellent way of showing that the requirements inscribed on these tables were to be no dead letter. If they could not be honoured by a heartfelt and properly corresponding obedience, then they must be honoured by a heartfelt repentance for transgression, an adequate propitiation, and an honourable forgiveness. There was a place for profound and permanent repentance, and a place for real and signal mercy to the transgressor: but for a slurring over of disobedience there was no place at all. Very close indeed are the law and the gospel. The law, when its comprehensiveness and severity are considered, magnifies the gospel; and the gospel, when we consider how emphatically it is proclaimed as being a gospel, magnifies the law. Then we have also to consider what may be signified by the presence of the cherubim; and surely we shall not go far wrong in connecting these golden figures here with the presence of those awful guardians who prevented the return of Adam and Eve to the scene of earthly bliss which they had forfeited. The presence of these cherubim suggested a solemn consideration of all that man had actually lost; God looking from between the cherubim, was looking as it were from the scene of the ideal human life on earth; that life which might have been the real, if man had only persisted according to the original injunction of his Maker. Thus the cherubim are associated, first with the barrier against return, and then with the working out of a plan for glorious and complete restoration. There is here no word of the flaming sword. The cherubim seem to be regarded as contemplative rather than active, somewhat as St. Peter phrases it when he speaks of things which the angels desire to look into. Over against the delight of those faithful ones who guarded Eden, we must set the thought of those in whose presence there is such inexpressible joy over the repenting sinner. God looked forth from between these symbols of the unsullied creatures who serve him day and night continually, and towards those people whom, though at present they were disobedient, carnalised, and unsusceptible, he nevertheless called his own. Sinners may be so changed, renewed, and energised as to be joined in the most complete harmony of service even with the cherubim.Y.
HOMILIES BY J. URQUHART
Exo 25:10-40
What must be found with every soul that is God’s dwelling-place
I. THE ARK (Exo 25:10-22). The place where the Lord meets and communes with us.
1. It contained the testimony. The light of the meeting-place with God is the word concerning righteousness and sin. There is no communion with God if that be left out. The law which searches and condemns us must be honoured as God’s testimony.
2. Between God and the law we have broken is the mercy seat, sin’s glorious covering, on which the cherubimemblems of the highest intelligence and purity of creationlook, and before which we also bow, with adoring awe.
3. Over the mercy seat rests the cloud of God’s glory. We shall meet God only as we seek him here. His glory can be fully revealed and the might of his salvation proved here alone.
II. THE TABLE OF SHEW–BREAD, THE SOUL‘S ENTIRE CONSECRATION.
1. The bread was the emblem of God’s people. The twelve cakes represented the twelve tribes. The fruit of the great Husbandman’s toil is to be found in us.
2. God’s joy is to be found in us. The Lord’s portion is his people.
3. We are to be prepared and perfected for his presence, and to be for ever before him (Exo 25:30).
III. THE CANDLESTICK, THE EMBLEM OF THE LORD‘S PEOPLE, AND THEIR WORLD–SERVICE.
1. It is made of pure gold, the only metal that loses nothing, though passed through the fire and whose lustre is never tarnished.
2. It was the only light of the holy place. The true Christian Church the only light which in the world’s darkness reveals the things of God and the pathway to his presence.U.
HOMILIES BY J. ORR
Exo 25:10-40
The ark, the table, and the candlestick.
The instructions for the making of these essential parts of the tabernacle furniture occupy the remainder of the chapter. The directions for making the altar of incense are postponed to Exo 30:1-10. The reason seems to be that the uses of this altar could not be described without reference to commands which were to be given respecting the altar of burnt-offeringto which the altar of incense stood in a certain relation of dependenceand to the ordinance for the institution of the priesthood. The instructions have respect to the internal relation of the parts.
I. THE ARK AND MERCY SEAT (Exo 30:10-23). This was the heart of the sanctuarythe throne of Jehovah. As the nucleus of the whole structure, it is described first.
1. The ark proper (Exo 30:10-17). For details, consult the exposition. A plain wooden box or chest, overlaid within and without with pure gold, and borne upon staves, for the insertion of which rings were provided in its feet or corners, its structure could not well have been simpler. On the resemblances and differences between this ark and the religious arks of the Egyptians, see the interesting article in “Kitto’s Cyclopaedia.” The ark, in the religion of Israel, was simply a depository for the two tables of stonethe tables of the covenant. In its freedom from idolatrous symbols (in this respect a contrast to the Egyptian arks), it was a testimony to monotheism; in the character of its contents, it testified to the ethical foundation of the religionto the severe and stern morality which formed its basis. If ever doubt is cast on the pure moral character of the Hebrew faith, it should suffice to refute it, to point to the ark of the testimony. What a witness to the ruling power of the moral in this religion that, when the sacred chest is opened, the sole contents are found to be the two stone tables of the moral law (Exo 30:16)! The deposition of these tables in the ark, underneath the mercy seat, had three ends.
(1) They testified to the fact that God’s kingdom in Israel was founded on immutable justice and righteousness (Psa 89:15; Psa 97:2). Even grace, in its actings, must respect law. Favour cannot be dispensed on terms which make the law “void” (Rom 3:31). If sin is pardoned, it must be with full recognition of the law’s claims against the sinner. The ultimate end must be to “establish the law” (Rom 3:31). Only in the Gospel have we the clear revelation of how, on these terms, mercy and truth can meet together, and righteousness and peace can kiss each other (Psa 85:10; Rom 3:21-27).
(2) They testified to the covenant obligation. The tables were, as Oehler calls them, “the obligatory document of the covenant.” As such they were laid up in the heart of the sanctuary.
(3) They testified against Israel’s sins and backslidings. They testified against all sin in Israel, but especially against rebellion and deliberate apostasy. This appears to be the special force of the expression”the testimony,” “tables of testimony,” etc.
2. The mercy seat (Exo 30:17). The mercy seat, or propitiatory, made of pure gold, served as a lid or covering to the sacred chest. The name, however, as the Piel form implies, had more especial reference to the covering of sins. Sprinkled with blood of atonement, the mercy seat cancelled, as it were, the condemnatory witness of the underlying tablescovered sin from God’s sight (Exo 30:21). From above this mercy seat, and from between the two cherubim that were upon it, God promised to meet with Moses, and to commune with him (Exo 30:22). The gracious element in the covenant with Israel here reaches its distinct expression. Jehovah could “by no means clear the guilty;” i.e; he could not call sin anything else than what it was, or tamper in the least degree with the condemnatory testimony of the law against it; but he could admit atonements, and on the ground of expiatory rites, could forgive sin, and receive the sinner anew to his favour. The mercy seat thus foreshadowed Christ, as, in his sacred Person, the great Propitiatory for man (Rom 3:25)priest, sacrifice, and mercy seat in one. On the basis of mere law, there can be no communion between God and man. The blood-sprinkled mercy seat must intervene. Only on the ground of Christ’s mediation and intercession, can God transact with sinners.
3. The cherubim (Exo 30:18-23). The cherubic figures were formed from the same piece of gold which constituted the mercy seat, and rose at either end of it, with wings overspreading the place of propitiation, and faces turned inward. On the various interpretations, see the exposition. The view which finds most favour is that which regards the cherubim, not as real and actual, but only as symbolic and imaginary beingshieroglyphs of creation in its highest grade of perfection. Egyptian and Assyrian art abound in similar ideal forms, most of them representative, not of qualities of the creature, as distinct from its Creator, but of attributes of God revealed in creation. This view, also, has been taken of the cherubim of Scripture, but it must be rejected as untenable. We confess that, after all that has been written of the purely ideal significance of these figures”the representative and quintessence of creation, placed in subordination to the great Creator”we do not feel the theory to be satisfactory. We incline very much to agree with Delitzsch: “The Biblical conception considers the cherub as a real heavenly being, but the form which is given to it changes; it is symbolical and visionary.” It seems fair to connect the cherubim with the seraphs of the temple-vision in Isa 6:2; and this, taken with Gen 3:24, points strongly in the direction of an angelic interpretation. The conception, however, unquestionably underwent development, and in the highly complex form in which it appears in Ezekiel may quite possibly take on much more of the ideal character than it had at first; may, in short, closely approximate to what is commonly given as the meaning of the symbol. Confining ourselves to the figures of the tabernacle, we prefer to view them, with the older writers, and with Keil and others among the moderns, as symbolic of the angel hosts which attend and guard the throne of Jehovah, zealous, like himself, for the honour of his law, and deeply interested in the counsels of his love (1Pe 1:12). The angel-idea is so prominent in the theology of Israel that we should expect it to find some embodiment in this symbolism. And what finer picture could be given of angels than in these cherubic figures, who, with wings outspread and faces lowered, represent at once humility, devotion, adoration, intelligence, service, and zeal? On the angels at the giving of the law, see Deu 33:2. On the assembly or council of holy ones, see Psa 89:6-9. The wings of the cherubs constituted, as it were, a protecting shade for those who took refuge under them in the Divine mercy (Psa 91:1). Jehovah’s guards, they appear in the symbol as ready to defend his Majesty against profane invasion; as avengers of disobedience to his will; as sheltering and aiding those who are his friends. They are, when otherwise unemployed, rapt in adoration of his perfections, and deeply attent on the study of his secrets. So interpreted, the cherubs are hieroglyphs of the heavenly spiritual world.
II. THE TABLE OF SHEW–BREAD (Psa 89:23-31). The table was part of the belongings of the holy place. This shows it to have been primarily connected, not with the relation of God to Israel, but conversely, with the works and services of the people, in their relation to Jehovah. Like other articles in the sanctuary, the table was to present a golden exterior, and on it were to be placed twelve cakes of shew-bread (Psa 89:30; Le Psa 24:5-9), with flagons for purposes of libation (Psa 89:29). The shew-bread had thus the significance of a meat-offering. The sense may be thus exhibited. Bread is the means of nourishment of the natural life. The twelve cakes represented the twelve tribes. The presentation of the bread on the table was, accordingly,
1. A recognition of Jehovah’s agency in the bestowal of what is necessary for the support of life. Natural life is supported by his bounty. The cakes on the table were a grateful acknowledgment of this dependence. Spiritually, they pointed to the higher bread with which God nourishes the soul. They remind us of our duty to give thanks for this, not less than for the other. The true bread is Christ (Joh 6:32).
2. A dedication of the life so nourished to him whose goodness constantly sustained it. We take this to be the essential feature in the offering. The life-sustaining food and drink is placed upon the table of Jehovah. In the act of placing it there, the tribes offer, as it were, to God, the life which it sustains, and which is derived from his bounty. The meaning could not be better expressed than in words borrowed from St. Paul”Unto which promise, our twelve tribes, instantly serving God day and night, hope to come” (Act 26:7). Perpetual consecrationa life fruitful in good works, and acts of holy service to God. This is the conception which is embodied in the shew-bread. Here, also, the symbolism points to a life higher than that nourished on material bread, and might almost be said to pledge to Israel the gift of the higher bread needed for it. Fed on this bread from heaveni.e; on Christ, who gave himself for us (Joh 6:51), we are to live, not to ourselves, but to him who died for us, and rose again (2Co 5:15).
III. THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK (Psa 89:31-40). This sacred ornament was, like the mercy seat, to be made of pure gold. Art was to be allowed to do its best to make it massive, shapely, beautiful. Stem and branches were to be wrought with great artistic skill. The lamps, seven in number, fed with beaten olive oil (Exo 27:20, Exo 27:21), were to burn all night in the sanctuary. The immediate design of its introduction was, of course, to illuminate the holy place. Symbolically, the candlestick represented the calling of Israel to be a people of light. Compare, as regards Christians, Mat 5:14, Mat 5:16; Php 2:15. The church is the abode of light. It has no affinity with darkness. The light with which it is lighted is the light of truth and holiness. The lamps are the gifts of wisdom and holiness, which Christ bestows upon his people. Their own souls being filled with light, they become, in turn, the lights of the world. The oil which feeds the light is the oil of God’s Holy Spirit. Notewe cannot make a higher use even of natural girts, say of knowledge or wisdom, than to let their light burn in the sanctuaryin the service of God.J.O.
HOMILIES BY G. A. GOODHART
Exo 25:18-21
He maketh the winds his messengers, and his ministers a flame of fire.
The cherubim were to be of one piece with the mercy seat, the whole a lid, or guard above the lid, to the ark or chest which contained the tables of the law.
I. THE CHERUBIM AND THEIR MEANING.
1. The symbol. They are not described here; but by comparing the various passages in which they are re[erred to we may get a general notion as to their appearance. Ezekiel, who must have been familiar with their appearance, describes them as seen in his vision (Eze 1:1-28.), four wings, four faces, etc. In Revelation
4. the same idea is seen in a developed form, four creatures having each a different face, and each having six wings. This latter feature suggests identity with the seraphim in Isaiah’s vision (Isa 6:1-13.), and the name “seraphim,” which seems connected with fire or burning, reminds us of the “flaming sword” with which the cherubim are associated in Gen 3:24. In any case wings, fire, and a mixture of the human and the animal in their appearance are characteristic features.
2. That which is symbolised. Wings in Scripture almost always represent the wind. The appearance of the cherubim is as fire. Their faces are those of the chief beaststhe lion, the bull-calf, the man, the eagle. Their form tends towards the human. On the whole, we may say they represent nature under her manifold aspects, nature as interpreted chiefly through the natural man in his perfection regarded as a part of nature. The cherubim shadow forth the natural creation according to the Divine ideal. The clause in the Te Deum”To thee, cherubim and seraphim continually do cry,” is the Benedicite condensed into a sentence!
II. POSITION AND OFFICE OF THE CHERUBIM.
1. Position. One piece with the mercy seat. Nature, in spite of appearances, is a manifestation of God’s mercy to man. His voice may not be in the tempest or the fire, yet the tempest and the fire form a canopy to that throne whence issues the “still, small voice.” If we regard the mercy seat as typical of Christ (cf. Rom 3:25), then we are reminded of the mysterious relation which exists between Christ and nature (Col 1:17; Joh 1:1, etc.).
2. Office. Here they protect the ark and its contents, as in Gen 3:24, they “keep the way of the tree of life.” The way of the tree of life is the way of righteousness, the way of the law of God. Thus the cherubim above the ark declare that nature, a manifestation of God’s mercy, is also the guardian of God’s law.
III. PRACTICAL CONCLUSIONS.
1. Nature does guard the way of the tree of life, the law of God. There is a tendency implanted in the very constitution of nature which “makes for righteousness.” Break a law, and, by God’s merciful ordinance, you are compelled to reap the penalty. Sin in secret, yet you cannot escape the cognisance of this vigilant, sleepless, unconscious sentinel [cf. Eugene Aram’s dream]. It is “full of eyes within and without.”
2. Nature is a manifestation of mercy. Undiscoverable transgression would be irretrievable damnation. Christ, too, is one with the mercy seat; nature is rooted in the Divine Word. If we go to that throne of grace we may still obtain mercy, and win, through Christ, peace with the avengers.G.
Fuente: The Complete Pulpit Commentary
Exo 25:10-17. They shall make an ark of shittim-wood The furniture of the most sacred part of the tabernacle, the Holy of holies, the immediate residence of the Divinity, is first appointed. Of this, the ark or chest was the principal; which, made of shittim-wood, Exo 25:5 was about four feet five inches in length, and two feet six inches in height and breadth, overlaid with pure gold within and without; with a crown or circular rim of gold round about it, Exo 25:11 and was to have two golden rings on each end, [see 1Ki 8:8. 2Ch 5:9.] in which were to be put staves of shittim-wood overlaid with gold, for the convenience of carrying the ark; and which, the Hebrews say, were about ten cubits long. Into the ark, the testimony, i.e. the tables of the covenant, instruments attesting the covenant between God and the people, were to be put, (see ch. Exo 31:18. Deu 10:2.) as well as the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded. Num 17:10. Heb 9:4. A cover was to be made for this ark of pure gold, which is called the mercy-seat, Exo 25:17. caporet, from coper, to cover. The LXX generally render it by , the propitiatory; by which name St. Paul also calls it, Heb 9:5 and applies this name to Christ, Rom 3:25 whom God hath set forth , as a propitiatory or mercy-seat; and thereby he assures us that Christ was the true mercy-seat, the reality of what the caporet represented to the ancient believers. Upon the two ends of the mercy-seat, and of the same matter with it, Exo 25:19 two cherubims were to be placed; between which, from above the mercy-seat, the LORD was pleased to discover himself, and to deliver his sacred commands, Exo 25:22. We meet with imitations of this divinely instituted emblem among several heathen nations.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
The ark was the grand part of all the sacred furniture. If we suppose the Jewish cubit was 21 inches, then it will follow that the ark itself was about 52 inches long, and about 30 in breadth and depth.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Exo 25:10 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.
Ver. 10. An ark. ] Chest, or cabinet, wherein to keep the two tables of the law, signifying thereby that “Christ is the end of the law,” covering the imperfection of our works.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
ark. Note the order in which these things were made, and the lesson arising therefrom. God begins from within; man from without, Mat 15:16-20. Here the work begins with the ark and ends with the gate. Exo 25:10-40; Exo 26:1-37. So with the four great offerings. So with His work in the heart of the saved sinner. We begin from the “gate “and with the “sin-offering”. God begins with the “ark “and the “burnt-offering”.
cubits. See App-51.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Exo 25:10-11. 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. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.
The ark of the covenant was the most sacred object in the tabernacle in the wilderness. It stood at the extreme end of the holy of holies. It was the place over which the bright shining light, called the Shekinah, which was the token of the presence of God, shone forth. The ark was, doubtless, typical of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was a sacred chest made to contain the law. Blessed are they who know the law in Christ. Out of Christ, the law condemns. In Christ, it becomes a blessed guide to us. This ark was made of wood, perhaps to typify the human nature of our blessed Lord; but it was of unrotting wood, acacia, which resists the worm; and, truly, in him there was no corruption in life by way of sin, and no corruption sullied him in death when he slept for a while in the grave. Wood is a thing that grows out of the earth, even as Jesus sprang up like a root out of a dry ground.
But the ark must be made of the best kind of wood, unrotting and untainted. Yet the ark, though made of wood, did not appear to be so, for it was completely overlaid with pure gold, so, everywhere, the Deity, or, if you will, the perfect righteousness of Jesus Christ could be seen. The ark was of shittim wood, yet it was an ark of gold; and he, who was truly man was just as truly God, blessed be his holy name. Round about the top of this ark there was a crown of gold. How glorious is Christ, in his mediation, as covering the law, and preserving it within himself! He is King, glorious in holiness, and honoured in the midst of his people.
Exo 25:12-14. And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it, and thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. And thou shalt put the staves into the ring by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.
The rings were, of course, for the staves to pass through, and the staves were for the priests to carry the ark as it moved from place to place. It went with the children of Israel in all their journeys; and our Lord Jesus is always with us. He goes with us wherever we go, and tarries with us wherever we abide. Though his glorified person is in heaven, yet his presence is not restricted to any one place, as he said to his disciples, Lo, I am with you away, even unto the end of the world.
Exo 25:15. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.
So that it was always ready to be moved.
Exo 25:16. And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.
That is to say, the two tables of stone were to be put into the ark of the covenant.
Exo 25:17. And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
It exactly fitted upon the top of the ark, and so completely covered whatever was put within. It was of pure gold. This, perhaps, was the most important part of this very important article of the tabernacle furniture. It was the mercy-seat, the cover that hid the law, the place where God promised to meet with his people.
Exo 25:18-20. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof, and the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
They were part and parcel of the mercy-seat; they were made of the same precious metal, and all formed one piece. They may represent the angels, who stand desiring to look into the mysteries of God, and they may also represent the Church, which is all of a piece with Christ, for ever one with him.
Exo 25:21-22. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
It was the meeting place of God and men, where the law was covered with a solid plate of gold, so is Jesus the meeting place between God and sinners, where the law is covered with his perfect righteousness.
This exposition consisted of readings from Exo 25:10-22; and Psalms 32.
Fuente: Spurgeon’s Verse Expositions of the Bible
the Ark and the Mercy-Seat
Exo 25:10-22
The Tabernacle was full of symbolical teaching of which the full meaning is unfolded in the Epistle to the Hebrews, where we are distinctly told that the Holy Spirit inspired the plan of the various parts. See Heb 9:8. Well would it be for us, if we built our lives as Moses the Tabernacle, only on the divine plan. Note Exo 25:9; Exo 25:40; Exo 26:30; Exo 27:8; Heb 8:5. The Ark was the symbol of the Covenant between Jehovah and His people.
The golden slab, known as the mercy-seat, supplied the meeting-place between God and man. It was there that the high priest sprinkled the blood of atonement once a year. It is alluded to by the apostles, Paul and John, as the propitiation. We might insert Mercy-Seat in each passage. See Rom 3:25; 1Jn 2:2. Angel forms bent on either side, with their faces downward. See 1Pe 1:12. The tables of the Law lay written beneath, because the divine righteousness underlies all Gods dealings with men.
Fuente: F.B. Meyer’s Through the Bible Commentary
make an ark
All begins with the ark, which, in the completed tabernacle, was placed in the holy of holies, because, in revelation, God begins from Himself, working outward toward man; as, in approach, the worshipper begins from himself, moving toward God in the holy of holies. The same order is followed in the Levitical offerings (Leviticus 1-5.). In approach man begins at the brazen altar, type of the Cross, where, in the fire of judgment, atonement is made.
make an ark The most inclusive type of Christ, Gold = Deity; wood = humanity. History:
Num 3:31; Num 10:33; Jos 3:3-15; Jos 6:11; Jdg 20:27; 1Sa 3:3; 1Sa 4:1-11; 1Sa 5:1-10; 1Sa 6:1-21; 1Sa 7:1; 1Sa 7:2; 2Sa 6:2-17; 2Sa 7:2; 2Sa 15:24-29; 1Ki 8:1-21 not carried to Babylon,; 2Ki 24:13; 2Ch 35:3, not mentioned in Ezra or Neh. Where is it? Rev 11:19
shittim wood i.e. acacia.
Fuente: Scofield Reference Bible Notes
an ark: Aron denotes a chest, or coffer, in general; but is applied particularly to the chest or ark in which the testimony or two tables of the covenant were laid up; on the top of which was the propitiatory or mercy seat; and at the end of which were the cherubim of gold; between whom the visible sign of the presence of God appeared as seated upon his throne. Exo 37:1-3, Deu 10:1-3, 2Ch 8:11, Heb 9:4, Rev 11:19
Reciprocal: Exo 31:7 – ark Exo 35:12 – ark Exo 36:20 – shittim wood Exo 40:3 – General Num 3:31 – the ark Num 4:5 – and cover Num 33:49 – Abelshittim Deu 10:3 – I made
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
The details as to the ark are given to us in verses Exo 25:10-16. It was the very centre of the whole typical system and yet in itself nothing could have been simpler. It was a rectangular wooden box, but made of the very durable “shittim,” or “acacia” wood, and then overlaid both without and within with pure gold. It is clear then that the wood gave to the ark its form, and the gold imparted to it its character.
At once we can see how aptly this typifies the incarnate Saviour, in whom both Humanity and Deity were perfectly found. The very durable shittim wood, which gave form to the ark, indicated His humanity, for He was in “the form of a Servant, and was made in the likeness of men” (Php 2:7). But when the ark was completed only gold was visible, though it was supported by the wood. His Deity gave character to all He said and did.
In Paul’s address to the Athenians he said that, “We ought not to think that the Godhead is like unto gold, or silver, or stone, graven by art and man’s device” (Act 17:29). In keeping with this, art and man’s device were wholly excluded from the ark. It was just pure gold without ornamentation, but with a “crown,” or “border” round its top, and the gold was as much within it as without. What our Lord was externally, where He could be observed, He was internally, where no one could see. There was no discrepancy.
Further it was so constructed as to be adapted for journeying on their way to the land. It had rings of gold into which were inserted staves of wood overlaid with gold. Thus it was until a permanent resting place was found for it in the temple which Solomon built, when the staves were drawn out, as we learn in 1Ki 8:8. Lastly, Moses was instructed to put in the ark the testimony that he was to receive from God, engraved on the tables of stone. This too turns our thoughts to Christ, for He alone could say “I delight to do Thy will, O My God: yea, Thy law is within My heart ” (Psa 40:8).
Verses Exo 25:17-22, give us details of the mercy seat and the cherubims. The mercy seat formed the lid of the ark, and it was of pure gold without wood. When we reach Lev 16:1-34, we learn that once a year the blood of atonement was sprinkled on the mercy seat, and thus propitiation was brought to pass. Now while it is man who needs to be justified, redeemed, reconciled, it is God who must be propitiated. The claims of His righteousness and holiness must be met: hence, we believe, only pure gold – typifying God in holiness and righteousness – was employed in constructing the mercy seat.
The two cherubims were also of gold, beaten into the required shape, and really all of a piece with the mercy seat, one at either end of it. Gen 3:24, plainly indicates that the cherubims are a special order of angelic beings, that are concerned with. the execution of God’s righteous judgments. The next time they are mentioned in the Scripture is in our chapter, where they are to be represented in gold. Beyond the mention of their wings and their faces no attempt is made to describe their form.
The fact that they had faces indicates that they had perception – eyes to behold. Their wings declared that they would be swift to act in righteousness against sin. But their faces were to be, “toward the mercy seat,” and not looking outward toward the sinful people. They were to be represented as gazing on the spot where the blood of propitiation was to be. So in Gen 3:1-24, we see them with the flaming sword of judgment against sin. Here as in repose, because their eye is on the blood. In Ezekiel we find the cherubims more fully described, and there they are seen supporting, “the likeness of a throne,” and on that, “the likeness as the appearance of a man.” Thus these foreshadowings advance step by step, and we see them first, with the sword of justice; then with the blood of sacrifice; lastly, upholding the Saviour on His throne.
For the moment however the Lord emphasized that the mercy seat was to be the place where He would meet with Moses, and commune with him of all the things as to which He would command the children of Israel.
Verses Exo 25:23-30, give us details as to the construction of the table, on which the showbread was to be placed. It was smaller than the ark and serving a different purpose, but otherwise the details are very similar. This was to stand outside the veil in the holy place where daily it was under the observation of the priests. Again here we see a type of Christ, but as supporting the showbread, or “bread of the presence,” which became food for the priests. We do not get the details as to the showbread until we reach Lev 24:1-23. All the vessels connected with it were to be of pure gold.
Verses Exo 25:31-39, give us details as to the candlestick, or lampstand of pure gold, and here we have very clearly a type of the Spirit of God. There were to be three branches on either side of the central stem; seven lamps in all, and these provided all the light that was necessary in the holy place. The table with its showbread were only visible in the light that the lampstand shed. In that light the priests went about their daily service. The branches were so constructed that both flowers and fruit were to be seen, and though there were six branches they were to be of one piece with the central stem – “one beaten work of pure gold.”
We can see here an indication in type of the truth announced in 1Co 2:10-16. The things of God are not to be apprehended by any powers which are resident in ourselves, but only by the Spirit of God. No other light than His illuminates God’s holy place and things.
In the seven lamps, which yet were but one lampstand, we see a foreshadowing of that presentation of the Spirit of God which we find later in the Bible, when we read of the Lamb having “the seven Spirits of God.” With this we may connect Isa 11:2, where we read of the Spirit of God – like the central stem – but connected in detail with the three couplets, “of wisdom and understanding,” “of counsel and might,” “of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.” In Rev 1:4, the seven Spirits are “before His throne,” as typically the lamps are found in our chapter. In Rev 5:6, they are, “sent forth into all the earth,” as preparing for the work of judgment, about to be directed by the Lamb. It is made abundantly clear in the New Testament that the Spirit of God is one, yet in the fulness of His power there is a sevenfold completeness.
The chapter closes with an admonition to Moses that he was to follow with exactness the pattern of all this, which he was to see while in the mount with God. He was not to be tempted to alter anything or improvise anything. Moses saw the pattern, but he did not see the mighty Realities which, in a shadowy way, the patterns represented. Had he altered anything the good things to come would have been misrepresented. God’s patterns were perfect, as far as they went, for perfection marks all the works of God. If man alters he spoils. Let us take this to heart in regard to the far more wonderful teachings of the New Testament.
Exo 26:1-37 is occupied with instructions as to the construction of the tabernacle. But, before we consider these, let us raise the question as to why the instructions of chapter 25 do not embrace the details as to the golden altar of incense – which was the third article of furniture in the holy place, standing just before the veil. We believe the answer to be that the three that are mentioned – ark, table, lampstand – set before us God’s approach to man, in Christ and by His Spirit. The altar of incense is connected typically with man’s approach to God, conducted through the high priest. Hence we find the details in chapter 30, after details of the priestly garments and of the consecration of the priests given us in chapters 28 and 29. What looks like disorder from a human standpoint, we find to be God’s order, when its spiritual import is understood.
The first fourteen verses of Exo 26:1-37 give details of the curtains which composed the tent, which is called the tabernacle. As in the previous chapter so here the instructions start with the innermost curtain. God works from the within to the without, from that which was only visible to the priests within to that which met the eyes of the people without.
Before considering the details given to us, we must ask this question – What is the typical significance of the tabernacle as a whole? And we must attempt to answer it.
The Epistle to the Hebrews makes it plain that it was “the patterns of things in the heavens” (Exo 9:23); that Christ is, “an High Priest of good things to come, by a greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands” (Exo 9:11); that there is, “the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, and not man” (Exo 8:2). Consequently we must regard it in the first place as a type of God’s mighty universe. The people were on the earth, and they had to stand without. Between the door of the court and the door of the tabernacle stood the altar of burnt offering, as we learn in the next chapter. This typified the first heaven; and into the first heaven the Lord Jesus was “lifted up” to die.
The holy place, where stood the table and the lampstand, was a type of the second heaven. The holiest, where the ark, the mercy seat and the cherubims were placed, typified the third heaven, the immediate presence of God, where the only light was the glory cloud. Aaron was the minister of the tabernacle: Christ is the Minister, who will uphold God’s universe of blessing for ever.
But, in the second place, we may discover in the tabernacle, and particularly in the curtains, that which is typical of Christ Himself. God dwelt in the tabernacle, and later in the temple that Solomon built, and it was the Lord Himself who, “spake of the temple of His body” (Joh 2:21). Typically, God was in the tabernacle, when Moses had made and pitched it. In a far more wonderful way, “God was in Christ” (2Co 5:19).
Thirdly, we may see, in certain details at all events, that which is typical of the saints as God’s present dwelling-place by His Spirit. This is referred to in Eph 2:22.
Now let us consider the details of the curtains as typical of Christ. They were in four layers. Only the bottom one would be visible in the holy place and the holiest of all. It was of fine twined linen, shot through with blue, purple, scarlet, embroidered with cherubims. Fine twined linen itself was cloth of a beautiful texture. Blue is the heavenly colour. Purple is the royal colour, while scarlet is emblematic of earthly glory, and also of the blood of sacrifice. Cherubims represent God, acting judicially in righteousness. All that was represented by these things were found in perfection in Christ. His holy Manhood was perfect in its texture, not one thread missing or out of place. In Him was manifested every heavenly grace and all royal power, whilst in the blood of His sacrifice every judicial claim of the Divine nature was met and satisfied for ever.
This inner covering was composed of ten curtains of the same length and width, coupled together by loops of blue attached to taches or clasps of gold. These things, which typified what was heavenly and Divine, brought the ten curtains into one whole. The wonderful life of our Lord might be divided into different parts – for instance, the days of His infancy, of His childhood, of the early, hidden years of His manhood, of His baptism, of His temptation in the wilderness, of His public ministry, of His sufferings and death – but all was of a piece, coupled together by the Divine and heavenly fulness that dwelt in Him.
On these beautiful curtains were laid curtains of goat’s hair. They are called the “covering,” or “tent,” of the tabernacle. So evidently the ten inner curtains were considered the tabernacle proper. This tent was a size larger, for each curtain was two cubits longer, and though of the same width – four cubits – there were eleven of these, so that in the front one could be doubled over. The goat’s hair curtains therefore made a complete covering.
Now curtains of goat’s hair would be rough and unattractive in appearance compared with those of fine twined linen beneath. They would typify therefore that holy separateness from the ways of sinful men, even when our Lord received sinners and ate with them, and that brought Him into severe conflict with the Pharisees and scribes. We are reminded that truth as well as grace came by Jesus Christ.
If the beautiful curtains of fine twined linen formed the tabernacle, and the goats’ hair curtains formed the tent, we lastly have in verse Exo 25:14 two coverings that were to be placed over all. First, one of rams’ skins dyed red. In Exo 29:1-46 we find repeated several times the words, “ram of consecration.” Two rams were slain in the consecration of the priests. Hence here we may see a type of Christ filling up the full measure of His consecration to God in death itself. His beautiful life, so fully maintained in holy separation to God, was offered sacrificially to God, and this filled up the measure of His devotion.
Second, there was the rough outer covering of badgers’ skins. This protected all that lay beneath from any defilement. There was in our Lord that which was wholly repellent of all evil. But this stirred up the antagonism of the world, and it explains why the prophet had to announce that, “When we shall see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isa 53:2).
Verses Exo 25:15-30, give us the details of the boards and bars which formed the framework of the tabernacle, and on which all the curtains rested. Here, we think, we have a type of the saints, who are “fitly framed together,” and who are “an habitation of God,” as we see at the end of Eph 2:1-22, though there it is the temple rather than the tabernacle that is referred to.
Each board had two tenons, which fitted into sockets of silver. Thus they were enabled to stand upright. Silver, as we presently find, was the metal used in the redemption money, and it is only on the ground of redemption that the saint can stand upright in the presence of God. But even so, without the bars there would only have been a collection of separate boards standing upright in the wilderness.
It was the bars that braced together the individual boards into one structure. There were five bars, and the middle one was to stretch from end to end. That middle bar it was that specially imparted a unity to the structure. Today there are more things than one that bind the saints together, but the one supreme bond is found in the indwelling Spirit of God.
Lastly, we notice, that all the boards and bars were covered with gold, and the rings through which the bars were inserted were also of gold. That which was to characterize the ark was also to characterize these. The saints are by no means divine, but as God’s workmanship, “created in Christ Jesus” (Eph 2:10), they bear Christ’s character. There is a fulfilment of the prayer of Moses, “Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us” (Psa 90:17).
Let us never cease to praise God that this is so.
Fuente: F. B. Hole’s Old and New Testaments Commentary
Seeing Christ in the Ark of the Covenant
Exo 25:10-22
INTRODUCTORY WORDS
After God had given commandment unto Moses to build the Tabernacle according to the pattern, which He had shown unto him; He commanded Moses to build the Ark. This Ark stands preeminently for the Lord Jesus Christ, as we shall discover in our lesson. The Ark was the first piece of the Tabernacle’s furnishings to be constructed.
Man wants to begin the story of redemption with himself. God begins the story with the Lord Jesus Christ. This suggests to us a few very vital things.
1. It suggests that the redemptive story in its entirety began with God. It was God who purposed redemption and not man. In other words, it was God who was seeking to save the lost, and not the lost who were seeking to save themselves. Let us give you a few verses of Scripture on this line.
(1) A Scripture in Rev 13:8. The verse, in part, reads: “The Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.” The foundation of the world, of course, preceded the creation of man. Adam was not created until the earth was formed, and everything necessary for the housing of Adam had been completed.
Therefore, we are sure that the Scripture above puts the plan of redemption before the creation of the man, who was to be redeemed.
(2) A Scripture in 1Pe 1:18, 1Pe 1:19. Our verse says: that the sinner is redeemed by the Blood of Christ, as a Lamb slain “from before the foundation of the world.” This Scripture goes far back into eternity. In line with the verse in Peter, we quote a word in Peter’s Pentecostal sermon. Peter said that Jesus Christ was delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.
What we are seeking to make plain is that the instruction of the building of the Ark of the Covenant preceded the instructions relative to the other furnishings of the Tabernacle. In other words, Jesus Christ stands forth in His Deity before anything else which concerns man, and his redemption.
2. It suggests that God did not create man without knowing the fact that man would sin. God did know it, not only that man would sin, but He foreknew every reach of sin, all of its woes, and its sorrows. He foresaw the whole sweep and sway of sin’s wreckage before He created man. For this cause He purposed and planned man’s redemption through Jesus Christ our Lord, long before the world was.
Therefore, let us never go to the Cross itself, or to the hill of Calvary for our first vision of God’s grace in redemption. Back of that Cross lay not only God’s plan and purpose, but the eternal Son, Himself. It was in the beginning when Jesus Christ was with the Father coequal, and co-existent, that the Son, the Word, was both with God and was God.
Let us remember that the Christ of Calvary’s Cross, was the One whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
I. THE ARK IN THE HOLY OF HOLIES STANDS FOR JESUS CHRIST IN THE PRESENCE OF GOD FOR US (Heb 9:24)
Our verse in Hebrews tells us that Christ is not entered into the holy places made with hands which are the figures of the true but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us.
1. We must remember that the only piece of furniture in the Holy of Holies was the Ark. That Ark was a figure of the True, and it acclaims to us that Christ is now in the true “Holy of Holies, even in Heaven itself in our behalf.
2. Christ is in the presence of God for us.
(1) His presence with the Father reveals God’s acceptation of His sacrificial work. Jesus Christ died in ignominy and in shame. He was numbered with the transgressors. He was despised and rejected of men. He was, however, taken up by the Father, and given a seat at His own right hand. He was there exalted, and given a Name that is above every name.
In other words, God has received into Heaven One who was made sin for us.
(2) His presence with the Father anticipates our possible approach unto Christ and to God in the eternities to come. When Jesus Christ died, the veil of the Temple was rent in twain, and the holiest of all, was left with unrestricted entrance to Blood-bought saints. Before the rending of the veil, the high priest himself, entered once a year into the holy of holies, but not without blood, which he offered both for his own sins and for the sins of his people. After the death of Christ, all believers have entrance unto God, but not apart from Blood. In other words, we may approach God, but that approach must be made by virtue of Christ, our Great High Priest, who by His Blood has given us access to God.
God pity those who imagine that they may have entrance into the holiest of all, apart from redemptive grace; and therefore apart from the Blood of the Cross of Christ.
II. THE ARK IN THE HOLY OF HOLIES STANDS FOR JESUS CHRIST, THE GOD-MAN (Exo 25:10-11)
1. The Ark was made of shittim wood. The peculiar wood used for the making of the ark was the most incorruptible of woods. Wood stands for Christ, clothed with a human body. He had a body that was never to see corruption.
The shittim wood grew in the desert. This brings to our memory the Scripture which says: “For He shall grow up before Him, as a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground.” There was nothing in the race from which Christ sprang to produce the Son of God.
2. The Ark was made of shittim wood covered with gold. Gold always represents, when used typically, the Deity of our Lord. Christ was holy. He knew no sin; He was without spot and blemish. When men beheld Jesus Christ they beheld God in the flesh. The Book of Hebrews describes Him as being the brightness of His Father’s glory, and the express image of His person.
We need to see in Jesus Christ the manifestation of God.
Have we not read, “No man hath seen God at any time; but the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him”? Jesus did not hesitate to say, “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known Me, Philip? he that hath seen Me hath seen the Father.”
III. THE TABLES OF THE LAW WITHIN THE ARK OF TESTIMONY (Exo 25:16)
Inside the Ark of Testimony there were placed the tables of the Law, the pot of manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded. We are to speak of the Law written upon the two tables of stone.
1. The Law had been written by the finger of God when Moses was with God in the mount. This Law carried a twofold message. On one table were four commandments covering man’s duties toward God. On the other table were six commandments covering man’s obligations toward man. These Laws expressed the perfect demands of righteousness, by a righteous God. The only reason that the Law cannot save, is because it is weak through the flesh.
When the Law came sin revived. We had not known sin, excepting by the Law. The Law, in itself, was not death unto us, but it demonstrated that sin had wrought death within us. In other words, the Law made sin exceedingly sinful. Read Rom 3:19, Rom 3:20.
2. The Law was placed in the Ark because Jesus Christ was made of a woman and made under the Law. He, however, fulfilled every righteous demand of the Law. It was on this basis that He could be made sin for us.
God looked down at the Law from the midst of the cherubims, but He looked at it through the blood that was sprinkled on the mercy seat. Thus does the Father recognize that the saint is free from the curse of the Law because Christ was made a curse for us, and we stand before God clothed in His righteousness.
IV. THE POT OF MANNA WITHIN THE ARK OF TESTIMONY (Exo 16:33-34)
We remember how God said unto Moses, and how Moses said unto Aaron, “Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna, therein, and lay it up before the Lord, to be kept for your generations.” It was this pot of manna, which was placed in the Ark, and it bears witness to the fact that Jesus Christ is the sustenance of His people.
1. The pot of manna carries a parallelism with the bread, of which we partake at the Lord’s Supper. We remember how the Lord said, “This is My body, which is broken for you.” At the supper, He also said concerning the wine, “This cup is the New Testament in My Blood.” It is through the Blood of Christ that we have eternal life. The life is in the Blood. When Christ, therefore, shed His Blood for us. He was the Good Shepherd, giving His life for the sheep.
On the other hand, the bread, descriptive of His broken body, stands for the sustenance of the life which we receive in redemption. We are aware of the fact that Christ said: “I am the Bread of Life: he that cometh to Me shall never hunger.”
There is a sense in which we begin to live as we eat of the Heavenly Manna. There is also a sense in which we are sustained in life, as we eat of the manna. God does not save us, and then leave us to famish and to die with hunger. The Lord said: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” Thus, the Bread is the Word and the Word is Christ.
Let us thank God that He who begets us by the Word of Truth, desires us to partake of that same Word, that we may grow thereby.
V. THE ROD OF AARON WHICH BUDDED WITHIN THE ARK OF TESTIMONY (Heb 9:4)
1. The budding of Aaron’s rod, and the almonds which it bore suggests the high priestly work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Aaron was chosen of God, given the place of authority and of power as the priest of God. Korah desired to usurp that priestly office. God rebuked Korah for this and at the same time, He placed His seal upon Aaron in the budding of the rod.
2. The budding of Aaron’s rod being placed in the Ark suggests that Jesus Christ our High Priest is exalted by the Father. The antichrist, Korah-like, may seek to usurp the authority and power of the Christ and endeavor to enthrone himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, but the Lord will overwhelm him even as He overwhelmed Korah and will cast him along with his false prophet into the lake of fire. Jesus Christ shall then be acclaimed as a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.
3. The budding of Aaron’s rod encourages saints to approach the Father in the Name of the Risen Lord Jesus. It assures every believer that there is One clothed with all authority and power, both in Heaven and on earth, who is representing us in the courts of Heaven, and that He is managing our affairs for us. All human religions are dead sticks. Christ is Aaron’s budding rod, because He rose from the dead, accepted by the Father.
The people after the budding of Aaron’s rod dared not doubt His Divine appointment and power as the priest of God. Neither can the saints today who think of the Lord Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father, look upon Him as other than the accepted Lord, our Priest.
VI. THE MERCY SEAT THAT COVERED THE ARK (Exo 25:21-22)
Our verse says: “And thou shalt put the mercy seat above the ark; * * there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat.”
1. We should remember that the mercy seat was made of pure gold. Once more we see the Deity of the Son of God. He who would deny the Virgin Birth must give to the world a Saviour of little worth. Jesus Christ claimed Deity when He said: “I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world.” He also said; “I and My Father are one.”
Not only was the mercy seat covered with pure gold, but it was covered with beaten gold. The fact that the gold was beaten, carries with it the thought that it was God the Son who suffered for us. It was God the Son whose soul was made an offering for sin. It is by the stripes with which God the Son was beaten, that we are spared from the wrath to come.
2. It was at the mercy seat that the high priest came to sprinkle the blood. It is not the beautiful life of Christ, which saves us. It is the Blood of Christ which saves. A college president told us that his greatest aim was to teach the students of his university to walk in the footsteps of Christ the Nazarene. We said to him, “No man apart from the Blood of Christ, can walk in the steps of the God-Man.” We must first be washed from our sins. We must next be empowered by the Holy Ghost, and then we will find that Christ risen and ascended will live out His life in us.
VII. THE CHERUBIMS WHICH OVERLOOKED THE MERCY SEAT (Exo 25:20)
1. The cherubim were formed with their faces looking one to another, toward the mercy seat. What did they see? They saw beneath the mercy seat, as it were, a Law which we have broken, but a Law which Christ had kept. They saw the manna and the rod that budded. They saw all of this through a mercy seat, on which the blood was sprinkled. As ministers of judgment, the cherubims had once been placed at the east of the Garden of Eden with a flaming sword, to keep the way of the tree of life.
Think you, therefore, that sinners in their sins, could stand under the gaze of these holy ones? We answer, “Never, unless between them and God, is the shed Blood.” The cherubims, therefore, looking down upon the mercy seat could easily be ministers of blessing, as well as ministers of praise.
The same angels who are ministers of judgment upon the ungodly, are ministers of mercy and of grace toward those who are redeemed, and under the Blood.
2. It was between the cherubims and the Ark with its mercy seat of beaten gold that God came to meet with His people. How marvelous it is that we can draw nigh to God by the Blood of the Cross. It is, however, just as truly marvelous that God draws nigh to us by the Blood of the Cross.
Our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. Yet, such a hallowed fellowship is ours only as we stand sheltered by the Blood.
AN ILLUSTRATION
As the Ark led the way of old; so let Christ go before us. A west-bound Atlantic steamer was having a serious time in the dense fog off the coast of Newfoundland; The. officers had completely lost their bearings; they knew well they were in treacherous waters, and for three days crew and passengers were filled with anxiety and suspense. On the fourth day the ship, from main deck to steerage, rang with cheers. Out of the thick gloom a little sloop had come bearing a pilot and, as the great grizzled master of the seas clambered up the distressed vessel’s side and took the wheel, both passengers and crew knew deliverance had come. Can you imagine them refusing to take the pilot on! What folly to sail uncertain waters without a pilot!
To sail life’s sea without the Great Pilot on board is a sad and serious mistake. In the experiences of student life, in the days of apprenticeship, in commercial, in political and in domestic life there are problems to be solved, dangerous situations to be met and temptations of every sort to be overcome, Whatever else you do, don’t start out without the Pilot and don’t drop Him when well out to sea. Remember that you will need Him most when crossing the bar and amid the breakers of the farther shore.
“Jesus, Saviour, pilot me,
Over life’s tempestuous sea;
Unknown waves before me roll,
Hiding rocks and treacherous shoal;
Chart and compass come from Thee,
Jesus, Saviour, pilot me.”
-Publisher Unknown.
Fuente: Neighbour’s Wells of Living Water
to Exo 27:21 TABERNACLE AND FURNITURE
THE ARK OF THE TESTIMONY (Exo 25:10-16)
Notice the kind of wood and the dimensions (Exo 25:10). The cubit measures from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, and is variously estimated from 18 to 21 inches, usually 18. How was it to be overlaid (Exo 25:11)? The crown of gold meant a rim or moulding. The four rings (Exo 25:12) were attached to the four corners, in the sense of the four feet of the ark. The staves, or poles, were used in carrying it (Exo 25:14). What was to be placed in the ark (Exo 25:16)? The testimony means the ten commandments. (Compare to Exo 24:12.)
THE MERCY SEAT (Exo 25:17-22)
Notice its material and dimensions (Exo 25:17). What was to be placed at either end (Exo 25:18)? Even of the mercy seat, should be rendered out of or of one piece with the mercy seat; i.e., they were not separate attachments from it. What was to be the attitude and position of the cherubim (Exo 25:20)?
This was the attitude of observant attention, while they seemed to guard with their wings the place of the manifestation of the divine glory. Where was the mercy seat to be placed (Exo 25:21)? This does not mean that it was merely the cover of the ark, but a separate article, composing with the ark a unity not so much in outward as in inward design.
What promise is connected with the mercy seat (Exo 25:22)?
These two articles, the ark and the mercy seat were the only objects, (and they appeared as one), in the Holy of Holies, or the Most Holy place in the tabernacle; and about them, or rather about it, the whole service of worship centered.
The ark was Gods throne (Psa 80:1 RV), but it was a throne of grace (Heb 4:16). The mercy seat means the place of propitiation, and here the blood of the sin-offering was sprinkled on the day of atonement, and satisfaction was rendered to the divine claims on the people represented by the law in the ark of the testimony (Psa 85:9-10).
What the mercy seat did symbolically for Israel, Christ has accomplished perfectly for all who will believe on Him (Rom 3:25; 1Jn 2:1-2).
THE TABLE OF SHEWBREAD (Exo 25:23-30)
This table was to have not only a crown or rim, but also a border with a crown or rim (v. 24-25), the distinction between which it is difficult to make.
Observe the appurtenances of the table (Exo 25:29). The dishes were to hold the shewbread (Exo 25:30, compared with Lev 24:5-6); the bowls were for frankincense (Lev 24:7). Covers is, in the Revised Version, flagons or vessels for wine, used in drink-offerings (Num 15:1-12). The shewbread consisted of 12 cakes (Lev 24:5-6), corresponding to the twelve tribes of Israel, and is sometimes called the presence-bread or the bread of the face.
At certain times the priests, who represented the whole of Israel, ate this shewbread from off the table. As the table is the Lords and in the Lords house, here we have the idea of hospitality based upon friendship. We see the family of God regaled by Him at His paternal board, which speaks of perfect reconciliation and communion with Him, and helps to explain the phrase, the bread of the face. That is, man is represented as face to face with God in fellowship through atonement for sin. (See Gen 14:18-20.) Furthermore, whatever the bread of the face was for Israel in old times, Jesus Christ is now for His people. In and through Him we have communion with the Father (1Jn 1:3), and He is the true Bread which sustains us in our new life (Joh 6:31-58).
THE GOLDEN CANDLESTICK (Exo 25:31-40)
His bowls, his knops, his flowers refers to the ornaments on the branches of the candlestick, and which were to be all of one piece. The seven lamps rest on the flowers at the extremities of the stems. The latter part of Exo 25:37 means that the candlestick shall be so set up on the south side of the tabernacle (40:24) as to throw light upon the table opposite. It was the only light in the tabernacle, the home or dwelling place of God.
According to Zechariah 4, the candlestick is a type of Israel, and according to Revelation 1, a type of the church. Oil is the symbol of the Holy Spirit, and light typifies God (1Jn 1:5), and Christ (Joh 8:12; 2Co 4:6). The typical significance of the whole in its present position is difficult, but may appear as we proceed.
Note that as the ark and mercy seat were to be placed in the Most Holy place, the table and candlestick were to be placed in the Holy place, i.e., outside the veil separating the two, of which later.
THE CURTAINS (Exo 26:1-14)
After revealing the above mentioned pieces of furniture, attention is turned to the curtains.
To begin with the inner curtains, they were to be of what number, material, colors, design, length and breadth (v. 1-2)?
Five were to be sewed together in one piece and five in another (Exo 26:3). These two halves were to be connected by loops of blue fastened with golden clasps (Exo 26:4-6), the whole to cover the top, sides and western end of the tabernacle, and correspond to the papering of our modern dwellings.
Of what material were the outer curtains to be made (Exo 26:7)? How many in number? Do they differ in length or breadth from the inner curtains (Exo 26:8)? How was the sixth curtain to be used (v. 9, 12)? Of what material were the clasps to be in this case (Exo 26:11)? How many outside coverings were to be made (Exo 26:14)? Badger is translated seal or porpoise in the Revised Version.
THE FRAMEWORK (Exo 26:15-30)
Notice the material, length and breadth of the boards (Exo 26:16). How many tenons to each board? Set in order means mortised. Of what material were the sockets (Exo 26:19)? The word sides (Exo 26:22) should be translated back part.
The sockets probably rested on the ground as nothing is said of sleepers under them.
How were the boards braced together (v. 26-28)? How were the boards and bars overlaid (Exo 26:29)? What a costly edifice it must have been! Some have calculated it as reaching $1,500,000.
THE VAIL (Exo 26:31-35)
The vail for the Most Holy place, and the hanging or screen for the door of the Holy place (v. 36-37) require no comment here. The typical significance of the former will come before us in its proper place.
THE BRAZEN ALTAR (Exo 27:1-8)
We are now in the outer court. Notice the material, size, height and shape of this altar. The horns, or the parts of the corner-posts projecting above the upper surface of the altar, were to be of one piece with it (RV), and the whole was to be overlaid with brass to protect from fire and weather, whence its name the brazen altar (Exo 27:2). Upon this altar the burnt offerings were presented.
QUESTIONS
1. What is the meaning of testimony in the lesson?
2. What is the meaning of mercy seat?
3. What is the meaning of the bread of the face?
4. Of what are the candlestick and the oil types made?
5. What is an estimate of the cost of the tabernacle in our money?
Fuente: James Gray’s Concise Bible Commentary
Exo 25:10-16. The ark was a chest or coffer, in which the two tables of the law, written by the finger of God, were to be placed. If the Jewish cubit was, as some learned men compute, three inches longer than our half yard, (twenty-one inches in all,) this chest or cabinet was about fifty-two inches long, thirty-one broad, and thirty-one deep; it was overlaid within and without with thin plates of gold; it had a crown or cornice of gold round it; rings and staves to carry it with; and in it he must put the testimony. The tables of the law are called the testimony, because God did in them testify his will; his giving them that law was in token of his favour to them, and their acceptance of it was in token of their subjection to him. This law was a testimony to them to direct them in their duty, and would be a testimony against them if they transgressed. The ark is called the ark of the testimony, (Exo 30:6,) and the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, Num 10:11. The tables of the law were carefully preserved in the ark, to teach us to make much of the word of God, and to hide it in our inmost thoughts, as the ark was placed in the holy of holies. It intimates likewise the care which Divine Providence ever did, and ever will take to preserve the records of divine revelation in the church, so that even in the latter days there shall be seen in his temple the ark of his testament. See Rev 11:19.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Exo 25:10-22 P. The Ark (cf. Exo 37:1-9).Three stages of tradition may be distinguished with regard to the Ark (pp. 105f., 123f.):(a) In JE, and in the earlier historical books, it is the visible seat of Yahwehs presence, guiding and protecting His people. Various explanations are offered. Other ancient peoples carried images in similar chests; the ark may have held some such symbol; Kennett (ERE, vol. i. 791793) suggests the brazen serpent. Or it may have contained a stone from the sacred mount to serve as a throne for Yahweh as He went forth with His people to find a new home amongst men (cf. Naamans mules burden of earth). But it is not thought likely that it originally held the tablets, which would be publicly exhibited not hidden from sight. Dibelius and Gressmann expound the attractive view that the Ark, with its cover and cherubim, was the throne of the invisible Yahweh, the rider upon the storm-cloud, and the occupant of the sacred height of Sinai. They support this by referring to the box-seats which on the monuments serve as thrones, and claim with justice that all early references to the Ark are made more intelligible on this view, which also permits the belief that the official public worship of Israel was imageless from Mosaic times. (b) In D (see Deu 10:1-5*) the Ark, perhaps in order to rescue it from superstitious veneration, such as gave occasion to the disparaging words of Jer 3:16, was regarded as the receptacle of the tablets, and was called the ark of the covenant, since, for D, the covenant at Horeb was on the basis of the Decalogue. So it became rather a memorial of the once-for-all-concluded alliance between Yahweh and Israel, than the instrument of the Divine presence. (c) In P we find it here set in the forefront of Israels sacred things, as that for the sake of which the whole sanctuary was made. It is minutely described as about 3 feet 9 inches long, 2 feet 3 inches wide, and 2 feet 3 inches high, heavily gilded inside and out, with a rim or moulding of solid gold (Exo 25:11), and with gold rings and gilded poles (Exo 25:12-15). It is to hold the testimony, i.e. the Decalogue, which Yahweh would give to Moses, no allusion being made to the awful sights and sounds publicly manifested according to Exo 25:19 f. (Exo 16:21 b). Upon it vv. (Exo 25:17-21 a) was to rest a slab of gold, the mercy-seat (Tyndales word, and still the best, as the Hebrew verb never means to cover in the literal sense). For its use and meaning see Lev 16:2; Lev 16:14 f., and Deissmann in EBi. Two golden cherubs, i.e. winged figures (cf. the bearers of Yahwehs throne in Eze 1:5 ff.), were fixed to the mercy-seat at its ends, and overshadowed it, facing one another (Exo 25:18-20). Contrast the great gilded cherubs that guarded the Ark on either side in Solomons Temple (1Ki 6:23-28). Here (Exo 25:21), above the mercy-seat and between the two cherubim, was to be the scene of Yahwehs gracious approach as the invisible King and Lawgiver, the meeting-point between earth and heaven, the place of those solemn meetings between God and mans representative, from which the commonest name for the sanctuary, the tent of meeting, was derived. The blood-stained mercy-seat has thus become the pledge of that loving search of the Father for spiritual worshippers which is described in Joh 4:21-24, while the hedging of it round with courts and chambers of graduated sanctity symbolised the progressive stages of holy fear by which alone man can draw nearer and nearer to God.
Fuente: Peake’s Commentary on the Bible
3. The tabernacle furnishings 25:10-40
One writer identified three major problems the interpreter faces as he or she seeks to understand God’s revelation concerning the tabernacle. [Note: Davis, pp. 246-51.]
1. What was the length of the cubit, the standard measure of length? This is a problem because various nations had different lengths for their cubits. A cubit was usually the distance between the elbow and the middle fingertip. The length ranged from about 17 inches to 21 inches, but there is good reason to believe the Hebrew cubit at this time was 17.5 inches or about one and a half feet.
2. What about the information omitted in the text? Anyone who has tried to make a model or detailed drawing of the tabernacle and its furnishings has experienced frustration. The data given in the text is incomplete. Undoubtedly God revealed all the details to Moses. However, He has preserved only those details necessary for our understanding of the fundamental significance and functioning of the tabernacle in Scripture.
3. What was the exact shape of the tabernacle? The text does not enable us to know for certain if it had a flat roof or a gabled roof formed by a ridgepole. Both possibilities have problems connected with them, but the flat roof design seems more probable all things considered. A gabled roof would increase the measurement of the roof beyond the width of 15 feet so the curtains over the roof and sides would not fully cover the sides.
Another problem is the extent of typological teaching that God intended. A "type" is a divinely intended illustration. [Note: Charles C. Ryrie, The Holy Spirit, p. 23.] Thus all types are illustrations, but not all illustrations are types. How much detail did God intend to illustrate His character and relationship with His people?
We know the major aspects of the tabernacle and its furnishings are types because the New Testament writers identified them as such (Heb 3:4-5; Heb 8:5; Heb 9:8-9; Heb 9:23-24; Heb 10:20). However the amount of detail Moses preserved and the obvious correspondence of certain details not identified as types have led many commentators to conclude that God intended these details to be instructive too. Some commentators have taken this teaching to extend to the numbers and colors used that, in some cases in scriptural usage, do have symbolic significance. Some commentators have taken this too far in the judgment of other students of Exodus.
I prefer a cautious approach myself. It seems to me that there are many illustrations of New Testament truth in the Old Testament. This seems clear in view of the amount of detail God preserved here. It also seems clear since the illustrative significance of some features of the tabernacle is so obvious even though the New Testament does not identify them as types. An extremely conservative approach would be to identify as types only those things that the New Testament calls types (Gr. typos, cf. antitypos). These would include Adam (Rom 5:14), the wilderness wanderings of Israel (1Co 10:6; 1Co 10:11), the holy place in the tabernacle and temple (Heb 9:24), and the flood in Noah’s day (1Pe 3:21). We could refer to other foreshadowings simply as illustrations. [Note: See Paul Lee Tan, Principles of Literal Interpretation of the Bible, pp. 36-39. Examples of extensive typological interpretation are Edward Dennett, Typical Teachings of Genesis; C. H. M[ackintosh], Notes on the Pentateuch, vols. 3-5; A. J. Pollock, The Tabernacle’s Typical Teaching; Samuel Ridout, Lectures on the Tabernacle; and H. W. Soltau, The Tabernacle, the Priesthood and the Offerings.]
Josephus, following Philo, interpreted the tabernacle, its furniture, and the priests’ garments symbolically. He wrote that the seven branches of the lampstand represent the courses of the planets. The colors of the curtains and clothing represent the four elements (earth, water, air, and fire). The two shoulder stones stand for the sun and moon. The 12 breastplate stones represent the 12 months or the 12 signs of the Greek zodiac. [Note: Josephus, 3:7:7.] His suggestions do not seem to be the best interpretations of the significance of these things.
Note that the order in which Moses described the things associated with the tabernacle in the text is not what one would normally expect. For example, we would expect that after the description of the altar of burnt offerings we would have a description of the laver. The altar of burnt offerings was the major piece of furniture in the courtyard and the first one the Israelite would meet as he entered the courtyard. The laver was the second most prominent item. It would catch the Israelite’s eye next. It was also the object between the altar and the tabernacle. However instead we read about the altar of burnt offerings, then the priestly vestments, then the consecration of Aaron, and then the laver. This order is due to the two emphases in the revelation. First, Moses described things that primarily manifest God, and second, things dealing with His people’s fellowship with God. The author described first things in the holy of holies where God dwelt, then things in the holy place, then things in the courtyard. This order focuses attention on the presence of Yahweh among His people, which was the most important feature of Israel’s life. The tabernacle itself also reflects the importance of Yahweh’s presence at the center of His people.
"The tabernacle was built on a ratio of Exo 2:1 and on a radiating decrease value of metal: gold, silver, bronze, from the center [where God dwelt] to the outer edges." [Note: Livingston, p. 178.]
The materials that the Israelites were to use in the construction of the tabernacle and its worship were the finest and rarest available. This reflected the fact that nothing but the best was appropriate for response to Yahweh. What was at the center of priestly concern was not a building or a ritual but the Lord Himself, present as a gift to His people. [Note: Durham, p. 355.]
Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)
The ark of the covenant 25:10-22
The ark was the throne of Yahweh where He dwelt in a localized way and met with the Israelites through their high priest. It was the seat of His sovereignty but also the place where He met with His people (Exo 25:22). This is why directions for its construction come first. The testimony (Ten Commandments, Exo 25:16; Exo 25:22) lay inside the ark, which was a hollow box. God’s dwelling among His people and His relationship with them thus quite literally rested on the Ten Commandments. The mercy seat (Exo 25:17) was the removable "lid" of this box and was solid gold. It was there that the high priest offered sacrificial blood once a year to atone for (cover) the sins of the Israelites as a nation. This offering made propitiation (satisfaction) for their sins for one year (cf. Leviticus 16).
The Greek word used to translate "mercy seat" here in the Septuagint (hilasterion) is another form of the word used to describe Jesus Christ as our propitiation in 1Jn 2:2 (hilasmos). The mercy seat was for the Israelites temporarily what Jesus Christ is for all people permanently: the place where God found satisfaction.
"It [mercy] is a sweet word! A seat of mercy, baptised [sic] in mercy, from which mercy flows forth. Not wrath, not judgment, not indignation, but mercy is pouring forth from its original fountain in the heart of God." [Note: Meyer, p. 307.]
The cherubim (Exo 25:18) were angels who "apparently have to do with the holiness of God as violated by sin." [Note: Unger’s Bible Dictionary, s.v. "Cherub," by Merrill F. Unger, p. 192.] They may have looked like winged human-headed lions. [Note: Youngblood, p. 122; cf. Kaiser, "Exodus," p. 455.] Josephus wrote that Moses saw these creatures around God’s throne when he was on Mt. Sinai. [Note: Josephus, 3:6:5. See John T. Bunn, "The Ark of the Covenant," Biblical Illustrator 9:4 (Summer 1983):50-53. Geoffrey Kind, "Where Is the Ark of the Covenant?" Prophetic Witness 8:2 (February 1984):9-10, suggested several possible answers to the title question. See also A. H. Tolhurst, "Whatever Happened to the Ark?" Ministry (June 1984), pp. 13-15.]
"The cherubim are connected with the throne as its guardians and/or bearers. In other cultures cherubim are minor deities protective of palaces and temple; in Israel they symbolized angelic guardians of the invisible throne of God." [Note: Waltke, An Old . . ., p. 460.]