It was harvest time. The farmer was working in his fields with his family and hired workers. Even then, he kept a wary eye towards the west. The Philistines were never far away and you never knew when they might come raiding. Especially during harvest, when the men were busy in the fields and there was plenty of wheat to steal.
As he was watching, something caught his eye. He instantly stopped and stared down the road. Yes, something was there and definitely moving towards him. He grabbed his scythe and, motioning to his son, told him to stay still, hidden by the tall stands of wheat. Fearing the worst, the farmer moved toward the road.
As he got closer, he noticed that it wasn’t armed men or horses. It was two cows pulling a cart, but they had no driver and were lowing as they trudged up the road. Odd...very odd. Finally, they stop at a large rock in the field of his neighbor Joshua. Calling to his son, they both run to see what is on the cart. What they see takes their breath away. “Hurry! Go to town and get the Levite priest” he said to his son. The boy ran off and the farmer looked at the two chests on the cart. One was small and made of wood, but he almost didn’t notice it. The object that held his wonder was another chest about 4 feet long and over 2 feet high. It was completely covered in gold and adorned with two angels on the top. As a crowd started to gather, he heard the exclamations and knew without a doubt what he was looking at: the Ark of the Covenant.
Hello again and welcome to another episode of Bible Backdrop. As I mentioned in a previous episode, I’m going to do a series on the religion of Judaism in the Bible. Topics will include the Tabernacle, the Temple, the different sacrifices, the priestly garments, some of the rituals, and the different festivals. To start off the series, I wanted to look at the central object used in Jewish worship: the Ark of the Covenant. What did it look like? How was it made? What happened to it?
To start, we need to go back to the book of Exodus. In Chapter 25, God tells Moses “Have them make an ark of acacia wood – two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide and a cubit and half high. Overlay it with pure gold, both inside and out and make a gold molding around it. Cast four gold rings for it and fasten them to its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other.” To start, lets look at the size. From our Bible Math episode, we know the cubit is between 18 and 21 inches, so the ark was around 4 feet long, 2 and a half feet wide and 2 and a half feet high. This gives it about 25 cubic feet of space for storage. We’ll talk a little later about what may have been in the ark.
As described in Exodus, the ark was made of acacia wood. Having only heard of it in the Bible, I looked up some information on acacia. The acacia tree can grow in many climates but is most known in temperate, tropical or desert areas. It is a rapid growth plant and can grow up to 20-30 feet in 5 years. However, the one thing it is best known for is its hardness and durability. It is 55% harder than European white oak, 23% harder than hickory, and 90% harder than carbonized bamboo. It is a medium to dark brown hardwood and has beautiful grain patterns. Finally, the wood is aromatic with the sap being used for preservatives and pharmaceuticals for many years.
The ark was to be overlaid with gold both inside and out. The Israelites had plenty on hand as the Egyptians gave them much before they left...to get them to leave quicker after the 10 plagues. This was melted down and used to overlay the chest and to make the molding around it. The gold was also used to make the rings that were put on the feet of the ark and later it coated what was called the Mercy Seat.
The ark was always to be carried by the Levites, the tribe that held the priestly duties before the Lord. To do this, two poles were put into the rings. Continuing in Exodus 25 “Then make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. Insert the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it. The poles are to remain in the rings of this ark; they are not to be removed.” So if the ark was about 4 feet long, the poles were probably no less than 6 feet each.
To finish off the ark, God directed Moses to create a cover; but this wasn’t just any cover. Exodus 25 continues “Make an atonement cover of pure gold – two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. And make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover. Make one cherub on one end and the second cherub on the other; make the cherubim of one piece with the cover, at the two ends. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover with them. The cherubim are to face each other, looking toward the cover.” One thing I wonder when I read this passage is: How did the craftsmen know what a cherubim looked like? Either God gave them direction or there must have been a common understanding of their appearance. Either way, there seemed to be no question of what it would look like. The cherubim faced each other but were looking down at the ark with their wings spread upward. Many depictions show them with their wings outstretched toward each other. However, the verse says the wings were stretched up which would give the idea of a seat. Why a seat? Exodus 25:22 gives the reason: “There, above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites.” As a result, this part of the ark was called the Mercy Seat. In future episodes, this becomes more prominent when we talk about the yearly sacrifice done at the ark.
What was in the ark? The only thing we know for certain is what is written in scripture. Again, back to Exodus 25: “Then put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you.” Having the covenant law in the ark was significant. From the earlier episode on this topic, remember how a covenant between a suzerain and a vassal was often put in their temple. This was done as both a constant reminder to the people of the loyalty they owed the suzerain and, since it was done in front of their deity, there was a fear of divine retribution if they should break the covenant. In a similar way, the tablets with the covenant law being in the ark were a constant reminder of the loyalty they owed to God and what would happen if they broke that covenant.
A jar of manna may also have been kept in the ark. According to Exodus 16: “So Moses said to Aaron, ‘Take a jar and put an omer of manna in it. Then place it before the Lord to be kept for the generations to come.’ As the Lord commanded Moses, Aaron put the manna with the tablets of the covenant law, so that it might be preserved” Again, going back to our Bible Math episode, an omar was about ½ a gallon. The verse here says that it was kept with the covenant law, so it stands to reason that it also went into the ark.
Another story says that Aaron’s staff that budded (see Numbers 17) was also put into the ark. It does say that the staff was put in front of the ark, but doesn’t say that it went inside. However, Hebrews 9:4 lists Aaron’s staff as one of the items that was in the ark, so it could very well have been included.
Now, with all this wood, gold, stone tablets, and manna...how much did the ark weigh? Given that the whole thing was overlaid in gold, it had to be very heavy. Estimates are that it weighed over 600 pounds by the time it was all said and done. This included the implements inside.
After it was completed during their wanderings, the ark went with the nation of Israel as they took possession of the Promised Land as described in the book of Joshua. Interestingly, we only hear of it one time in the book of Judges (Judges 20). The next time we see the ark is in 1 Samuel 4 where it is captured by the Philistines. God curses the Philistines with rats and tumors and they decide to send the ark back to Israel. The story at the beginning of this episode is related to 1 Samuel 6 when the ark is sent back. When David becomes king, he wants to build a temple to house the ark and for worship of the Lord. God tells him, though, that he would not do it but that his son would do so. As promised, Solomon did build the temple and the ark was located in the Holy of Holies in the innermost room of the temple. The last mention of the ark in the Old Testament was in 2 Chronicles 35 when Josiah re-establishes the worship of God and the sacrifices in the Temple.
The ark represented God’s presence among His people and often accompanied them in battle. That is how it was captured by the Philistines in 1 Samuel 4. We also see it with the army in 2 Samuel 11. The ark was with the army out on campaign, but David stayed behind which led to his affair with Bathsheba. It did not guarantee victory though. If the country had slipped into sin following after pagan gods or distorting justice, God would remove his presence and the army would falter. Finally, God sends the countries of Israel and Judah (who had split) into exile. Israel to the Assyrians and, later, Judah to the Babylonians. When they fall to the Babylonians, nothing more is heard of the ark. What happened to it? The bottom line is: nobody knows. There is a sect of Ethiopian Jews who say that they have it, but there’s no evidence of it. Some believe that it was taken captive by the Babylonians, but they kept meticulous records of what they plundered from the Temple and the ark was not included. Most likely, the ark was hidden and possibly buried either in a cave out in the Judean countryside or deep beneath the Temple. It may be that God wanted it to disappear in preparation for Jesus to come to earth. If the ark represented God’s presence, then it may be a stumbling block for people to believe in Jesus as He said He was fully God and fully man. With the ark gone, it paved the way for Jesus to make His claims as deity.
One last note: The final mention we have of the ark in the Bible is Revelation 11:19: “Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within His temple was seen the ark of his covenant.” So it may be that God simply has taken the ark into heaven as a representation of His presence is no longer needed. Jesus came to earth as a man and dwelt among us and then sent the Holy Spirit to live in believers. This being the case, a physical article of God’s presence is no longer needed.
With that note, I think we’ll leave it here for now. I hope you enjoyed this episode of Bible Backdrop. If you are enjoying the show, please subscribe and leave a 5-star rating and review as this helps the podcast to reach more people. If you want to get in touch with me, you can send an e-mail to BibleBackdrop@gmail.com. There’s been quite an uptick in downloads lately and I would love to hear from you if you just found the show. Thank you again for listening and have a wonderful week!