Worship Exodus - The Ark of The Covenant
(This is part two of a series. Remember, you can read all the articles in this series by going here.)
Nothing like starting out with the big fish, is there? What is the Ark of the Covenant and how does it relate to worship in our time? What did the Israelites use it for and where did the government store it after it was found by Indiana Jones? Let's dive right in.
The Ark of the Covenant is first described in Exodus 25:10-22. God is describing to Moses how the Ark is to be built. It was to be a chest two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half tall. In modern terms, that would be approximately 4.29 feet long, 2.57 feet wide and 2.57 feet tall. That's a pretty good sized box. The chest was to be made with acacia wood, then overlaid with pure gold inside and out, with gold molding around the rim. Four gold rings were attached to the feet of the Ark, with two wooden poles placed inside the rings. These poles were to remain in the Ark, as it was to be portable.
The lid of the Ark is referred to as the atonement cover in the NIV translation, and called the mercy seat in the KJV. This was such an important piece that the original Hebrew word for mercy seat, kapporeth, is used solely to refer to the top of the Ark. On the mercy seat, two cherubim were placed at opposite ends, facing each other with their wings spread upwards, covering the top of the Ark.
Inside the Ark were kept three things: the stone tablets on which God wrote the Ten Commandments, a golden jar containing manna God had provided while the Israelites wandered, and the rod of Aaron, Moses' brother. Sometime before the construction of Solomon's temple, Aaron's rod and the manna were removed from the Ark, as I Kings 8:9 says "There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb"
There is much more history to the Ark, but I want to concentrate on the pieces that have already been laid out. If you want more information on the Ark of the Covenant, I would suggest looking at Wikipedia or the Jewish Encyclopedia. Both articles have a wealth of good information.
Let's answer the second question posed above. How does the Ark of the Covenant relate to worship today? The Ark itself is a symbolic piece. Imagine that we are represented by the Ark. Our lives can be represented by the acacia wood. While we are rough creatures, we can be polished to look beautiful though we are still rotten within. When we believe in Jesus and are saved, our covering is different. We become like the Ark, though we are covered by his blood and not gold. The mercy seat represents the sacrifice that Jesus made for us. Through his death, we are covered. To me, the cherubim on top of the mercy seat are representative of the protection that God gives us in the spiritual world.
I still haven't answered the worship question though. What does the Ark have to do with worship? As I've stated before, worship isn't just singing or going to church. Worship is life. In this case, worship is represented by the three things that were stored inside the Ark.
First. the stone tablets with God's testimony on them show that we are to worship him by holding His testimony inside us. We are to read and study the Bible and by doing that, we are taking part in worship. We are giving God our time and our energy by reading His word. We are to take the Word of God and hide it in our hearts, placing it deep inside ourselves much like the Ark was deep inside the tabernacle, in the Holy of Holies.
The golden jar of manna represents the past. We are to remember what God has brought us out of and praise him for it. Through Jesus, we are delivered from a world of sin and from the wages of that sin. The Israelites were delivered from slavery at the hands of the Egyptians and were given manna from heaven to help the survive the desert. I believe that the manna inside the Ark was put there to show the Israelites how God had provided for them and how faithful he was. What better reminder for them than the very food they ate. We worship God for the depths that he brought us out of.
Finally, the rod of Aaron shows both the power and authority of God. In the Israelite culture, the rod was used by shepherds to guide the flock. Aaron's rod in particular was used to display the supernatural power of God, becoming a serpent and devouring the serpent rods of Pharaoh's sorcerers, and then producing buds overnight as a symbol of the right of priesthood of the Levites. This shows that God is worthy to be the receiver of our worship.
The story of the Ark and its place in worship is important to us today, just as it was thousands of years ago. However, the Ark itself has been replaced by the new covenant with Jesus. As a symbol of how we are to worship though, it retains its value.
Oh, and Indiana Jones didn't really find the Ark. Indiana Jones doesn't exist. It's a movie, people.