Some years ago the "Nazis" and Indiana Jones made movie history in Raiders of the Lost Ark. It caused trouble for them, too. Something about that Ark grabs our attention--all of us--and, even today, focuses our thoughts on God and His relationship with His creatures.
The Ark was a wooden box, or chest, about 3 feet long and 2 feet wide and 2 feet high. It had a thick, gold cover. Inside were the tablets upon which the Law was written. Jewish thought is that
both the remnants of the broken tablet and the second inscription that Moses was given were in the Ark. As well as a golden jar of manna and Aaron's staff that budded.
Above the Ark, seated on the ends of the gold cover, were the two cherubim of Glory, overshadowing the cover.
We read about the Ark in the Old Testament in Deuteronomy 10 and Exodus 25, as well as other places. In the New Testament we read about it in the book of Hebrews. When that book was written the Ark had already been missing for 600 years or so.
Jewish tradition also says that the cover could never be placed on the Ark unless the tablets of the Law were inside.
There were 4 rings on the corners through which the poles were to be placed to carry it. No one was to touch the Ark, for the penalty was death.
This Ark was to symbolize Yahweh Elohim's visible throne on earth. Yahweh stated He would dwell in a cloud between the wings of the cherubim above the gold cover, which was called the Mercy Seat. This is where He would commune with Moses and the High Priest who would hear His voice. Perhaps today the cloud represents, to us, the Holy Spirit that speaks to us in our minds. The purpose of the Ark, and the Tabernacle/Temple, was to symbolize that Elohim would dwell among the Israelites, His people.
And it will be that way in the future, too, but not just symbolically. John's Revelation tells us,
"Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away" (Rev. 21).
It was on the Mercy Seat that the High Priest sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice for the sins of the nation once a year on the Day of Atonement.
So this is the picture: God, looking down from His cloud between the two cherubim would see the sprinkled blood over the broken Law.
It's the best picture of what Christ did in the entire Old Testament. And it is, without a doubt, the most important symbol in all of world history. Until the Cross.
Every once in a while historians publish their list of "The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World." Always at the top of that list is the Great Pyramid of Giza, the only "wonder" still standing. It was already several centuries old when Abraham left Ur.
The next on the list is the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, then the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus. This took 120 years to build and its craftsmen at Ephesus, who made shrines and models of the temple to sell to tourists and pilgrims, became enraged when Paul and his companions began preaching and converting the citizens of Ephesus.
Rounding out the list is the Statue of Zeus at Olympia, the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, the Colossus of Rhodes (statue of the Greek god Helios, the sun god) and the Lighthouse at Alexandria, the tallest structure in the world for many centuries.
But none of these "wonders" have any importance when compared to that small chest, carried on the shoulders of ancient Hebrew priests, because it spoke of the redemptive plan of our great God and Savior, and how He would rescue His people from their sins and gather them from all the nations of the world to be His people.
It reminds me of the final book of C. S. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia. The Last Battle. The children are gathered at the end of the battle at a small stable, where the battle had begun.
Tirian, peering through a crack between the planks of the stable, saw darkness inside the stable. But when he walked through the stable door there was an immense blue sky, and grassy meadows spreading as far as he could see. And all his friends were there, playing and laughing. It was a place of great beauty and joy and peace.
"Fair Sir," said Tirian to the High King. "This is a great marvel....It seems then that the stable seen from within and the stable seen from without are two different places."
"Yes," said Lord Digory. "Its inside is bigger than its outside."
"Yes," said Queen Lucy. "In our world, too, a stable once held something inside that was bigger than our whole world."
The inside was bigger than the outside.
I think it is that way with the Ark of God's Covenant. It is so much bigger than it appears to those on the outside.
