When two young people marry, several major changes should revolutionize their lives. Particularly – if it hasn’t occurred already, their partner should become the center of his or her life. “For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh.” Their friends, their parents, their hobbies, their problems should move off-center. Even the man’s job should become secondary. “When a man hath taken a new wife, he shall not go out to war, neither shall he be charged with any business: but he shall be free at home one year, and shall cheer up his wife which he hath taken” – Deuteronomy 24:5 . On an earthly plain, when someone marries, his or her spouse must become the center of his life.
But there is another plain of existence – there is the spiritual side of life. In the marriage relationship, we have a picture of Christian and the Lord Jesus Christ. We could spend a hours considering God’s love for His saint. In His infinite magnitude, every one of His elect becomes the focus of His love through Christ Jesus. And obviously, Jehovah in the Person of Christ should become the center of our lives.
And in regard to this relationship we have a picture in the Old Testament Ark of the Covenant. I hope to show you that the Ark is a type or figure of Christ. A moment ago we read a few verses describing the construction of the Ark and a few related points. You might have been thinking that this was sort of interesting, but ….. But what is the point? It is the symbolism which puts everything into it’s proper place. The Ark was no mere gold encrusted jewelry box or a diamond endowed music box.
There was and continues to be something very, very special about the Ark of the Covenant. This is not simply my opinion or something which I picked up reading some Christian devotional book. When it comes to the Tabernacle in the Wilderness and each of its respective parts, we have divine authority to look beyond mere Israelite history. A few minutes ago, we read Paul’s comments about the Tabernacle in Hebrews 8:1-5. He said that the Tabernacle was an “example and shadow of heavenly things.” Then in the next chapter, after describing various aspects of the Tabernacle, and the many sacrifices which were offered in it, he concluded by saying, “For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and of goats, with water, and scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book, and all the people, Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you. Moreover he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle, and all the vessels of the ministry. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without shedding of blood is no remission. It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. For 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.” If Paul finds spiritual significance in the Golden Altar and the Table of Shewbread, then so can we.
You are going to hear me begin with certain assumptions. Don’t immediately throw them aside, because in time you’ll see that they aren’t assumptions at all. They flow out of the Word of God.
For example, the Ark of the Covenant typifies the Person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
When I first became a Christian, that word “type” really confused me. My definition didn’t match the way my pastor was using the word. To me, a type of something was some sort of variety that particular thing. There are many different types of cars – there are sedans, SUV’s, two-door sports cars and so on. When my pastor referred to types of Christ, my first thought was to different kinds of Christs. But then I came to learn that his use of the word comes from the Greek word “tupos.” That word has been translated in different ways, but the theologian often just uses the word “type.” In the Bible “tupos” is translated, “figure,” “pattern,” “fashion,” “matter,” “form” and “example.” If refers to a mirrored likeness. We read that word a few minutes ago in Hebrews 8:5 where it is translated “pattern.”
Each and every part of the Tabernacle was a figure or picture of something more important than itself. And as it happens, nearly every one of them come back to the person of Christ in one way or another. The Tabernacle walls and roof are a type of Christ, as is the Altar of Incense and the Brazen Altar. But right now we are only interested in the Ark of the Covenant. How does that golden chest depict and represent our Saviour?
The first verses from Exodus 25, which we did not read, describe God’s command to Israel to bring materials for the Tabernacle – their place of worship – their moveable Temple. And then with verse 10, the very first thing to be made was the Ark. Eventually God will give Moses the details of every part of the Tabernacle, Israel’s sanctuary. But it wasn’t like the modern construction of a new home which begins with digging a hole for the foundation or planting of a temporary utility pole. And usually the last things done in the building of a home today are the finishing and the furnishings. But in the Tabernacle God began at the center and then worked out – He began with the Ark. Jehovah almost always begins at the heart of the matter. He doesn’t care whether or not your hands are clean, if your heart is caked in sin. The Lord always dives deep into the heart.
And the Ark was at the very center of the Tabernacle. To reach it one had to walk through the host of Israel and past the Levites. He had to enter the courtyard and past the Brazen Altar, the Laver, the Table of Shewbread, the Candlesticks, the Golden Altar and through the veil. The coverings of the Tabernacle, the incense off the altar, the blood of the Atonement surrounded or covered the Ark. Holy anointing oil was sprinkled upon it. The Ark was at the center of the Tabernacle, and the Tabernacle was at the center of the nation. Almost always the Ark was kept in the very center of the camp – even when the nation was moving. And the Ark was the place of meeting with Jehovah. “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 implication and application is this: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” Christ Jesus said, “I am the door, by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved.” Through Christ “we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” In Him “we have boldness and access with confidence by faith of Him.” The fellowship between Adam and God, which was broken by sin, can be restored in no other way – through the person of the God-man Christ Jesus. “There is one God, and only one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” This is what makes the Ark so very important. As we shall see, only here are blended the justice of God and His grace. The Brazen Altar out in the courtyard means nothing but our death without the Ark and its covering, the Mercy Seat. The Lord will not accept our incense burning on the Golden Altar, with the blood on the Mercy Seat. This Christ, our Ark, is the beginning and end of our relationship to the Holy God – the alpha and omega. And where the Ark was, there was found the glory of God. As the Son stood on the Mountain of Transfiguration, a glory poured out of His body. Indeed, “This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.”
Now the Ark was made of two basic substances: wood and gold. But the wood was not just any old lumber, but a rather special variety. It was not cherry or mahogany – something in which men could boast for its beauty. But on the other hand is wasn’t cheap pine or ash either. The ark was made of “shittim wood.” If there was any wood common to the Sinai, this was it. If the Lord had required oak, or palm or even gopher there wasn’t any in the area. If He had asked for cedar, which certainly would have been good durable material, the people would have had to make a long and dangerous journey to get it. But in this case the Lord almost came to them with the timber He required. The implication is this: Christ is accessible to all who wish Him to be the center of their lives. Pilgrimages to Mecca, Rome or even Jerusalem are not necessary to secure our souls. Christ can be found in the ER or in ICU; He can be found in the funeral home. And certainly, He can be found in this place which is dedicated to the glory of His Name. “Ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.”
The wood in the Ark might be used to symbolize the humanity of Christ. I am not afraid to say that Jesus Christ was truly human – in a way somewhat like I am human. “He was made of a woman, made under the law” – as we all have been. “He was made in the likeness of men,” even in the likeness of SINFUL men. But this shittim was not ordinary wood. The Greek translation of the Old Testament Hebrew, the LXX, uses the word for “incorruptible.” It was a very tight-grained and hard wood; it was durable, but not for the same reasons as cedar. The thoroughly human Christ did not have a sin-tainted life or flesh. The temptations of Satan could not seduce Him, nor did evil around Him defile Him. He did not sin, neither did guile fly from His lips. He was impeccable, and thus beyond iniquity. Jesus’ body could not see corruption, but in addition, neither could his soul. That “incorruptible” shittim wood is a good picture of the humanity of our Saviour.
But don’t think that when the priest looked at the Ark that he saw shittim wood. Nor sir, because covering that incorruptible wood was a thick layer of pure gold. Not only was there gold on the exterior of the Ark, but on the inside as well. Under the gold was wood, and under the wood was gold. That gold is emblematic; it is a type of the deity and heavenly nature of Christ. Perhaps you can think of a more fitting type of the deity of Christ, but so far I haven’t come up with one. No one, to my knowledge has yet to find a completely flawless diamond. And if one was 99.98% pure, there would be no way to complete its perfection, except to cut it out. An, but gold can be refined, and refined and refine to 100% molecular purity. If not by man, then certainly by the Lord. The gold in the Ark depicts our Saviour’s perfect DEITY. In fact everything about the life of Christ is inexplicable apart from His God-hood. His work, His works, His miracles, His manner of daily living – all were governed by that deity. And then too His inward thoughts and motives were divine as well. Remember that there was gold on the inside as well as on the outside.
Even though we don’t see it in this chapter, but the Ark was portable. There were rings in each of the corners through which two long staves of shittim and gold could be run. At the direction of the Lord, the Ark was carried from place to place until Israel reached the Promised land. Wherever it stopped, that was the place where Israel was meant to be — the Lord led them every step of their journey for forty years. In this we are reminded that the Lord is always there when those who worship Him, need Him. In fact He is always there when we arrive. Wherever the Lord leads us He is always there.
Over the wood and gold, between the rings and staves, – over everything else – covering the Ark was the exquisite Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat was the lid to the golden box – but it was much more than that. The Mercy Seat was the place of Atonement. Every year, on the day of Atonement, the blood of the God-proscribed sacrifice was sprinkled on the Mercy Seat. It was done in the most solemn manner, and only by the High Priest, after much preparation. But that sprinkled blood meant the satisfaction of the righteous demand of God. To put it another way, that was the place of salvation. “Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.” “For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?”
There is a curious thing about taking Old Testament principles into the New Testament. Sometimes the difference in languages comes into play. Listen to the New Testament’s Romans 3:23-25 – “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus: Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.” The fancy theological word “propitiation” means “satisfaction.” But in Hebrew 9:5 that same Greek word is translated “mercy seat” – taking salvation right back to the Ark. Here in the Ark “mercy and truth are met together, righteous and peace have kissed each other.”
Not only does the Ark itself typify our Saviour – in some ways so do the items which were kept inside.
Very briefly, inside the Ark were placed the two tables of the Law. The Law, spoken by God and eventually written by the finger of God, was an expression of Jehovah’s righteousness demands. In us they bring condemnation, because we are not capable of keeping the Law. No son of Adam has yet completely satisfied the demands of that Law. But Christ Jesus has a very special relationship to that Law. First, He faithful and perfectly obeyed every principle of the Law. And Matthew 5:17 tells us that the law was fulfilled in Christ. There is a sense in which as the Ark kept the Law; Christ had kept and still keeps the Law. And Romans 10:4 tells us that “Christ is the end of the law for righteousness .” The Law demands our eternal death because of our disobedience, but Christ has swallowed up that Law and its demands for death.
In addition to the Law, there was a golden pot of manna – the food which Israel ate for forty years. That manna could not ordinarily be kept overnight, but in the Ark it was kept for years. The Lord wants us to remember that in Christ is all that is needed to satisfy the soul. In John 6 Jesus called Himself the manna which came down from heaven – the real manna.
And also in the Ark was the rod – the walking stick which Moses’ brother, Aaron had used. A few weeks after the exodus, God told Moses to anoint his brother as the nation’s High Priest. But after a while some in Israel felt that they were just as qualified for the office as Aaron. The conflict was settled by the Lord in an unusual way. The men involved were ordered to lay up their walking sticks – their rods – before the Lord. They were stout, dead chunks of wood, probably well-worn and perhaps seasoned or decorated. They probably looked like thousands of other walking sticks, which people were using throughout Israel. And then again, perhaps these were special, denoting some kind of importance. Each of these particular rods bore identification marks for the men involved. And at the command of God they were set aside in the presence of God. During that night one, only one, began to grow, bud, blossom and to bear ripe almond nuts. Through that miracle God indicated that Aaron’s family was His choice to be His priests. That rod of Aaron, that type of God’s priesthood, was place inside the Ark, the type of Christ Jesus – the High priest of Christian.
Everything about the Ark had some symbolical significance. But perhaps the most significant for us is that as the Ark was the most important item in Israel, Christ Jesus should be the most important thing to your soul. Without Him you are a hell-bound sinner – “without hope and without God in the world” or eternity. You need the Saviour; you God’s Ark, in which to place your soul. You need to properly come to Christ, past the Altar and into the Holy Place. You need to repent before God and trust your soul to Christ Jesus.