WHAT WAS THE ARK OF THE TESTIMONY? IT’S MEANING AND SIGNIFICANCE?

The tabernacle of Moses shows the beginning of The Lord God coming to dwell in something tangible.

Upon Mount Sinai, the mountain of God, The Lord God meets with the Prophet Moses to give him the Law and the pattern of tabernacle and That began the process of building a tabernacle where God could manifest his Shekinah glory to man.

And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. 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. (Exodus 25: 8-9)

That is the evidence of God’s plan of coming to dwell with his people. Although this tabernacle was made with hands, God himself had designed it to show forth his divine plan of dwelling in a tabernacle in the midst of a people.

The tabernacle, speaking comprehensibly as explained in the New Testament typifies;

• The church as a habitation of God through the Spirit. The whole church is the temple and tabernacle of God.

Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit. ( Ephesians 2:19-22)

• The believer,

And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. ( 2Corithnians 6:16)

• The tabernacle also depicts figures of things in heaven

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: ( Hebrews 9:23-24)

In all its details the tabernacle speaks mainly about Christ. The Ark in its materials, Acacia wood and Gold is a type of the Humanity and Deity of Christ

( Exodus 26:15) And thou shalt make boards for the tabernacle of shittim wood standing up.

The contents of the ark is Christ as having God’s law in his heart ( Exodus 25:16) (1 Kings 8:9) and for a time the golden pot containing manna, the wilderness food (or portion) for his people ( Exodus 16:33) And Aaron’s rod that budded is a symbol of the resurrection of Christ. ( Numbers 17:10) (Hebrews 9:4) . All these symbolizes Christ as the Ark of safety in the covenant of Grace. Whoever gets in would be sheltered from the wrath of God which is to be poured on sin. In Christ was the Law made perfect. He was the Logos who provided the Law and fulfilled it.

In its use the Ark, especially the Mercy Seat is a type of God’s throne ( Exodus 25:22). That it was to the sinning Israelites, a throne of grace and not of judgement was due to the Mercy Seat formed of gold and sprinkled with the blood of atonement which vindicated the Law and divine holiness guarded by the cherubim’s ( Gen 3:24) (Ezekiel 1:5) (Roman 3:25).

The shewbread is a type of Christ the Bread of life, nourisher of the Christian’s life as a believer- priest (1 Peter 2:9) (Rev 1:6) In (John 6:33-58) Our Lord has more in mind, the manna that food which came down from heaven. The manna is the life giving Christ, the showbread, the life sustaining Christ. The showbread typifies Christ as the corn of wheat (John 12:24) ground in the mill of suffering (John 12:27) and brought into from of judgement (John 12:31-33) .We as priest by faith feed upon him as having undergone that in our stead and for our sakes. we are fed by meditation upon Christ (Hebrews 12:2-3)

Also the Candlestick is type of Christ our light (John 1:4 8:12 9:12) shining in fulness of power of sevenfold Spirit (Isaiah 11:2) ( Hebrew 1:9) (Rev 1:4)

The Ark was behind the second curtain in a room called THE MOST HOLY PLACE with the altar of incense. When Christ died on Calvary that curtain or veil was torn into two meaning the believer now has access into the holy of holies by the death of Christ. The flesh of Jesus was the veil. Jesus as the ark of the testament housed the shekinah Glory of God. ( Hebrews 8:1-2, 5-6)

SHALOM!