Tabernacle (part 4)

Moses could not enter the Tent of Meeting because…the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle (Exodus 40:35).

Of all the things found in God’s Tent of Meeting, nothing was more sacred or important than the Ark of the Covenant.

The Ark was a box made from Acacia wood, covered in gold. The lid featured two angels facing each other, their wings bent down and forward. Inside were the stone tablets containing the Ten Commandments, a copy of God’s Book of the Law dictated to Moses, the staff of Aaron that miraculously sprouted buds, and a jar of manna, the bread of God sent to feed the Israelites while living in the desert. The Ark was holy; to touch it was to die instantly by the hand of God. This was because God treated the Ark as His earthly throne. The lid was called the Mercy Seat; it was here, between the angels, that God would show His magnificent glory.

The Ark of the Covenant was designed by God as a witness to Christ’s redeeming work. It was made from wood that grew in the desert; Isaiah spoke of Jesus as a root out of dry ground, the only life growing in a world made dead by sin. The box was covered in gold, representing Jesus’ glory as the Son of God. The Commandments and the Book of the Law demand perfect obedience; because no sinner is capable this, God’s Son lived a perfect life as our representative. The manna was bread created by God from the morning dew; Jesus is our bread of life, filling us with a vitality that death cannot bring to an end. Aaron’s staff, although it was dead wood, sprouted with new life by God’s command; in the same way Jesus, although dead in the grave, rose alive by the command of God to live forever as our Savior. The lid of the Ark was called the Mercy Seat; it was sprinkled with the same sacrificial blood that marked the Israelites as children of God. When Jesus sits on His throne and judges us as our King, He shows mercy on everyone marked by His blood and forgives them.

The Ark is lost to time; no one knows where it lies or even if it still exists. But it did its job; it helped God’s people understand the great things Jesus would do when He came. That’s what the Tabernacle and the Temple were all about; showing us how God reaches out to sinners through His Son. Jesus is the Tabernacle. He is the Altar, the Candlestick, the Bread, the Ark. Jesus is where you can meet God, now and always.