The Ark of the Covenant

The Ark of the Covenant is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. This was the first furniture which the Lord wanted to be designed for the Tabernacle in Exodus 25:10. The reason the Lord gave the designs for the Ark of the Covenant first is because, without Jesus there cannot be a Body of Christ, or simply saying, what good is a church without Jesus?

The details of the designs for the Ark of the Covenant are mentioned in Exodus 25:10.

The Ark of the Covenant had a base container, like a trunk, and was made out of acacia wood (shittim wood), which is an incorruptible wood, not prone to termite damage, symbolic of Jesus being 100% man without sin.

The wood was coated with gold, symbolic of the deity of Christ and Jesus being 100% God.

The top lid is made of solid gold and it is known as the “mercy seat”.

The two cherubs on the right and the left are there for judgement. The Lord placed a cherub in the Garden of Eden in Genesis 3:24 as a judgment, when Adam and Eve sinned. The mercy seat is a picture of God's throne in heaven.

The rods made of wood were also coated with gold and were used by the priests of Israel to carry the Ark.

Within the Ark, was the ten commandments, a piece of manna that fell from heaven, and Aaron's rod which budded, all of the three elements representing the murmuring of the Israelites, it was a sin which the Lord overlooked before the law was given.

Every year during “Yom Kippur”, known as the “Feast of Atonements”, the high priest of Israel would sprinkle the blood of a spotless lamb on the mercy seat, symbolic of the Blood of Jesus. The Ark was kept in the Tabernacle within the Holy of holies. No one was allowed to enter the Holy of holies nor touch the Ark. There was a curtain separating the Holy of holies during the Old Testament. This curtain tore when Jesus died on the cross, meaning, that now people can approach the Lord because of the Blood of Christ which was the one time and eternal sacrifice as stated in Hebrews 10:14.

"For by one offering he hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified"

Initially when the Lord placed a cherub at the garden of Eden, the cherub was able to turn on all sides, holding a flaming sword as a judgement. Notice, here on the Ark of the Covenant, the eyes of the two cherubs are fixed upon the blood. Today, when God looks at believers in Christ, He no longer looks upon our sins, but instead He looks upon the Blood of His only Begotten Son, and declares us righteous.

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. - 2 Corinthians 5:21

Today we have the privilege to be in the presence of God because of Jesus's one time and eternal sacrifice. This is the reason that today we are not under the law, but under Grace, hence the Bible says:

"For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace" - Romans 6:14

The Ark of the Covenant is the most sacred furniture on this entire planet. This way our Lord Jesus was hidden during the Old Testament under the old covenant of the law, but is now revealed today in the New Testament under the new covenant of Grace. The Bible says:

For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people: And they shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest. For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. - Hebrews 8:10-12

When Mary Magdalene came to see the body of Jesus in the tomb in John 20:12, she saw two angels, one at the head, and the other at the feet where the body of Jesus was. What she saw was the picture of the real Ark of the Covenant.