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TREASURES FROM GOD’S WORD | EXODUS 25-26
The Central Object of the Tabernacle
The Ark was the most important object of the tabernacle and of the camp of Israel. God’s presence was represented by a cloud between the two cherubs over the propitiatory cover of the Ark. On the annual Day of Atonement, the high priest entered the Most Holy and spattered the blood of a bull and a goat before the cover to atone for Israel’s sins. (Le 16:14, 15) This foreshadowed the entrance of Jesus, the greater High Priest, into the very presence of Jehovah in heaven to present the value of his ransom sacrifice.—Heb 9:24-26.
Match the following scriptures to the benefits available to us because of the ransom:
SCRIPTURES
BENEFITS
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hope of living forever
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forgiveness of sins
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clean conscience
What must we do to receive these benefits?
Pattern and Design. The first thing Jehovah gave Moses, when instructing him to build the tabernacle, was the pattern and design of the Ark, for indeed it was the central and paramount object of the tabernacle and the whole camp of Israel. The chest itself measured 2.5 cubits long, 1.5 cubits wide, and 1.5 cubits high (c. 111 × 67 × 67 cm; 44 × 26 × 26 in.). It was made of acacia wood, overlaid inside and out with pure gold. An artistic “border of gold” served as a crowning wreath “round about upon it.” The second section of the Ark, its cover, was made of solid gold, not just wood overlaid with gold, and was the full length and breadth of the chest. Mounted on this cover were two golden cherubs of hammered workmanship, one at each end of the cover facing each other, with heads bowed and wings extending upward and overspreading the Ark. (Ex 25:10, 11, 17-22; 37:6-9) This cover was also known as the “mercy seat” or “propitiatory cover.”—Ex 25:17; Heb 9:5, ftn; see PROPITIATORY COVER.
The Ark served as a holy archive for the safekeeping of sacred reminders or testimony, the principal contents being the two tablets of the testimony, or the Ten Commandments. (Ex 25:16) A “golden jar having the manna and the rod of Aaron that budded” were added to the Ark but were later removed sometime before the building of Solomon’s temple. (Heb 9:4; Ex 16:32-34; Nu 17:10; 1Ki 8:9; 2Ch 5:10) Just before Moses died, he gave a copy of the “book of the law” to the Levitical priests with instructions that it should be kept, not within, but “at the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, . . . as a witness there against you.”—De 31:24-26.
Associated with God’s presence. The Ark was associated with God’s presence throughout its history. Jehovah promised: “I will present myself to you there and speak with you from above the cover, from between the two cherubs that are upon the ark of the testimony.” “In a cloud I shall appear over the cover.” (Ex 25:22; Le 16:2) Samuel wrote that Jehovah “is sitting upon the cherubs” (1Sa 4:4); hence the cherubs served as “the representation of the chariot” of Jehovah. (1Ch 28:18) Accordingly, “whenever Moses went into the tent of meeting to speak with [Jehovah], then he would hear the voice conversing with him from above the cover that was upon the ark of the testimony, from between the two cherubs; and he would speak to him.” (Nu 7:89) Later, Joshua and High Priest Phinehas also inquired of Jehovah before the Ark. (Jos 7:6-10; Jg 20:27, 28) However, only the high priest actually entered the Most Holy and saw the Ark, one day a year, not to communicate with Jehovah, but in carrying out the Atonement Day ceremony.—Le 16:2, 3, 13, 15, 17; Heb 9:7.
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