Ark of the Covenant

The Ark of the Covenant was the golden chest that held the tablets of the Law and marked the very presence of God among Israel — and a chief Old Testament type of the Theotokos, who bore God Himself.

Overview

• The Ark of the Covenant was a gold-covered wooden chest, made at God's command (Exodus 25.10-22), kept in the Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle and later the Temple.
• Its golden cover, the "mercy seat," was overshadowed by two cherubim, and there God promised to meet and speak with Israel; it held the tablets of the Ten Commandments (and, by tradition, the manna and Aaron's rod).
• It carried the very presence and glory of God among His people — so holy that the careless touch of Uzzah brought instant death (2 Samuel 6.6-7).

Summary

The Ark of the Covenant was the holiest object of Israel's worship: a chest of acacia wood overlaid with gold, crowned by the "mercy seat" between two cherubim, where the glory (Shekinah) of God rested and from which He spoke (Exodus 25.10-22). Within it lay the stone tablets of the Law, and with it Israel carried the presence of God through the wilderness and into the Promised Land. Its holiness was not symbolic only but real and dangerous — Uzzah died for merely steadying it with his hand (2 Samuel 6.6-7). The Church reads the Ark above all as a type of the Theotokos: as the Ark, made pure and overlaid with gold, contained the tablets written by the finger of God and was overshadowed by the cherubim, so the Virgin, all-holy, contained within herself the living Word of God and was "overshadowed" by the power of the Most High (Luke 1.35). What the Ark held in symbol, she bore in reality. Cross-link Theotokos, The Tabernacle, The Temple, Typology in Scripture.

Sources

[^1]: Exodus 25.10-22 (Brenton) — the making of the Ark, the mercy seat, and the cherubim, and God's promise to meet Israel there. [^2]: 2 Samuel 6.6-7 (Brenton) — the death of Uzzah, showing the Ark's real and dangerous holiness.