The first holy vessel described, and commanded by the Lord to be made, was the Ark, with its cover-the Mercy Seat. It ranked the highest of all the vessels of the Tabernacle, was alone placed in the Holy of Holies, and was the one vessel with reference to which all the ministrations and ritual of the Tabernacle service were conducted. Before this vessel the holy perfume yielded its perpetual fragrance; the incense altar was placed also with direct reference to it; the blood of the sin-offering of atonements was annually sprinkled on it and before it; and the costly vail was its covering. Indeed, without it all the other vessels of the Sanctuary, and all the service of the priests, would have been comparatively useless and powerless; because it was over the Mercy Seat that Jehovah dwelt, and manifested His glory; and all worship, and every act of devotion, must be conducted alone with reference to Him, and derives its blessing alone from the sanction and power of His presence.
It might have been expected that the Ark, being the most holy and important vessel of the Sanctuary, would have been described last in order, and would have been deposited last in the Tabernacle itself, after the court around had been reared up, and the other vessels had been arranged in their places. Such, however, is not the order of God. His way is to lead first and at once direct to the highest and holiest thing, and into the highest and holiest place. To make Himself known, and to bring into His own presence and glory, has ever been His purpose; and faith has ever had no lower object, has expected no lesser end. So in the very earliest revelations of Himself, and in the very first promises, we find truths still of the most strengthening nature, and assurances of future blessings that are still before us. The very first promise in the garden given after the fall of man, namely, the bruising of the serpent's head by the seed of the woman, is that which contains, as in a nucleus, every subsequent blessing. Christ, as made of the woman, was there foretold. His mysterious conception was therein involved; for it was to be the woman's seed, and not the man's. His death-his subsequent triumph in resurrection-the spoiling of principalities and powers-the exaltation of the woman's seed above the highest created being-all this, and all that was dependent on it, and resulted from it-was, as in a bud, involved in that short and yet all-significant promise. And this very promise remains the last to be fully accomplished. For the final triumph of the seed of the woman over the serpent will not be manifested till the very close of all revealed dispensations, when at the last Satan and death and hades are finally, and forever, cast into the lake of fire. (Rev. 20:10-1410And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever. 11And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. (Revelation 20:10‑14).) Again, we find the hope that sustained the early saints in their path of sorrow, and trial, and suffering, was that which still animates the Church of God in its pilgrimage. They looked for a heavenly city and a heavenly country. (Heb. 11:10-1610For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. 11Through faith also Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. 12Therefore sprang there even of one, and him as good as dead, so many as the stars of the sky in multitude, and as the sand which is by the sea shore innumerable. 13These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. 14For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country. 15And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned. 16But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city. (Hebrews 11:10‑16).) They were heirs of the same promise with ourselves. And though, indeed, their view of that city that hath foundations was, as compared with ours, but indistinct and distant, and though many a glorious mystery now revealed to us by the Spirit was entirely unknown to them, yet they afford us bright examples of faith, and of the pilgrim and stranger character, resulting from their steadfast gaze upon that country which they sought, and for the sake of which they were content to leave home and kindred here, and to wander almost as strangers and sojourners in a strange land.
God has ever presented Himself as the object of faith; and though each dispensation, as it has rolled on, has brought with it some fresh and clearer manifestations of Him, and has added thus some further truth and fuller revelation to what has gone before; yet from the first to the last it has been, and still will be, God alone who is the object on which the soul rests for its salvation, its peace, its joy. And whether as " the Almighty God," as " Jehovah," or as " the Father," still it has been the same unchanged and eternal God, on whom the saints have ever by faith rested, and who has been ever their hope, their shield, and their exceeding great reward.
Thus it is in the directions given concerning the Tabernacle: The Ark and Mercy Seat-the throne of God's glory and power in the midst of Israel-is first described; and we subsequently get directions for the making other dependent and subordinate vessels of ministry, and the courts of the Tabernacle itself in which they were to be placed. It seems as if the Lord would lead at once to the great object that was before Him, namely, to establish a place for Himself in the midst of His people; and where He might meet Israel's lawgiver and Israel's priest; and from whence He might give directions and commandments for their guidance and blessing. And all the labored and varied services of the Tabernacle had for their end the preserving the people and the place of meeting cle'an, so that God might be able uninterruptedly thus to dwell among them, to be their defense, their help, and their guide.
The Ark is thus described:-
Thus the Ark' was a chest or coffer, as to its chief substance made of wood; the gold being its casing within and without. The Hebrew word in our translation called "shittim wood" is in the Septuagint always translated ξυλον ἀσηπτον, "incorruptible wood."
In seeking to understand this type, our thoughts will naturally be directed first to the materials of which this holy vessel was formed. The wood is generally, and I believe rightly, held to be a type of the Lord as to His human nature. Though truly man, yet in blessed contrast with all other men, the Lord was one whom neither the temptations of Satan could seduce, nor the evil around Him defile-one who, pure and spotless at His birth, withstood unmoved every (to us attractive) form of evil; and though, like the shittim wood, planted and nurtured in this earth, yet abode uncorrupted and incorruptible in the midst of all the sin, defilement, and corruptions of man around, and attacks of the enemy with which He was assaulted. The shittim or incorruptible wood seems to be, therefore, a fitting emblem of that distinguishing characteristic of His humanity, its unstained spotlessness, its incorruptibility-that which nothing could taint or defile; and yet, by reason of which, He is able to have all sympathy and fellow-feeling for the weak and tempted, and to stand as their fitting and glorious representative before God in heaven.
It was needful that He who was to sustain the place of mediation between God and men should be able, on the one hand, truly to represent those for whom He thus stood, should thoroughly understand their need, should be able to feel for them and with them in their various temptations; at the same time that He must also be fit for the most holy and glorious presence of God, must know and be acquainted with God as well as men, must be the " fellow " of God as well as of men (Zech. 13:77Awake, O sword, against my shepherd, and against the man that is my fellow, saith the Lord of hosts: smite the shepherd, and the sheep shall be scattered: and I will turn mine hand upon the little ones. (Zechariah 13:7); Psa. 45:77Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows. (Psalm 45:7)); must Himself be as competent to be made the depositary of the thoughts and feelings and power of God, as of the need and weakness and wants of men; and thus might be the channel of blessing from God to men, and the way of approach of men to God. The wood is then that material which shadows forth the nature of Christ as man, whereby He is able to take this place on behalf of men, for that He Himself truly is a man in glory; whilst the gold which overlaid the wood within and without added its strength, its value, its brilliancy and glory to the wood, even so the blessed Lord, because He is Himself God, stands in His office of mediator in all His own divine and eternal power, glory, and preciousness, in the presence of God.
The tables of stone thus put into the Ark, written on by the finger of God, were the expression of God's righteous demands of man, but they only ended in the ministration of death. For the law found man a sinner by nature, and it had no power to alter that nature. It found him dead, and it could not give life. It promised life indeed upon its terms being fulfilled, but it could not give life as a matter of grace. It declared the righteous requirements of God, both as regards what man ought to be towards Him, and also towards his neighbor. It declared what man ought to be, but it communicated no power to enable him to be what it required. It demanded, and threatened, and denounced, but it could not give. It could condemn, but it could not save. It presupposed some power in man, but it found him impotent. In short, the law, though an expression of what God demanded, was not God Himself; neither did it manifest God in the grace of His heart: it did not describe God, so that it could neither communicate life-for God alone can do that-neither did it direct the soul to the source of life: all that it really effected was to sentence to death. "The commandment" was found by the apostle "to be unto death." (Rom. 7:1010And the commandment, which was ordained to life, I found to be unto death. (Romans 7:10).)
Moreover, the law came in and interfered with the manifest actings of grace. It, as it were, stopped up for a while the wide ouflowings of mercy. God had dealt with Abraham upon the sure ground of unconditional promise, therefore on the sure ground of grace; for unconditional promise and grace ever go together. Promise is the simple expression of God's own will and intentions, and its accomplishment rests alone upon God's own ability and unchangeableness: it requires, therefore, nothing on man's part. God had also begun to deal with Israel upon the same gracious ground, up to their arrival at Mount Sinai. " He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength. He brought them forth also with silver and gold; and there was not one feeble person among their tribes. Egypt was glad when they departed; for the fear of them fell upon them. He spread a cloud for a covering, and fire to give light in the night. The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river. For He remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant." (Psa. 105:36-4236He smote also all the firstborn in their land, the chief of all their strength. 37He brought them forth also with silver and gold: and there was not one feeble person among their tribes. 38Egypt was glad when they departed: for the fear of them fell upon them. 39He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night. 40The people asked, and he brought quails, and satisfied them with the bread of heaven. 41He opened the rock, and the waters gushed out; they ran in the dry places like a river. 42For he remembered his holy promise, and Abraham his servant. (Psalm 105:36‑42).)
God could thus deliver, and bless, and act in uninterrupted grace, though they from the first were a murmuring and stiff: necked people; because they simply stood in dependence on Him, and He was dealing with them on the ground of His own promise. But now at Sinai all was changed; thrice had Israel, in their own ignorant self-confidence, uttered those fearful words, " All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient." (Ex. 19:8; 24:3, 78And all the people answered together, and said, All that the Lord hath spoken we will do. And Moses returned the words of the people unto the Lord. (Exodus 19:8)
3And Moses came and told the people all the words of the Lord, and all the judgments: and all the people answered with one voice, and said, All the words which the Lord hath said will we do. (Exodus 24:3)
7And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the Lord hath said will we do, and be obedient. (Exodus 24:7).) And then Moses sprinkled both the book and all the people, and the covenant was confirmed, so that no one could disannul it; a covenant which bound them to obedience, and bound God to punish disobedience; a covenant that rested for the performance of its terms on their own faithfulness and strength; and in which God had, so to speak, nothing to do Himself, but to watch the results of their actings, and to deal with them accordingly. And what were they? Poor lost sinners at their very birth, children of wrath by nature-without strength at the very outset, save that they had the strength of the flesh, which could only act in the way of sin. Doubtless, it sounded well in the ears of men when they uttered the resolution to obey God. It doubtless gratified their own hearts, and seemed like humble obedience; but what was it in reality but the expression of their own ignorance of God's righteousness, and of their own helpless and ruined condition. What was it but a proof that sin had so blinded their eyes that they were unable to discern their own state, and supposed themselves competent to obedience, when in reality they were in the helplessness of death. And does not many a good resolution, even at the present day, manifest the same ignorance of self-the same dream of strength when there is really none-the same thoughtlessness as to God's holiness and man's incompetence?
But though Israel proved themselves thus ignorant of their own lost condition, yet God, who search eth the heart, knew it well; and He commanded this golden depository to be formed, in order that it might shut up out of sight the very ministration of death, to which they had so eagerly and inconsiderately bound themselves. And thus did He shadow forth the necessity of the law being removed out of the way, and point onward in this scene to Christ.
It is blessed thus to trace in Scripture intimations, again and again, of God's thoughts, and purposes of mercy and grace, in the midst of the disclosures of man's folly, failure, and sin. It had been so before in Eden after the fall. There stood the woman who had given credit to Satan's lie; had sinned against the majesty, and truth, and love of God; had ruined Adam and the whole human race, and all creation besides, through her transgression; but when to the eyes of all others she only exhibited a miserable spectacle of degradation, and ruin, and sin, to God she presented not only a fit object for mercy and grace, but the very one by means of whom He would effect His own most blessed joy and triumph. He spoke of her, not as the mother of the helpless and lost millions that were to spring from her, but as the mother of the seed that was to bruise the head of the enemy of God and man. He looked at the fallen woman, and He thought of Christ. He saw His own joy, His own triumph over Satan, to be effected by the seed of the very woman who had so dishonored, so wronged His majesty and love.
How quick, how skilful, is love in discovering expedients to remedy the failure of those on whom it is set! So was it at Sinai: there was Israel binding judgment and ruin upon themselves, exposing themselves willingly to all the righteous vengeance of God; but God looked onward to one who would be able, and whose delight it would be to fulfill that very covenant on behalf of Israel, and who would thereby become the means and channel of blessing, mercy, and salvation from God to a lost and ruined world.
There was, however, but one mode by means of which the law could be moved out of the way, and whereby also God's righteousness and truth could at the same time be preserved, and even vindicated; for the law was a fit expression of righteousness, such as God might justly demand of man. God could not lower this standard, and man had no power to attain to it. Moreover, the covenant had been confirmed with blood, so that neither party could set it aside. It could not be disannulled or rent in twain, as a worthless thing; it was holy, just, and good; it was given by God Himself. There, therefore, it remained as the solemn witness of unapproachable righteousness in God, and of distance, and ruin, and helplessness in man. What, then, could be done? There was but one hope of deliverance, and the God of hope alone foreknew and foreordained, and in this type foreshadowed, that way of deliverance. Let one be found, a man made under the law, who should fulfill all its requirements; who, placing himself in the sphere and circumstances of the guilty and impotent, should yet walk with unwavering perfectness along the prescribed path of strict, unerring righteousness; who, amongst the disobedient, should prove himself obedient; amongst the unholy, should prove himself spotless; amongst the froward, should exhibit humble, patient dependence on God: one who should love when others hated; should requite blessing for others' curses; should, in one word, "love the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength, and with all his mind, and his neighbor as himself." Let such an one be found, who should fulfill all righteousness, not only as to the letter, but spirit of the law. But even more than this was needed; for Israel was not only impotent, and therefore incompetent to accomplish human righteousness-Israel had done worse, for it had broken the law, and had incurred its fearful curse. Before the very tables of the testimony were brought down from God, Israel was found reveling in sin around the golden calf, and the law was broken at its very commencement; sure and sad presage of what should afterward be manifested by that law-bound people. Moses seems to have felt the uselessness, as well as danger, of bringing the tables of the covenant into the camp; and, hopeless as to the people, and but partially acquainted with God's resources in grace, he dashed the tables to pieces out of his hands at the bottom of the Mounts The curse of the broken law had therefore to be borne, its vengeance had been incurred, and there was no provision of mercy, and indeed there could not be, in its requirements that could arrest its vengeance; grace could not mingle with it; so that judgment once incurred must find its path unobstructed, and must roll on unhindered and unarrested to its awful consummation. Some one had then to be found, who, while able to fulfill all righteousness, should also endure on behalf of others the deadly penalty incurred. And such was Christ, foreseen in the counsels of God, yea, foreordained before the foundation of the world, and in the fullness of time sent forth by God, "made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem them that were under the law." (Gal. 4:4,54But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, 5To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons. (Galatians 4:4‑5).) He " magnified the law, and made it honorable." (Isa. 42:2121The Lord is well pleased for his righteousness' sake; he will magnify the law, and make it honorable. (Isaiah 42:21).) He "is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth." (Rom. 10:44For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth. (Romans 10:4).) He has also borne the curse of the broken law; " Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us; for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree." (Gal. 3:1313Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: (Galatians 3:13).)
The especial use of the Ark was then carefully to preserve the law, but to preserve it out of sight; to remove it out Of Israel's way, and forever to conceal the ministration of death, and prevent its breaking forth in vengeance. A beautiful type of Him who, having come to do the will of God, and delighted in it, yea, even in His heart, having died also in accomplishment of that will under the curse, now stands before God as the one who has fulfilled all righteousness, and the witness also of vindicated justice; and who has forever removed the stern barrier that prevented man's approach to God, namely, the demands against him of an unfulfilled law, so that now righteousness, which was the very hindrance, becomes the very ground of our full and free intercourse with God. Our way to God is not now by the law, but by Christ, by whom it has been taken out of the way and fulfilled; God meets us in Him.
But not only was the testimony placed in the Ark, it was also covered up, and a sure provision made that it should no more be exposed. The Ark had a golden lid, of equal dimensions with itself; so as exactly to cover it; and this lid was called the " Mercy Seat."
Ex. 25:17-2117And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. 18And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. 19And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 20And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. 21And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. (Exodus 25:17‑21).-And thou shalt make a Mercy Seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the Mercy Seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the Mercy Seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the Mercy Seat with their wings, and their faces shall 'look one to another; toward the Mercy Seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the Mercy Seat above upon the Ark;—and in the Ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.
Ex. 37:66And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof. (Exodus 37:6)—9.-And he ma 'e the Mercy Seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the Mercy Seat; one cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side; out of the Mercy Seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the Mercy Seat, with their faces one to another; even to the Mercy Seat-ward were the faces of the cherubims.
The Mercy Seat was thus the cover of the Ark, and both together formed one vessel of the sanctuary. We have to regard it, therefore, as a whole, and as such it typifies the Lord Jesus himself as the one mediator between God and men. For He, having fulfilled all righteousness, and having borne the curse of the law, and thereby having removed forever the law, with its demands, and requirements, and penalties, out of the way, now stands in the presence of God as our way and place of approach to God; and the one, also, because of and by means of whom God is able to be just, and yet the justifier of him that believeth; "the one Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus" (1 Tim. 2:55For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; (1 Timothy 2:5)), combining in Himself righteousness, mercy, and power, and standing in the mediate place, the means and channel of blessing from God to men, and the way of access from men to God.
The first thing to be noticed respecting this Mercy Seat are the two Cherubim, beaten out of its two ends, one Cherub at the one end, and the other Cherub at the other end.
The Cherubim seem, throughout Scripture, to be symbolic figures, shadowing forth the glorious power of God, whereby He accomplishes His purposes by agencies often unseen, and yet sure, and efficient, and overruling. This power of Jehovah is first described minutely under these symbols in the book of Ezekiel; where the Cherubim are represented as four living creatures, having every one four faces-the face of a man, of a lion, of an ox, and of an eagle.
The face of a man seems to be symbolic of mind, reason, intellect, knowledge, discernment, etc. And we can easily see how gracious a provision it is of God for us, that He who is our Mercy Seat holds and uses the power of God, guided by a full consciousness of all our need, of all our sorrows, of all our infirmities-having perfect human intelligence as to all these things, and able therefore so skillfully, and yet tenderly, to deal with us, and to accommodate this tremendous power, so that it may find its exercise in gentleness and grace.
The face of a lion denotes majesty, terribleness, strength, dignity; as it is written, " A lion which is strongest amongst beasts, and turneth not away from any." (Prov. 30:3030A lion which is strongest among beasts, and turneth not away for any; (Proverbs 30:30).) "The king's wrath is as the roaring of a lion." (Prov. 19:12;20. 2.) It is said of David, "And he also is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion." (2 Sam. 17 o.) Lions were the emblems of the strength and dignity of Judah's throne (2 Chron. 9:17-1917Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with pure gold. 18And there were six steps to the throne, with a footstool of gold, which were fastened to the throne, and stays on each side of the sitting place, and two lions standing by the stays: 19And twelve lions stood there on the one side and on the other upon the six steps. There was not the like made in any kingdom. (2 Chronicles 9:17‑19)); the name and title of its only true king-" the lion of the tribe of Judah." (Rev. 5:55And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. (Revelation 5:5).) And even for the maintenance of mercy, this power is needed; for who does not rejoice in Him who has proved His lion-like majesty and power, in the destruction of Satan and of death. And how needful is it that the same kind of power should still shelter and guard the place of mercy for us!
The face of an ox equally expresses power, but used in patient and persevering labor; strength subjected to bear burdens. When spoken of with reference to God, it is expressive of long-suffering, or continued and patient exercise of power in subjection to love; "Much increase is by the strength of the ox" (Prov. 14:44Where no oxen are, the crib is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox. (Proverbs 14:4)); "able to bear burdens" (Psa. 144:1414That our oxen may be strong to labor; that there be no breaking in, nor going out; that there be no complaining in our streets. (Psalm 144:14), marginal reading); used to "tread out the corn." (Deut. 25:44Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. (Deuteronomy 25:4); Hos. 10:1111And Ephraim is as an heifer that is taught, and loveth to tread out the corn; but I passed over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods. (Hosea 10:11).) See also the constant use of the bullock in sacrifice, as a type of the blessed Lord in His character of the patient, unwearied servant. This characteristic of strength, thus connected with the Mercy Seat, is held by Him in the glory in order that mercy may still find its unrestrained exercise, in spite of all obstacles; and may be steadily maintained, through the patient and enduring continuance of a power that will never weary nor be exhausted, but will still go on finding rich increase, and making fresh openings for the displays of grace.
The face of an eagle-marking quickness and power of sight, and almost equal rapidity of action. " She seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off, and where the slain are there is she." (Job 39:29,3029From thence she seeketh the prey, and her eyes behold afar off. 30Her young ones also suck up blood: and where the slain are, there is she. (Job 39:29‑30).) "Swifter than eagles," is used to express rapidity of action. How blessed to know that keenness of sight, and swiftness of execution, are attached also to the place of mercy; so that He who is the Mercy Seat discerns afar off, with eagle eye, the need, and quickly stretches out the hand of power to deliver.
These, then, are some of the attributes of the Cherubim, the executors of God's will; and here we find them beaten out of one piece with the Mercy Seat. Some have thought these figures betokened angels, and that their bending posture towards the Mercy Seat is explained by that text, "which things the angels desire to look into." (1 Peter 1:1212Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into. (1 Peter 1:12).) And in many pictorial representations of the Mercy Seat we see them represented in a kneeling posture, as if in adoration. Others have thought that the Cherubim here symbolize the Church. But the construction itself, as well as uses, of the Mercy Seat seem to preclude either of these interpretations of the type. The Cherubim are distinctly stated to be " OF the Mercy Seat," and " OUT OF the Mercy Seat." (Ex. 25:19;37. 8.) And this is still more apparent in the Hebrew, where the preposition used in the 18th and 19th verses of ch. 25., and the 7th and 8th verses of ch. 37., and translated "on the Mercy Seat," and "on the two ends," etc., should properly be translated " from." Also, as to the word translated in Ex. 25:1818And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. (Exodus 25:18), "beaten work," and Ex. 37:77And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat; (Exodus 37:7), "beaten out of one piece," the meaning seems to he, that the Cherubim were not cast or molded separately from the Mercy Seat, and then attached to it, but were beaten out of the solid mass of gold which formed the Mercy Seat, the one being beaten from out of the one end, and the other from the other. Angels cannot, then, be typified here by the Cherubim; for, if they were, it would imply that they form part of the seat of God's mercy, and would thus stand very much in the place in which Popery has set them, as the agents for procuring or exhibiting the mercy of God, derogating thereby from the person and work of the Lord Jesus Himself, who is the only way of approach to God, and the one through whom alone God can show His grace and mercy to us; for "there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:1212Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. (Acts 4:12).) The same argument would equally apply, if the Church were symbolized by the Cherubim on the Mercy Seat. The Church would thus become what, indeed, false systems have made it, the platform from whence God dispenses His grace, instead of the body which has received His grace. The Mercy Seat and Cherubim, being all of one piece, represents, it is believed, Christ as the one who holds all the glorious power of God, associated with mercy, and in and through whom God is able to display His power and righteousness, ever inseparably linked on with mercy and grace.
But the attitude of the Cherubim seems also to be significant.
"The Cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the Mercy Seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the Mercy Seat shall the faces of the Cherubim be." (Ex. 25:20, 37:9.)
When first seen on earth, the Cherubim were placed "at the east of the garden of Eden, to keep the way of the tree of life." (Gen. 3:2424So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. (Genesis 3:24).) They then stood associated with " the flaming sword," the sword of vengeance and judgment; and as witnesses that all the terrible majesty of God's power and holiness, which had been insulted, was against man, and had closed up every avenue against his return to his original happy state. The word and majesty of God had been trifled with and despised, man had given credit to Satan's falsehood, and had by his unbelief made God a liar; and the Cherubim then took their stand as the avenger of God's insulted majesty, and the stern proof that man was an outcast, banished by God from that happy place, and no way allowed for his return to the tree of life. This significant place of the Cherubim of itself manifested the hopelessness of any attempt on the part of man to regain life by his own efforts; and that, unless the glory of God could be met, and the flaming sword of vengeance and of holiness satisfied, it were vain for man to hope for any way of return to life; but death and the curse were his inalienable portion.
But to us the heaven has been opened, and there, in the holiest on the Mercy Seat, we behold these Cherubim of glory. The earthly garden, with its tree of life, is indeed lost, and lost forever, but " the paradise of God " is opened to us; and life above, hidden with Christ in God, is ours through faith in Him. The place of life and of the Cherubim is alike changed. They no longer stand to debar man's approach to life, but they brood with outstretched wings over the place of mercy, whence life and blessings flow. No longer are they connected with the flaming sword; but their faces now intently turn towards the place of grace. For all the power and glory of God is held by one in heaven, who uses it for mercy. "All power in heaven and earth " hath been given to Christ, but He now employs it but for one object, to preserve the place of mercy and of grace for His saints; and the place where we now know the full propitiation for our sins, is the place where we beheld the majesty, power, and glory of God, all now in our favor, because forming part of the Mercy Seat itself. All the intelligence and sympathy expressed in the face of the man; all the majesty, terribleness, and power of the lion; all the patient enduring strength of the ox; all the rapidity and clear-sightedness of the eagle, now stand engaged on the side of mercy. Redemption in Christ has converted the very attributes of God, which were once the most fearful and opposed to us as sinners, to be the very shelter for us, and the power, and assurance, and strength of our blessing.
Well, indeed, is it for the world itself that the faces of the Cherubim are thus turned towards the Mercy Seat, and that, for a while, He who holdeth this power hath retired into His place. For what will it be when again they turn their faces toward the earth? when again they look toward a world where not only the majesty, and glory, and truth of God have been despised, but where even His grace and mercy in Christ have been rejected? What will it be when the power and glory of God are made to test the condition of everything here below, and when Christ will come holding that power, and directing it against man in judgment? The day will ere long be, when "the Lion of the tribe of Judah" will rouse Himself to the prey, and, when riding on the Cherubim of glory, the Lord Himself shall return to avenge His own elect, and to destroy them that corrupt the earth.
The Mercy Seat is only twice distinctly mentioned in the New Testament. Once in Heb. 9:55And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly. (Hebrews 9:5), where it is enumerated with the other vessels of the Tabernacle; and in Rom. 3:2525Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; (Romans 3:25), where it is in our version translated "propitiation." This passage in the Romans seems beautifully to allude to the type, and is another warrant for interpreting it as a type of Christ. It begins by stating that, by the deeds of the Taw, no flesh shall be justified in the sight of God; for that all the law could effect was to give the knowledge of sin, and not to put it away, or to give power over it. But now God's righteousness in justifying a sinner, independently of the law, has been made manifest, and is the portion of all them that believe in Jesus: a righteousness, indeed, to which the law and the prophets witnessed, though it was not then made manifest. And in this respect there is no difference between Jew and Gentile-between one who has been seeking to keep the law and one who has not-for all have sinned, whether Jews or Gentiles, and have come short of the glory of God; but all who believe are justified alike freely by God's grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God had indeed foreordained, even before He came, to be a Mercy Seat, and, having Him in view, was able to pardon sins committed previously to this Mercy Seat being really established. But now God has openly made manifest His righteousness in remitting sins, through faith in the blood of Christ; for now God proves Himself just at the same time that He justifieth him that believeth. We are here instructed, in these great truths, the incapability of the deeds of the law to justify; the purpose of God to set up a Mercy Seat, even His own blessed Son; and having that in His purpose, He pardoned the saints of old; and now the Mercy Seat actually set up, and God's righteousness thereby vindicated and manifested when He pardons a sinner through Christ. He receives the sinner now as "a just God and a Savior." It is not, indeed, that Jesus turned the heart of God towards us, but that now God can act, through Jesus, according to His own heart of grace and love, at the same time consistently with His righteousness and justice. For the law, the expression of God's just demands, has been vindicated, not a jot or tittle has passed away unfulfilled; its righteous vengeance also, on account of sin, has fallen on the head of Christ; and now God can allow all His own full and eternal love to flow out towards the sinner, for justice has been satisfied, and mercy can rejoice against judgment. In Christ, thus prefigured in the Ark and Mercy Seat, we can indeed say, " Justice and judgment are the establishment of thy throne; mercy and truth shall go before thy face. Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound; they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance." (Psa. 89:14, 1514Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne: mercy and truth shall go before thy face. 15Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O Lord, in the light of thy countenance. (Psalm 89:14‑15).) Here, "mercy and truth are met together, righteousness and peace have kissed each other." (Psalm 85:1010Mercy and truth are met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other. (Psalm 85:10)) Those principles which seemed to be most opposed to each other-mercy which desired to pardon, and truth which must condemn-meet together in Christ, for in Him the sinner receives pardon by the very means whereby the truth and holiness of God have been vindicated. And the apostle can therefore truly add, that "we establish the law" through faith, instead of making it void. We are not, indeed, saved by law deeds; but our salvation is grounded on the fact, that the righteousness of the law has been vindicated and fulfilled. We establish it not as a means of salvation, not as attempting to save ourselves by fulfilling its demands, not as a covenant of works under which we are placed, but as that which has witnessed to and foreshadowed Christ, and the demands of which Christ has abundantly satisfied, both as to its requirements and its curse. And now no act more displays the righteousness of God than His act of mercy to a sinner; God never proves Himself more holy than when He pardons sin; for that mercy and pardon are ever grounded upon His righteous judgments having been poured out on the head of Christ, on behalf of, and as the substitute for, the sinner. God is "faithful and just" in the forgiveness of sins, and the very attributes of His holiness, which were most against us as sinners, become our surest defense and protection through Christ. The Cherubim of glory have quitted the flaming sword, and taken their place on the Mercy Seat.
But there are yet other parts of this holy vessel which demand our attention. "And thou shalt make upon it (the Ark) a crown of gold round about." (Ex. 25:11, 37:2.) The word here translated "crown " occurs only in connection with the Ark, Shewbread Table, and Incense Altar. The Hebrew word u (rare) is translated by Gesenius, " border, edge, wreathed work:" he derives it from a root meaning " to bind together." This word has no reference then apparently to a regal crown, but means a ledge or binding of gold placed around the top of the Ark, the use of which seems to have been to retain the Mercy Seat in its proper place, exactly covering up the Ark.
The Ark had to be borne on the shoulders of the priests, over many a rugged path through the wilderness; and they that bare it might even wander where their feet would be liable to slip or stumble; many a rude shock would thus be given to this holy vessel; and what if the Mercy Seat had been thereby displaced? But this golden crown was the careful provision of God to avoid such a result, and to keep it securely in its proper place. Supposing the Mercy Seat had been displaced even accidentally, and not willfully, the law, the ministration of death, would have been exposed, and destruction to the thousands of Israel might have been the result. We find one instance on record where this was done, not indeed through accident, for that had been carefully provided against, but from the unholy curiosity of those who lifted the Mercy Seat to look into the Ark. (1 Sam. 6:19, 2019And he smote the men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the Lord, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter. 20And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? and to whom shall he go up from us? (1 Samuel 6:19‑20).) "And he smote the men of Beth-shemesh because they had looked into the Ark of the Lord, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men. And the people lamented, because the Lord had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter. And the men of Beth-shemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy Lord God? And to whom shall he go up from us?" May we not learn from this scene the awful consequences of the Mercy Seat being removed, though but for a little moment? Judgment necessarily then broke forth, and who could stand before the holy Lord God? If mercy is not fixedly retained by divine power covering over the righteous ministration of death, who indeed could stand?
The golden crown seems then to have been the gracious provision against this happening, notwithstanding the waywardness or stumbling of those who bore the Ark; and the Mercy Seat was thus retained unshaken in its position, however the priests might fail or faint by the way.
And so it is with the true Mercy Seat. Not only has God, in his marvelous grace, appointed His Son to be His place of mercy, and our place of access and blessing, but He has provided that, through His divine strength and excellency, the ministration of condemnation shall be forever closed up, and kept out of sight. So that no wrath shall ever break forth against His people; no shortcomings, no failures, no sins in them shall ever shake the stability of that throne of grace from whence all their blessings are dispensed. The place of mercy and of grace remains ever unshaken and unchanged for them. The ways of the Church of God have indeed been, in many respects, most evil; declension, and backsliding, and failure to a fearful extent have marked their steps; as God's priests (Rev. 1:66And hath made us kings and priests unto God and his Father; to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 1:6)), they have but little remembered the preciousness of the truth committed to their care, but have trodden many a bye-path of evil, and worldliness, and error. But still has the Mercy Seat been retained for them unshaken; still no change has taken place in the position of Christ for them before God; still has the way of access been the same; still has the place of grace remained unaltered; still does the same propitiatory abide; and no intimation of wrath, no thought of anything but mercy is there in the mind of Him who has taken forever, as regards His Church, His seat between the Cherubim of glory over the Mercy Seat. The thunders and lightnings of Sinai have been hushed forever, the law has been forever taken out of the way, wrath has been appeased forever. " Mercy that endureth forever" seems to be the fitting motto for this golden circlet surrounding the Ark. Mercy that endureth forever has been established on the ground of everlasting righteousness.
And who has not felt the blessing of this divine power in Him who is our salvation, to retain unchanged his place before God for us, notwithstanding all our failures and haltings on the road? Who has not felt his need of casting himself, again and again, upon the unfailing ability of Christ to maintain his position before God for us, when we have wronged the grace, or trifled with the mercy and truth so richly bestowed? Who has not known the comfort of resting on one who, at the same time that He is plenteous in mercy, is also mighty to save?
The Staves 5
The fact of the staves being fixed in the rings, marked this vessel to be one that was to be borne with Israel during all their wilderness journey, and all their conflicts with the enemy. It showed that God intended all the value of this precious vessel to accompany them on their way, and to be ever present with them.
Israel had been redeemed out of Egypt, had been themselves saved from the wrath of God by the blood of the paschal lamb, and had seen God's judgments poured out upon their hard taskmasters, the Egyptians; but the very redemption that had forever delivered them from the heavy bondage of those that oppressed them, placed them in a wilderness, where new scenes of trial, new sources of sorrow awaited them, and where a new class of dangers and enemies surrounded them. They had to learn, themselves, what their own heart of rebellion and unbelief really was; and they had also to become acquainted with the holiness of that God who had delivered them, and who dwelt in their midst. The Amalekites, Midianites, and Amorites, also, were enemies who would seek to impede their progress into the land of their rest; and a trackless desert lay before them, where weariness, and toil, and hunger, and thirst, and a scorching sun awaited them. Under these circumstances, how gracious a provision were the staves thus attached to the Ark, which intimated to them that Jehovah Himself had foreseen their need, and had engaged to accompany them with His own presence all their journey through: one whom they might consult in every difficulty; who would deliver them out of every danger; who would be their defense and protection against all their foes; and in whom they would ever find sympathy, pity, and help, in all their distresses.
The Church of God is now going through an experience, of which Israel's history affords a type. The redemption that is in Christ Jesus has once and forever freed the believer from all the vengeance due to him as a sinner. There is to him now. No condemnation, he has passed from death to life: but still is he left in a world that is unredeemed; still is he burthened with an unredeemed body, and present things around him are like the wilderness of old. His way is difficult, his path rugged. He has to learn his own weakness and worthlessness; he has to know himself. He finds desires, and thoughts, and feelings longing for God's presence and God's rest and holiness; and yet he is in a world where all around speaks of vanity, and sin, and death, and where a groan goes up incessantly from all creation. He finds, too, a heart of unbelief and murmuring within, ceaseless in its efforts of evil, and active with a restless energy of sin, which it needs incessant watchfulness to restrain, and unceasing power to overcome. And there is, beside all this, Satan with his hosts of evil spirits hovering around the path, watching the weak points, suggesting occasions of evil, ready to take advantage of every failure, and marking with malicious exultation every declension. Ceaseless is the conflict, day by day is it renewed; day by day has a path of weariness, and toil, and danger, again to be trodden; and still there seems before the eye to be further trackless wilds, stretching forth their long and dreary expanse, which have to be passed through ere the journey is over, ere the rest is entered. No marvel, then, if the heart sinks beneath it all, and trembles, and is discouraged, by reason of the length and difficulty of the way. And so it would be, were it not that there is the sure abiding presence of one, in all circumstances, who has said, " I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee;" one who has Himself trodden the path and has overcome, who has proved Himself fit and willing to guide, and guard, and comfort the hosts of the Lord on their journey. Is there failure? He is present to restore. Is there weakness? He is at hand to strengthen. Is there conflict? He is near to deliver. Is there ignorance? He is with us to guide. He who could say, "All power is given unto me in heaven and earth," hath also said, " Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." And as indeed redemption has brought us into conflicts, and dangers, and experiences, both of ourselves and things around us, quite different to what we once knew, and trying and sorrowful truly to the flesh; yet we have one with us whose grace, and power, and holiness, could only be known in its full extent in such a scene as this; and every fresh difficulty and temptation only proves an occasion for the manifesting of some fresh grace, and wisdom, and might in Him who, " having loved his own that were in the world, loved them to the end."
Israel might even have to turn back again, owing to their own sin and folly, and wander yet forty years in that waste howling wilderness, as a judgment on their rebellious hearts, and disbelief of God: but the Ark must turn back also; it could find no rest till they rested; the staves were still in the rings, and it must toil on still with that rebellious people; for, though rebellious, they were yet God's people, and it must therefore still bear with them the wearisome journey. And think not, because there is failure, that the grace of Him who is our Ark and Mercy Seat has been exhausted. Think not His companionship is lost, think not His sympathy is lessened. With an anxious, careful eye still He marks the path of His saints; though Himself in glory, and rest, and joy above, yet His heart and thoughts are here; and never will He cease to watch over and accompany the Church below till He presents it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing.
The usual place of the Ark during the journeying of the camp was, apparently, in the center of Israel's hosts. For in Num. 10:13-2813And they first took their journey according to the commandment of the Lord by the hand of Moses. 14In the first place went the standard of the camp of the children of Judah according to their armies: and over his host was Nahshon the son of Amminadab. 15And over the host of the tribe of the children of Issachar was Nethaneel the son of Zuar. 16And over the host of the tribe of the children of Zebulun was Eliab the son of Helon. 17And the tabernacle was taken down; and the sons of Gershon and the sons of Merari set forward, bearing the tabernacle. 18And the standard of the camp of Reuben set forward according to their armies: and over his host was Elizur the son of Shedeur. 19And over the host of the tribe of the children of Simeon was Shelumiel the son of Zurishaddai. 20And over the host of the tribe of the children of Gad was Eliasaph the son of Deuel. 21And the Kohathites set forward, bearing the sanctuary: and the other did set up the tabernacle against they came. 22And the standard of the camp of the children of Ephraim set forward according to their armies: and over his host was Elishama the son of Ammihud. 23And over the host of the tribe of the children of Manasseh was Gamaliel the son of Pedahzur. 24And over the host of the tribe of the children of Benjamin was Abidan the son of Gideoni. 25And the standard of the camp of the children of Dan set forward, which was the rereward of all the camps throughout their hosts: and over his host was Ahiezer the son of Ammishaddai. 26And over the host of the tribe of the children of Asher was Pagiel the son of Ocran. 27And over the host of the tribe of the children of Naphtali was Ahira the son of Enan. 28Thus were the journeyings of the children of Israel according to their armies, when they set forward. (Numbers 10:13‑28), where the order of their march is described, the arrangement was as follows:First: the camp of Judah, including under its standard the three tribes of Judah, Issachar, and Zebulun.
Then the Gershonites and Merarites, bearing the boards, sockets, and curtains of the Tabernacle.
Second: the camp of Reuben, including under its standard the three tribes of Reuben, Simeon, and Gad.
Then the Kohathites, bearing the Sanctuary.
Third: the camp of Ephraim, including under its standard the three tribes of Ephraim,
Manasseh, and Benjamin.
And Fourth: the camp of Dan, including under its standard the three tribes of Dan,
Asher, and Naphtali.
It will here be observed that the Kohathites march in the center of Israel, having two camps of three tribes each in front, and two camps of three tribes each in the rear. They are said to bear the " Sanctuary," which word seems to mean here all the holy vessels, including the Ark. The word "Sanctuary" is used in Num. 4 r 5 for the Ark itself. But at the end of Num. 10 we find a remarkable exception to this order of march, as to the place of the Ark. "And they departed from the mount of the Lord three days' journey, and the Ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them in the three days' journey, to search out a resting-place for them. And the cloud of the Lord was upon them by day, when they went out of the camp." The reason for this remarkable change of the Ark's position in the journey seems to have arisen from what precedes in the same chapter, relative to the conversation between Moses and Hobab.
The cloud is seen to rise off the Tabernacle of the Testimony (ver. 1); the priests encamped immediately in front of the Tabernacle mark this intimation of the Lord's intention to move, and sound, as directed in the same chapter, the silver trumpets, with an alarm for the camp of Judah to prepare for the march. Moses seeing all getting ready for departure, tries to persuade Hobab to accompany them, ostensibly with the sole object of doing him good, and that he may share in Israel's blessings; but having really also another motive, namely, desiring to have the experience and skill of Hobab to assist him in their wilderness journey. "Thou mayest be unto us instead of eyes." This God cannot permit. He is jealous of his people's affections and dependence on Himself. Hobab's knowledge of the wilderness may do where the people of God are not concerned; but it is the presence and guidance of God alone that is to be the security and blessing of His own people. Accordingly the Ark, jealous, as it were, of this place of watchful and patient care, moves out from its usual position in the center, and takes the lead of Israel. It is like the skilful general assuming the command, when he sees his forces about to be committed to the care of one whose judgment he cannot trust. This is the first occasion on which the golden staves were used; and here we find this holy vessel passing forward at the head of the people into the trackless desert, to find out a temporary resting-place for them. It was the shepherd of Israel going before the flock, and carefully seeking not only the right path for them, but also a place where He might cause the sheep of His pasture awhile to rest. And for three days is the search continued, till the suited place for repose is found.
This, indeed, tells us of the watchful, considerate thoughtfulness of one who knew the need and weakness of the little ones in the camp. " He shall feed his flock like a shepherd, He shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young." (Isa. 40:1111He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather the lambs with his arm, and carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young. (Isaiah 40:11)) And His sheep know His voice. They know one who can even now lead them beside the peaceful waters, and cause them to lie down in green pastures. One who has all the patient sympathy that is needed to bear with weakness and infirmity, and who uses the strength and wisdom of God thus in the way of gentleness and grace. He is able in the desert even to find out a place for a little timely refreshment and repose, which may give vigor for the future march. The valley of Baca He can make to be a well; " the rain filleth the pools."
Moses seems not to have understood this. Fully conscious of the mighty power of that Ark, he does indeed exclaim when it sets forward, " Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered, and let them that hate thee flee before thee." But he little appears to have known the patient, forbearing grace, the gentle skilfulness of Him who dwelt between the Cherubim; and, therefore, he had sought human experience, and human foresight, for the guidance of Israel. And so will it ever be; ignorance of, or want of confidence in, the minute tender care and wisdom of God will end in the arm of flesh being leant on, or the wisdom of man trusted. May we learn increasingly to depend on Him who unites Almighty power and glorious strength with unfailing wisdom, mercy, and grace.
But the Ark having thus taken an unusual place, the cloud gets, as it were, displaced as to its ordinary position in the journey. How rich, however, are the resources of grace, and how skilful! We find the cloud, instead of going before the camp, taking a new place in this beautiful little history; and it is said, " The cloud of the Lord was upon them by day when they went out of the camp." The cloud of the Lord yields the place of guidance to the Ark, and retires to be a shelter and covering over them by day to screen them from the fierce smiting sun, and to afford them a refreshing shadow in that dry and weary land. (Psa. 105:3939He spread a cloud for a covering; and fire to give light in the night. (Psalm 105:39).) And thus commenced Israel's journeyings from Sinai; and might not these discoveries of God's rich provisions of mercy and watchful care have made them even value the wilderness itself, because it drew forth such varied and blessed displays of the Lord? And may not the believer also find that his hand can bring out of the eater sweetness; and that the very trials and sorrows of the way shall only be occasions for fresh exhibitions of his gentleness and love, and of the rich and varied resources of his grace, who is with him all the journey through, to be his shepherd, his guide, his counselor, his defense, his protector? True, the journey will be one of tribulation; Israel found that they got out of one wilderness only to get into another (Num. 10:1212And the children of Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai; and the cloud rested in the wilderness of Paran. (Numbers 10:12)): there may be differences in the prospect around, but it is a wilderness still, and the main features of a wilderness will always present gloom, and barrenness, and desolation; yet may not the soul be so occupied with God, so delighted in marking His wondrous love, so habituated to watch His hand and His ways, that the very difficulties and dangers of the path become to it but signals for His appearance, and it finds its own joy and triumph in His exercise of wisdom, mercy, and power. An apostle could even boast of his infirmities, that the power of Christ might rest upon him.
The same Ark that had thus, at the commencement of the journey, proved itself the careful guardian and patient guide of Israel in their weakness, stood forth yet once again at the close, to lead Israel in triumph into the land of their rest. Once again, at the distance of nearly forty years, it put itself at the head of Israel's hosts; and the deep waters of the swollen Jordan fled from before it, and the lofty walls of Jericho tottered and fell down at its presence. The same one who knew how " to carry the lambs in his bosom, and gently lead those that were with young," could put forth, when it was needed, the irresistible might of the Cherubim of glory.
Israel's last journeying was now over, and behold them at length, after forty years' wanderings, encamped close to the Jordan, and resting there for awhile before they enter the land. The river had burst its bounds, and rolled on its sullen and deep waters before them, an effectual barrier, apparently, to their entering the land of their rest. But the Ark of the Covenant of their God was with them, and could again point out the trackless path to them, even through the deep waters, and could not only mark out the way, but make the difficult and dangerous path easy and safe for their footsteps: they were to observe its steps, "that they might know the way by which they must go, for they had not passed that way heretofore." (Josh. 3:44Yet there shall be a space between you and it, about two thousand cubits by measure: come not near unto it, that ye may know the way by which ye must go: for ye have not passed this way heretofore. (Joshua 3:4).) Silently the Ark moved on, and Israel halted at a fitting distance to mark its progress. The deep and rolling stream seemed to defy its advance, but no sooner did the feet of the priests that bare the Ark but touch the brim of the water, than the affrighted river rose up, and fled in dismay; back and back were the descending waters driven upon themselves, till a huge piled-up heap afar off, out of sight, betokened the Almighty power of that arm which had hurled back the impetuous stream, and had, as it were, congealed the depths in the midst of the waters. "What ailed thee, thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back?" (Psa. 114:3,53The sea saw it, and fled: Jordan was driven back. (Psalm 114:3)
5What ailed thee, O thou sea, that thou fleddest? thou Jordan, that thou wast driven back? (Psalm 114:5).) " And the priests that bare the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan." (Josh. 3:1717And the priests that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of Jordan, and all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan. (Joshua 3:17).)
And shall we not ourselves realize shortly such a scene as this? Or rather a scene, compared with which this is but a faint shadow. Will not that hand which now patiently waits upon our necessities, and oftentimes smooth the rugged path, be stretched out ere long in terrible majesty, to rescue the Church from all the power of sin, Satan, and death, and to guide them by His strength into His holy habitation? Yes, the day of resurrection, the day of the Lord's return, when He, the captain of salvation, will put Himself at the head of His risen saints, to lead them into the mansions of their eternal glory, will manifest the uncontrollable might of Him who now deals with them in patient, unwearied grace.
The command of the Lord respecting the staves was, that they were not to be taken from the Ark. (Ex. 25:55And rams' skins dyed red, and badgers' skins, and shittim wood, (Exodus 25:5).) They were to remain in the rings, as a proof that there was an adaptation of the Ark to the whole period of wandering and conflict, through which Israel had to pass previous to their final rest in the land; and the Ark was thus ever at hand, and prepared to be their guide or their defense in every circumstance of difficulty. But at length we read of a time having arrived when, with the Lord's sanction, these staves were finally drawn out. When the wilderness journey being over, and every enemy subdued, the Ark could enter into its rest, and the staves could therefore safely be withdrawn, seeing there would be similar seasons of wandering and conflict no more.
The occasion of bringing up the Ark into the final place prepared for it is beautifully described in 1 Kings 8 and a Chron. 5. The reign of him, who is eminently the type of the Prince of Peace, had commenced; the enemies of the Lord had been subdued, and just retribution had fallen upon the heads of the apostates and unfaithful amongst Israel, and after seven years of noiseless labor the house of the Lord had been erected at Jerusalem, and all was now prepared for the reception of the Ark into the most holy place.
The season chosen for this joyful event was the feast of the seventh month, the Feast of Tabernacles, when Israel had to appear before the Lord at Jerusalem, to rejoice before Him in the full fruition of present blessings, contrasted with the remembrance of their former season of toil and conflict, now ended forever. It was the closing feast of the year, when all the rich fruits of the land had been gathered in, when the winepress and corn floor were full, and the Lord had prospered them in the basket and the store: in the midst of all this festivity and abundance they were however again to take a kind of wilderness position, and to dwell seven days in booths, that they might call to mind the time when, as poor wanderers out of Egypt, they had been cast upon the watchful mercy of the Lord; who had succored them and led them, with all his shepherd care, and had guided them by His strength into their land of rest and blessing. Thus their very first encampment ( "Succoth"- booths), when the remembrance of the blood of the paschal lamb was fresh in their thoughts, and when, for the first time, released from the thraldom and bondage of Egypt, they were cast in their helplessness on the merciful care of God, was to be recorded in their last annual feast of joy in the land of promise. This was the season chosen for bringing up the Ark into the Temple; and there are circumstances recorded throughout that scene that clearly point onward to a season of joy and blessing yet future, both to the Church of God in resurrection, and to Israel hereafter on the earth. For there is a time shortly to come when the whole Church of God will, like Israel of old, have finished its wilderness journey; when its last conflict will be over, its toilsome march ended; and when, raised by Almighty power, it will stand, as seen in Rev. 7, around the throne of God and the Lamb, celebrating in the glory, as it were, its Feast of Tabernacles: The robe washed white in the blood of the Lamb, betokening the full cleansing of the Sanctuary, enabling that countless multitude to minister in the heavenly courts as priests, all consecrated, all sanctified, all able to enter into the most holy places; none waiting by course, but all able to serve. (2 Chron. 5:1111And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place: (for all the priests that were present were sanctified, and did not then wait by course: (2 Chronicles 5:11).) The branches of palm in their hands, as records of a wilderness passed through, and trophies thence gleaned of a complete and eternal triumph, seem to indicate that one spring of joy in that blessed rest will be the remembrance of the past, contrasted with the present full and bright scenes of glory. The elder, who looked with the apostle on that scene, marks in his answer to the latter this contrast. He refers to their past wanderings in the desert, and contrasts with that season of toil and privation their present rest in the temple of God. " They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat;"-true experiences these of the wilderness they had passed through;-" for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." Then, indeed, will the staves be needed no more in the Ark; for, as regards the Church, its every conflict will be ended, and its full and eternal rest will have been gained: the present ministration of Christ, known now to us as our strength in weakness, our guide in difficulties, our help in need, our power of victory over temptation, will be required then no more. His heart will then be able fully to rest in looking on us; " He will see of the travail of his soul, and will be satisfied;" yea, He will be satisfied with us, and "will present us before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy." And surely it will be one chief part of our joy in that day to look upon Him, and feel that we are part of His glory and of His joy; and to usher Him, as it were, into His own rest, conscious that our wants, our follies, our weaknesses, will disturb it no more; but that He can fully rest and rejoice over us, as presented to God in His own perfectness, and fitted to minister as kings and priests to His God and Father.
But the staves, though drawn out, were not removed (1 Kings 8:88And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day. (1 Kings 8:8)); they were still kept in the most holy place, though no longer needed. And does not this teach us that the patient and gracious ministry of Christ, as now accompanying His Church in all its journeys and battles with the enemy, will no longer be needed when it has entered the glory, yet that the remembrance of it will still be carefully preserved there? Surely, we shall even there learn deep lessons of His love, when we look back and retrace the path trodden here by us, with Jesus by our side; the difficulties surmounted through His aid, the steps restored through His going down into our need to lift us up, the grace of one who has been with us in all our wanderings, " been afflicted in all our afflictions:" it may be many a deliverance, many a healing, many an act of sovereign mercy and love, unknown or unheeded by us now, will in that day be discovered, and cause the song of joy and thanksgiving to arise with increased power. And though all that might cause a pang or a regret will be gone forever, yet all that will enhance our value of the grace of Jesus will be gladly brought to mind; and deeply will it instruct us in His love to retrace the way in which He has borne with our waywardness, and forgetfulness, and evil, and carried us, as on eagles' wings, through every danger and failure, triumphantly into His rest.
In this scene other types of the glory of the latter day may be also observed: we have Israel represented as sacrificing sheep and oxen before the Ark, which could not be told nor numbered for multitude, whilst the priests usher the Ark into its final place of rest. This seems to be a beautiful millennial scene. Israel on earth fully appreciating the value of the sacrifice, reckoning it, indeed, beyond all that can be numbered; the heavenly priesthood, the glorious company of the risen saints, ushering the Ark of God's strength into the holy of holies, accompanying and welcoming the Lord Jesus into the heaven of heavens, and the song of joy and thanksgiving bursting forth from the heavenly and earthly family alike, with one voice, with one sound, praising the Lord in one blessedly simple, and yet deep and eternal, strain of truth, " For He is good, for his mercy endureth forever." Then the glory of the Lord manifesting itself to Israel, the full blessing of His presence among them, and the priests themselves suspending their ministry, because the very end and object of their ministry was accomplished, namely, the manifested glory of Jehovah in the midst of His people;-are not these intimations of scenes of glory and blessing yet before us, which we may do well to contemplate in hope?-scenes that will suddenly burst upon us at the coming of the Lord, the expectation of which would greatly tend to separate our hearts from all that passes around us on earth now, and to strengthen us to endure with patience the little that yet remains of the wilderness path to be trodden by the redeemed of the Lord.
It is a question often asked, Why there was nothing in the Ark when it was deposited in the Temple but the two tables of stone, seeing that during the wilderness journey Moses had put also into the Ark the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded? (Heb. 9:44Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; (Hebrews 9:4).) It seems as if the direct declaration, twice repeated (1 Kings 8:99There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. (1 Kings 8:9); 2 Chron. 5:1010There was nothing in the ark save the two tables which Moses put therein at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of Egypt. (2 Chronicles 5:10)), that there was nothing in the Ark save the tables of the covenant, has some truth contained in it to which the Spirit would guide our thoughts, and it may be the object is to lead us to mark the scene thus depicted, as one eminently typical of the world to come.
The manna laid up in the golden pot is called, in Rev. 2:1717He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; To him that overcometh will I give to eat of the hidden manna, and will give him a white stone, and in the stone a new name written, which no man knoweth saving he that receiveth it. (Revelation 2:17), " the hidden manna," and a promise is there given that he that overcometh shall eat thereof. Christ is already known to, and fed upon by believers as the true bread from heaven. His flesh and blood is the daily sustainment of the life of the saint, as the first eating of that flesh and blood was the communication of life. As thus known, the gift of God to us for life and sustainment, He is the manna that came down from heaven; but there is also the "hidden manna;" and this seems to allude to Christ, yet to be known as the food of the saint in glory. We now know Him only in part, then we shall know even as we are known: we now see through a glass darkly, but then face to face. " We shall see him as he is." During this our wilderness time the manna daily is provided for us, and Christ is known to us as food adapted to our wilderness state; but there is manna now stored up and hidden in the presence of God for us, which shall be dispensed to us when we enter the glory; and the scene in Kings and Chronicles, which we have been considering, seems to point on to that time, when the manna therefore will be no longer hidden in the Ark, but when there will be the full, unhindered knowledge of Christ, known face to face to His risen saints.
Aaron's rod, also, was no longer in the Ark at the time of which we speak. The reason for which may be as follows:-Israel had previously to their entering the land questioned God's appointed priesthood, and had murmured at the judgment of God which had fallen on those who had, uncalled for, and unappointed by Him, thrust themselves into the holy service. The Lord in His grace took this method of stilling their murmurings. He commanded twelve rods to be laid up before Him, with every man's name upon his rod, according to the house of their fathers. "And it shall come to pass that the man's rod whom I shall choose shall blossom; and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you." (Num. 17:1-111And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 2Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their princes according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write thou every man's name upon his rod. 3And thou shalt write Aaron's name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. 4And thou shalt lay them up in the tabernacle of the congregation before the testimony, where I will meet with you. 5And it shall come to pass, that the man's rod, whom I shall choose, shall blossom: and I will make to cease from me the murmurings of the children of Israel, whereby they murmur against you. 6And Moses spake unto the children of Israel, and every one of their princes gave him a rod apiece, for each prince one, according to their fathers' houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. 7And Moses laid up the rods before the Lord in the tabernacle of witness. 8And it came to pass, that on the morrow Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. 9And Moses brought out all the rods from before the Lord unto all the children of Israel: and they looked, and took every man his rod. 10And the Lord said unto Moses, Bring Aaron's rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not. 11And Moses did so: as the Lord commanded him, so did he. (Numbers 17:1‑11))
The rod of Aaron, thus laid up before the Lord, was found on the morrow to have budded, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds. This was God's mode of vindicating his priest. And this has been his way of vindicating Him, who now stands in heaven as our great High Priest. The dry twig, cut off from all nourishment, withered in death, has found these circumstances of darkness and ruin to be the very soil, as it Were, from whence it should spring forth as the fruitful bough. Jesus disowned by Israel, and cut off out of the land of the living, has sprung up out of the grave-the BRANCH, in the full vigor and maturity of life, and with an eternal prospect of fruitfulness yet to come. Buds, blossoms, and ripe fruit, all at once found upon the almond rod, betokened a full maturity of strength and beauty, as well as a further development of life and power, which render it an apt emblem of Him, who rose from the dead in all the freshness, and yet in all the perfectness, and ripeness of new creation. No eye but that of God rested on the rod laid up before Him; it remained all night shut up, and life was thus under His eye produced out of death, and the dry and withered rod was in the morning seen to be full of life, fruitfulness, and beauty. But this rod was subsequently hidden in the Ark, kept there as a token against the rebels, but still as a sure presage that all their murmuring should eventually be quite taken away. And so now this risen one, fruitful in resurrection, is hidden from Israel's eye, the great token indeed against and proof of Israel's rebellion; but still the steady witness before God that the day will come, when, through Him, God will cause all their murmuring and unbelief to cease forever. In the scene, therefore, in Kings and Chronicles, which looks on to that time, no mention is made of Aaron's rod, or rather it is purposely excluded, because, when that scene is fulfilled, the rebellious nation will have been brought into its final blessing, and Christ and the heavenly priesthood will have been fully owned. The "hidden manna," the food of the risen saints, will be hidden no more; and He that is typified by "the rod that budded," will manifestly stand forth in all the power, glory, and beauty of the heavenly priesthood.
The Throne Of Grace "AND there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the Mercy Seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the Ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel." (Ex. 25:2222And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 25:22).) "And when Moses was gone into the Tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the Mercy Seat that was upon the Ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims. (Num. 7:8989And when Moses was gone into the tabernacle of the congregation to speak with him, then he heard the voice of one speaking unto him from off the mercy seat that was upon the ark of testimony, from between the two cherubims: and he spake unto him. (Numbers 7:89).)
Thus Moses was to approach the Lord at the Mercy Seat, and to receive from thence directions and commandments from Him; and subsequently Aaron, after the sin of Nadab and Abihu, was forbidden from coming in thither, except once a year, when he was to draw nigh with the blood of atonements in his hand. So that Moses and Aaron alone had access to the Mercy Seat; the one to get commandments, the other to atone for sin. How contrasted with this is the use of the true Mercy Seat to the believer! He knows it as the "Throne of Grace," not a throne of judgment, or from whence commandments are given, but from whence pity and grace are dispensed. A throne, where indeed God is known, in His glorious holiness, but yet where all speaks of atonement already made; of salvation already accomplished; of full, unmixed favor flowing unhindered from God. Aaron must have approached with dread; he had to present blood for himself, as well as for the sins of the people. In the very act of thus going in, he had to call sin to remembrance; and what if in some part of the prescribed ritual he had failed? judgment and wrath might break out against him, as before it had burst forth against his own sons Nadab and Abihu. But the believer's access is with boldness-and not only once a year, but at all times, " in every time of need:" every hour, every moment, it is his blessed privilege to enter there and hold intercourse with God; and there pity as well as grace awaits him; there sympathy, as well as needful help, is granted. He fears not the want of fitness in himself, for he knows that in Christ alone is his fitness for God's most holy presence; he fears not his sins as disqualifying him; for that blessed place where God is known as " light in whom is no darkness at all," is the place where the blood of atonement has already been sprinkled, and by a blood-sprinkled path also can he enter: indeed, it is the very consciousness of his need that bids him with confidence draw near.
Satan would fain keep our souls away from this place of blessing, would fain interrupt our communion and intercourse with God. The tempter often suggests arguments for our staying away from this throne of grace. " You have failed, you have sinned, you have neglected or abused God's mercy, and therefore you are not fit to draw near; you must wait till you are in a better state, till you have proved the reality of your love for God, for now you have not the same title to approach God as once you had:" these and such like suggestions are often whispered in our hearts by the enemy of souls. But what is all this reasoning really but mistrust of the grace of God, and ignorance or doubt as to His character, and of the value of Jesus? If a believer has sinned, it is in God's presence, and not afar off, that he must judge the sin. It is in the light of God's unchanging love alone that he will be able to estimate at all the depth of his own ingratitude and evil; it is when the value of the blood is fully known that the believer can alone rightly appreciate the darkness and malignity of that sin which needed such blood. And surely there is no time of greater need, no occasion when the throne of grace is more really required, than when the believer has, for a while, been wandering from the right path. It is too often the habit of the children of God to wait till time has blunted the conscience as to any sin into which they may have fallen, before they venture again into the presence of God; and when the soul has got a measure of calmness restored by reason of the deadening effect of time, they fancy they are better able thereby to approach God. Whereas the truth is, that to stay away from the presence of God is to continue unhumbled on account of sin: real lowliness and contrition of spirit will alone be found in the consciousness of the glory and holiness, as well as grace, of His presence.
Faith has to be exercised as much (it may be more) in the soul of a saint that has failed, in restoring or sustaining his confidence in God, as in sustaining him above failure. The Lord had prayed for Simon that his faith might not fail, and bid him watch and pray lest he should enter into temptation. This Peter failed to do, and in the natural, heedless ardor of his character, and ignorant of his own weakness, he thrust himself into the very place of temptation, when, as might have been expected, he sinned again and again with fearful deliberateness; but directly he met the eye of Jesus, the prayer of the Lord for him was proved to be effectual; his faith failed not; he left the scene of temptation at once, bitterly indeed sorrowing over his sin, but never for a moment mistrusting the grace of Him against whom he had so grievously sinned. We find him, therefore, the first to run towards the sepulcher, the first to enter in and search for Him whom he had wronged; and subsequently at the lake of Gennesaret, (that very lake where he had first known himself a sinner in the presence of the Lord,) directly he gets an intimation from John that it was Jesus who stood on the shore, he is the first to cast himself into the sea, regardless of his danger, and eager to be foremost to welcome Him. Here was faith that failed not-faith that could reckon largely on grace, that at once enabled Peter to seek and welcome the Lord, that taught him that access to the throne of pity and of grace was ever open.
i Directions given by the Lord to Moses for its being made. Ex. 25:10-2210And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. 11And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about. 12And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. 13And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. 14And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. 15The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it. 16And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. 17And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. 18And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. 19And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 20And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. 21And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. 22And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 25:10‑22). Where to be placed-in the Most Holy...
Moses directs the children of Israel to make the Ark, &c..
Bezaleel makes it.....
Ex. 37:1-91And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it: 2And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about. 3And he cast for it four rings of gold, to be set by the four corners of it; even two rings upon the one side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it. 4And he made staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold. 5And he put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. 6And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof. 7And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat; 8One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 9And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims. (Exodus 37:1‑9).
Brought to Moses by the children of Israel..
The Tables of Testimony put into it by Moses. Deut. 10:1-51At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. 2And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark. 3And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. 4And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me. 5And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me. (Deuteronomy 10:1‑5).
.. Placed in the Tabernacle by Moses..
To be anointed with the holy oil....
Ex. 30:26;40. 9.
Anointed when the Priests are consecrated..
Not to be approached by Aaron at all times. The blood to be sprinkled on the Mercy Seat, and before the Mercy Seat, once a year-on the great day of atonement..
Under the charge of the Kohathites...
The coverings of the Ark previous to the march.
The ordinary place of the Ark in the march..
The Wilderness
The Ark departs from its ordinary place, and leads the way. The first journey from Sinai...
Num. 10:33-3633And they departed from the mount of the Lord three days' journey: and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went before them in the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them. 34And the cloud of the Lord was upon them by day, when they went out of the camp. 35And it came to pass, when the ark set forward, that Moses said, Rise up, Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee. 36And when it rested, he said, Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel. (Numbers 10:33‑36).
The Ark abides in the camp during the discomfiture of the Israelites at Hormah.....
It seems to have gone up to battle with Israel under Phinehas, as "holy instruments," as well as the silver trumpets, are mentioned.....
Moses directs the Levites to place the Book of the Law inside the Ark...
Deut. 31:9-269And Moses wrote this law, and delivered it unto the priests the sons of Levi, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and unto all the elders of Israel. 10And Moses commanded them, saying, At the end of every seven years, in the solemnity of the year of release, in the feast of tabernacles, 11When all Israel is come to appear before the Lord thy God in the place which he shall choose, thou shalt read this law before all Israel in their hearing. 12Gather the people together, men, and women, and children, and thy stranger that is within thy gates, that they may hear, and that they may learn, and fear the Lord your God, and observe to do all the words of this law: 13And that their children, which have not known any thing, may hear, and learn to fear the Lord your God, as long as ye live in the land whither ye go over Jordan to possess it. 14And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thy days approach that thou must die: call Joshua, and present yourselves in the tabernacle of the congregation, that I may give him a charge. And Moses and Joshua went, and presented themselves in the tabernacle of the congregation. 15And the Lord appeared in the tabernacle in a pillar of a cloud: and the pillar of the cloud stood over the door of the tabernacle. 16And the Lord said unto Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers; and this people will rise up, and go a whoring after the gods of the strangers of the land, whither they go to be among them, and will forsake me, and break my covenant which I have made with them. 17Then my anger shall be kindled against them in that day, and I will forsake them, and I will hide my face from them, and they shall be devoured, and many evils and troubles shall befall them; so that they will say in that day, Are not these evils come upon us, because our God is not among us? 18And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods. 19Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. 20For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant. 21And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware. 22Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel. 23And he gave Joshua the son of Nun a charge, and said, Be strong and of a good courage: for thou shalt bring the children of Israel into the land which I sware unto them: and I will be with thee. 24And it came to pass, when Moses had made an end of writing the words of this law in a book, until they were finished, 25That Moses commanded the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying, 26Take this book of the law, and put it in the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against thee. (Deuteronomy 31:9‑26).
The Land
.. The Ark divides the waters of Jordan.
Josh. 3 and 4.
The walls of Jericho fall down before the Ark. Israel defeated at Ai. Joshua falls on the earth before the Ark.
Josh. 6
God directs him as to Achan..
Josh. 7
The Ark stands between Ebal and Gerizim, whilst the blessings and curses are pronounced.
Deut. 27:11-2611And Moses charged the people the same day, saying, 12These shall stand upon mount Gerizim to bless the people, when ye are come over Jordan; Simeon, and Levi, and Judah, and Issachar, and Joseph, and Benjamin: 13And these shall stand upon mount Ebal to curse; Reuben, Gad, and Asher, and Zebulun, Dan, and Naphtali. 14And the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of Israel with a loud voice, 15Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the Lord, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen. 16Cursed be he that setteth light by his father or his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. 17Cursed be he that removeth his neighbor's landmark. And all the people shall say, Amen. 18Cursed be he that maketh the blind to wander out of the way. And all the people shall say, Amen. 19Cursed be he that perverteth the judgment of the stranger, fatherless, and widow. And all the people shall say, Amen. 20Cursed be he that lieth with his father's wife; because he uncovereth his father's skirt. And all the people shall say, Amen. 21Cursed be he that lieth with any manner of beast. And all the people shall say, Amen. 22Cursed be he that lieth with his sister, the daughter of his father, or the daughter of his mother. And all the people shall say, Amen. 23Cursed be he that lieth with his mother in law. And all the people shall say, Amen. 24Cursed be he that smiteth his neighbor secretly. And all the people shall say, Amen. 25Cursed be he that taketh reward to slay an innocent person. And all the people shall say, Amen. 26Cursed be he that confirmeth not all the words of this law to do them. And all the people shall say, Amen. (Deuteronomy 27:11‑26). Josh. 8:30-3530Then Joshua built an altar unto the Lord God of Israel in mount Ebal, 31As Moses the servant of the Lord commanded the children of Israel, as it is written in the book of the law of Moses, an altar of whole stones, over which no man hath lift up any iron: and they offered thereon burnt offerings unto the Lord, and sacrificed peace offerings. 32And he wrote there upon the stones a copy of the law of Moses, which he wrote in the presence of the children of Israel. 33And all Israel, and their elders, and officers, and their judges, stood on this side the ark and on that side before the priests the Levites, which bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, as well the stranger, as he that was born among them; half of them over against mount Gerizim, and half of them over against mount Ebal; as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded before, that they should bless the people of Israel. 34And afterward he read all the words of the law, the blessings and cursings, according to all that is written in the book of the law. 35There was not a word of all that Moses commanded, which Joshua read not before all the congregation of Israel, with the women, and the little ones, and the strangers that were conversant among them. (Joshua 8:30‑35).
Gilgal
Shiloh
The Tabernacle at length removed to Shiloh, and formally set up there. Josh. 18 and six.-The remainder of the land divided. 21.-Levitical cities appointed. 22: 9.-The two and a half tribes sent back. 22:12.-Israel assembles here respecting the altar of the Reubenites. Hence it is probable that the Ark was in the Tabernacle all the time it was at Shiloh.
Josh. 18
Shechem
Subsequently we find Joshua gathering all Israel to Shechem, and that “the sanctuary of the Lord" was there. But the Ark may have remained at Shiloh, as the Tabernacle was replaced there again before the time of
.. Judg. 20.. Josh. 24:1-261And Joshua gathered all the tribes of Israel to Shechem, and called for the elders of Israel, and for their heads, and for their judges, and for their officers; and they presented themselves before God. 2And Joshua said unto all the people, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Your fathers dwelt on the other side of the flood in old time, even Terah, the father of Abraham, and the father of Nachor: and they served other gods. 3And I took your father Abraham from the other side of the flood, and led him throughout all the land of Canaan, and multiplied his seed, and gave him Isaac. 4And I gave unto Isaac Jacob and Esau: and I gave unto Esau mount Seir, to possess it; but Jacob and his children went down into Egypt. 5I sent Moses also and Aaron, and I plagued Egypt, according to that which I did among them: and afterward I brought you out. 6And I brought your fathers out of Egypt: and ye came unto the sea; and the Egyptians pursued after your fathers with chariots and horsemen unto the Red sea. 7And when they cried unto the Lord, he put darkness between you and the Egyptians, and brought the sea upon them, and covered them; and your eyes have seen what I have done in Egypt: and ye dwelt in the wilderness a long season. 8And I brought you into the land of the Amorites, which dwelt on the other side Jordan; and they fought with you: and I gave them into your hand, that ye might possess their land; and I destroyed them from before you. 9Then Balak the son of Zippor, king of Moab, arose and warred against Israel, and sent and called Balaam the son of Beor to curse you: 10But I would not hearken unto Balaam; therefore he blessed you still: so I delivered you out of his hand. 11And ye went over Jordan, and came unto Jericho: and the men of Jericho fought against you, the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Girgashites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; and I delivered them into your hand. 12And I sent the hornet before you, which drave them out from before you, even the two kings of the Amorites; but not with thy sword, nor with thy bow. 13And I have given you a land for which ye did not labor, and cities which ye built not, and ye dwell in them; of the vineyards and oliveyards which ye planted not do ye eat. 14Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord. 15And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. 16And the people answered and said, God forbid that we should forsake the Lord, to serve other gods; 17For the Lord our God, he it is that brought us up and our fathers out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage, and which did those great signs in our sight, and preserved us in all the way wherein we went, and among all the people through whom we passed: 18And the Lord drave out from before us all the people, even the Amorites which dwelt in the land: therefore will we also serve the Lord; for he is our God. 19And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins. 20If ye forsake the Lord, and serve strange gods, then he will turn and do you hurt, and consume you, after that he hath done you good. 21And the people said unto Joshua, Nay; but we will serve the Lord. 22And Joshua said unto the people, Ye are witnesses against yourselves that ye have chosen you the Lord, to serve him. And they said, We are witnesses. 23Now therefore put away, said he, the strange gods which are among you, and incline your heart unto the Lord God of Israel. 24And the people said unto Joshua, The Lord our God will we serve, and his voice will we obey. 25So Joshua made a covenant with the people that day, and set them a statute and an ordinance in Shechem. 26And Joshua wrote these words in the book of the law of God, and took a great stone, and set it up there under an oak, that was by the sanctuary of the Lord. (Joshua 24:1‑26).
Shiloh
The Tabernacle and Ark again stationary here, as is evident from the “house of God," twice mentioned, Judg. 20:18, 2618And the children of Israel arose, and went up to the house of God, and asked counsel of God, and said, Which of us shall go up first to the battle against the children of Benjamin? And the Lord said, Judah shall go up first. (Judges 20:18)
26Then all the children of Israel, and all the people, went up, and came unto the house of God, and wept, and sat there before the Lord, and fasted that day until even, and offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. (Judges 20:26); and the Ark also in connection with it, ver. 27. That this was at Shiloh seems plain, from xxi. 2, 12, 19. And 1 Sam. 1 opens with worship and sacrifice carried on at Shiloh. 1 Sam. 3:33And ere the lamp of God went out in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was, and Samuel was laid down to sleep; (1 Samuel 3:3).-The Ark directly mentioned as at Shiloh.
Aphek And Ebenezer
The Ark fetched by Israel to the battle, and is captured by the Philistines.
Ashdod
The Ark removed by the Philistines from Ebenezer to Ashdod. 1 Sam. 5:1-81And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Eben-ezer unto Ashdod. 2When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon. 3And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again. 4And when they arose early on the morrow morning, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the ground before the ark of the Lord; and the head of Dagon and both the palms of his hands were cut off upon the threshold; only the stump of Dagon was left to him. 5Therefore neither the priests of Dagon, nor any that come into Dagon's house, tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod unto this day. 6But the hand of the Lord was heavy upon them of Ashdod, and he destroyed them, and smote them with emerods, even Ashdod and the coasts thereof. 7And when the men of Ashdod saw that it was so, they said, The ark of the God of Israel shall not abide with us: for his hand is sore upon us, and upon Dagon our god. 8They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither. (1 Samuel 5:1‑8).-In the house of Dagon at Ashdod. Dagon falls before it.
Ekron
The Ark sent to Ekron. The Philistines plagued.
1 Sam. 5:8-128They sent therefore and gathered all the lords of the Philistines unto them, and said, What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel? And they answered, Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried about unto Gath. And they carried the ark of the God of Israel about thither. 9And it was so, that, after they had carried it about, the hand of the Lord was against the city with a very great destruction: and he smote the men of the city, both small and great, and they had emerods in their secret parts. 10Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. And it came to pass, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, They have brought about the ark of the God of Israel to us, to slay us and our people. 11So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go again to his own place, that it slay us not, and our people: for there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there. 12And the men that died not were smitten with the emerods: and the cry of the city went up to heaven. (1 Samuel 5:8‑12); 6. 1-2.
Beth-Shemesh
The Ark sent up in a new cart, takes the way to Beth-shemesh. The men of Beth-shemesh slain, because they looked into the Ark
Kirjath-Jearim
The Ark taken to Kirjath-Jearim, and remains there twenty years
1 Sam. 6:21;7. 1, 2
Gibeah
Saul consults the Ark in Gibeah at the time of Jonathan's miraculous success; but it must have been only removed from Kirjath-Jearim for a time, as we find
Kirjath-Jearim, Called also Baale of Judah and Gibeah
The Ark fetched up thence by David out of the house of Abinadab, where it had been twenty years. In 2 Sam. 6 the house of Abinadab is said to be in Gibeah, but this only means " the hill;"
The House of Obed-Edom
Uzzah smitten and the Ark is carried aside into the house of Obededom, the Gittite. Remains there three months.
n David prepares a place for the Ark, and a tent for it, in the city of David. 2 Sam. 6:12-2312And it was told king David, saying, The Lord hath blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that pertaineth unto him, because of the ark of God. So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom into the city of David with gladness. 13And it was so, that when they that bare the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings. 14And David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. 15So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. 16And as the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal Saul's daughter looked through a window, and saw king David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. 17And they brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in his place, in the midst of the tabernacle that David had pitched for it: and David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the Lord. 18And as soon as David had made an end of offering burnt offerings and peace offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord of hosts. 19And he dealt among all the people, even among the whole multitude of Israel, as well to the women as men, to every one a cake of bread, and a good piece of flesh, and a flagon of wine. So all the people departed every one to his house. 20Then David returned to bless his household. And Michal the daughter of Saul came out to meet David, and said, How glorious was the king of Israel to day, who uncovered himself to day in the eyes of the handmaids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows shamelessly uncovereth himself! 21And David said unto Michal, It was before the Lord, which chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel: therefore will I play before the Lord. 22And I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in mine own sight: and of the maidservants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honor. 23Therefore Michal the daughter of Saul had no child unto the day of her death. (2 Samuel 6:12‑23); He carries it up on the shoulders of the Levites to the city of David, and deposits it in the Tabernacle he had made for it.
1 Chron. 15:1-291And David made him houses in the city of David, and prepared a place for the ark of God, and pitched for it a tent. 2Then David said, None ought to carry the ark of God but the Levites: for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto him for ever. 3And David gathered all Israel together to Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the Lord unto his place, which he had prepared for it. 4And David assembled the children of Aaron, and the Levites: 5Of the sons of Kohath; Uriel the chief, and his brethren an hundred and twenty: 6Of the sons of Merari; Asaiah the chief, and his brethren two hundred and twenty: 7Of the sons of Gershom; Joel the chief, and his brethren an hundred and thirty: 8Of the sons of Elizaphan; Shemaiah the chief, and his brethren two hundred: 9Of the sons of Hebron; Eliel the chief, and his brethren fourscore: 10Of the sons of Uzziel; Amminadab the chief, and his brethren an hundred and twelve. 11And David called for Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and for the Levites, for Uriel, Asaiah, and Joel, Shemaiah, and Eliel, and Amminadab, 12And said unto them, Ye are the chief of the fathers of the Levites: sanctify yourselves, both ye and your brethren, that ye may bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel unto the place that I have prepared for it. 13For because ye did it not at the first, the Lord our God made a breach upon us, for that we sought him not after the due order. 14So the priests and the Levites sanctified themselves to bring up the ark of the Lord God of Israel. 15And the children of the Levites bare the ark of God upon their shoulders with the staves thereon, as Moses commanded according to the word of the Lord. 16And David spake to the chief of the Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of music, psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy. 17So the Levites appointed Heman the son of Joel; and of his brethren, Asaph the son of Berechiah; and of the sons of Merari their brethren, Ethan the son of Kushaiah; 18And with them their brethren of the second degree, Zechariah, Ben, and Jaaziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, Eliab, and Benaiah, and Maaseiah, and Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, the porters. 19So the singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, were appointed to sound with cymbals of brass; 20And Zechariah, and Aziel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Unni, and Eliab, and Maaseiah, and Benaiah, with psalteries on Alamoth; 21And Mattithiah, and Elipheleh, and Mikneiah, and Obed-edom, and Jeiel, and Azaziah, with harps on the Sheminith to excel. 22And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was for song: he instructed about the song, because he was skilful. 23And Berechiah and Elkanah were doorkeepers for the ark. 24And Shebaniah, and Jehoshaphat, and Nethaneel, and Amasai, and Zechariah, and Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, did blow with the trumpets before the ark of God: and Obed-edom and Jehiah were doorkeepers for the ark. 25So David, and the elders of Israel, and the captains over thousands, went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the house of Obed-edom with joy. 26And it came to pass, when God helped the Levites that bare the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that they offered seven bullocks and seven rams. 27And David was clothed with a robe of fine linen, and all the Levites that bare the ark, and the singers, and Chenaniah the master of the song with the singers: David also had upon him an ephod of linen. 28Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the Lord with shouting, and with sound of the cornet, and with trumpets, and with cymbals, making a noise with psalteries and harps. 29And it came to pass, as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, that Michal the daughter of Saul looking out at a window saw king David dancing and playing: and she despised him in her heart. (1 Chronicles 15:1‑29); 16. 1-3.
-Levites appointed to minister before
1 Chron. 16:4-384And he appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of the Lord, and to record, and to thank and praise the Lord God of Israel: 5Asaph the chief, and next to him Zechariah, Jeiel, and Shemiramoth, and Jehiel, and Mattithiah, and Eliab, and Benaiah, and Obed-edom: and Jeiel with psalteries and with harps; but Asaph made a sound with cymbals; 6Benaiah also and Jahaziel the priests with trumpets continually before the ark of the covenant of God. 7Then on that day David delivered first this psalm to thank the Lord into the hand of Asaph and his brethren. 8Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. 9Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works. 10Glory ye in his holy name: let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. 11Seek the Lord and his strength, seek his face continually. 12Remember his marvellous works that he hath done, his wonders, and the judgments of his mouth; 13O ye seed of Israel his servant, ye children of Jacob, his chosen ones. 14He is the Lord our God; his judgments are in all the earth. 15Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations; 16Even of the covenant which he made with Abraham, and of his oath unto Isaac; 17And hath confirmed the same to Jacob for a law, and to Israel for an everlasting covenant, 18Saying, Unto thee will I give the land of Canaan, the lot of your inheritance; 19When ye were but few, even a few, and strangers in it. 20And when they went from nation to nation, and from one kingdom to another people; 21He suffered no man to do them wrong: yea, he reproved kings for their sakes, 22Saying, Touch not mine anointed, and do my prophets no harm. 23Sing unto the Lord, all the earth; show forth from day to day his salvation. 24Declare his glory among the heathen; his marvellous works among all nations. 25For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised: he also is to be feared above all gods. 26For all the gods of the people are idols: but the Lord made the heavens. 27Glory and honor are in his presence; strength and gladness are in his place. 28Give unto the Lord, ye kindreds of the people, give unto the Lord glory and strength. 29Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name: bring an offering, and come before him: worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. 30Fear before him, all the earth: the world also shall be stable, that it be not moved. 31Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice: and let men say among the nations, The Lord reigneth. 32Let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof: let the fields rejoice, and all that is therein. 33Then shall the trees of the wood sing out at the presence of the Lord, because he cometh to judge the earth. 34O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever. 35And say ye, Save us, O God of our salvation, and gather us together, and deliver us from the heathen, that we may give thanks to thy holy name, and glory in thy praise. 36Blessed be the Lord God of Israel for ever and ever. And all the people said, Amen, and praised the Lord. 37So he left there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord Asaph and his brethren, to minister before the ark continually, as every day's work required: 38And Obed-edom with their brethren, threescore and eight; Obed-edom also the son of Jeduthun and Hosah to be porters: (1 Chronicles 16:4‑38)
-the Ark...
1 Chron. 15 t.
(The Tabernacle and altar of burnt-offering were at this time at Gibeon, and remained there till Solomon removed it and its vessels to the Temple.)
1 Chron. 16:39; 21:2939And Zadok the priest, and his brethren the priests, before the tabernacle of the Lord in the high place that was at Gibeon, (1 Chronicles 16:39)
29For the tabernacle of the Lord, which Moses made in the wilderness, and the altar of the burnt offering, were at that season in the high place at Gibeon. (1 Chronicles 21:29). 1Kings 3:4-154And the king went to Gibeon to sacrifice there; for that was the great high place: a thousand burnt offerings did Solomon offer upon that altar. 5In Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream by night: and God said, Ask what I shall give thee. 6And Solomon said, Thou hast showed unto thy servant David my father great mercy, according as he walked before thee in truth, and in righteousness, and in uprightness of heart with thee; and thou hast kept for him this great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his throne, as it is this day. 7And now, O Lord my God, thou hast made thy servant king instead of David my father: and I am but a little child: I know not how to go out or come in. 8And thy servant is in the midst of thy people which thou hast chosen, a great people, that cannot be numbered nor counted for multitude. 9Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people, that I may discern between good and bad: for who is able to judge this thy so great a people? 10And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing. 11And God said unto him, Because thou hast asked this thing, and hast not asked for thyself long life; neither hast asked riches for thyself, nor hast asked the life of thine enemies; but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment; 12Behold, I have done according to thy words: lo, I have given thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there was none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee. 13And I have also given thee that which thou hast not asked, both riches, and honor: so that there shall not be any among the kings like unto thee all thy days. 14And if thou wilt walk in my ways, to keep my statutes and my commandments, as thy father David did walk, then I will lengthen thy days. 15And Solomon awoke; and, behold, it was a dream. And he came to Jerusalem, and stood before the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and offered up burnt offerings, and offered peace offerings, and made a feast to all his servants. (1 Kings 3:4‑15). 2 Chron. 1:3-133So Solomon, and all the congregation with him, went to the high place that was at Gibeon; for there was the tabernacle of the congregation of God, which Moses the servant of the Lord had made in the wilderness. 4But the ark of God had David brought up from Kirjath-jearim to the place which David had prepared for it: for he had pitched a tent for it at Jerusalem. 5Moreover the brazen altar, that Bezaleel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, had made, he put before the tabernacle of the Lord: and Solomon and the congregation sought unto it. 6And Solomon went up thither to the brazen altar before the Lord, which was at the tabernacle of the congregation, and offered a thousand burnt offerings upon it. 7In that night did God appear unto Solomon, and said unto him, Ask what I shall give thee. 8And Solomon said unto God, Thou hast showed great mercy unto David my father, and hast made me to reign in his stead. 9Now, O Lord God, let thy promise unto David my father be established: for thou hast made me king over a people like the dust of the earth in multitude. 10Give me now wisdom and knowledge, that I may go out and come in before this people: for who can judge this thy people, that is so great? 11And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king: 12Wisdom and knowledge is granted unto thee; and I will give thee riches, and wealth, and honor, such as none of the kings have had that have been before thee, neither shall there any after thee have the like. 13Then Solomon came from his journey to the high place that was at Gibeon to Jerusalem, from before the tabernacle of the congregation, and reigned over Israel. (2 Chronicles 1:3‑13). 1 Kings 8:44And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up. (1 Kings 8:4)
David desires to build a house for the Ark, but is not permitted.
David sins in the matter of Bathsheba. Uriah refuses to take his rest in his own house, because the Ark and Israel are abiding in tents
David obliged to flee from Jerusalem, because of Absalom's rebellion, and sends back Zadok and the Levites with the Ark to Jerusalem, after they had accompanied him a little way....
The oracle for the Ark, with two colossal cherubim
MOUNT MORIAH
The Ark is borne from the city of David, or Mount Zion, to its resting place in the Temple, on Mount Moriah; and the staves are drawn out.
1 Kings 8 2 Chron. 5..
We hear no more of the Ark till the time of Josiah, when it seems as if it had been previously moved from the Temple, but was replaced there by his command.
" When that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away."
" And it shall come to pass when ye be multiplied and increased in the land in those days, saith the Lord, they shall say no more, The Ark of the covenant of the Lord; neither shall it come to mind, neither shall they remember it, neither shall they visit it, neither shall that be done any more. At that time they shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord; and all the nations shall be gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem: neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of their evil heart." (Jer. 3:16, 1:7.)
——. Ark of the Testimony. Ex. 25:2222And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 25:22), etc. Ark of the Lord. Josh. 4:1111And it came to pass, when all the people were clean passed over, that the ark of the Lord passed over, and the priests, in the presence of the people. (Joshua 4:11), etc. Ark of the Covenant of the Lord. Num. 10: 33, etc.
"The two Tables of the Testimony"
The Vail
"The Vail of the Testimony"
The Tent
"The Tent of the Testimony"
3. In Deut. 10:1-51At that time the Lord said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood. 2And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark. 3And I made an ark of shittim wood, and hewed two tables of stone like unto the first, and went up into the mount, having the two tables in mine hand. 4And he wrote on the tables, according to the first writing, the ten commandments, which the Lord spake unto you in the mount out of the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly: and the Lord gave them unto me. 5And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and put the tables in the ark which I had made; and there they be, as the Lord commanded me. (Deuteronomy 10:1‑5), we have the history of Moses descending from the mount the second time, and immediately putting the tables of stone into the Ark, as if fearing to expose them for a moment in the midst of Israel. This must evidently be read as a kind of commentary on the history as given in Exodus; for, in point of fact, as we there read, the Ark was not made till after Moses had descended the second time from the mount, and could not, therefore, have been at hand to receive the tables at once. But in reading other parts of the history of the Tabernacle, and the institution of the priesthood connected with it, we shall find that the only way to understand many of the statements is on the ground that different narratives of the same events are written with different aspects, to instruct in typical truth rather than to give a connected or consecutive history of the events as they occurred. And is not this especially to be borne in mind, also, in reading and comparing the different narratives of the Gospels?
4. The explanation of these symbolic faces of the Cherubim is chiefly taken from a beautiful paper on the subject, entitled "The Vision of the Glory of God," printed in the 1st volume of the "Christian Witness."
5. It will be seen that the Staves are in the drawings placed sideways, and not lengthways in the Ark. This seems to be their right position, because it is not probable that the Ark would be turned about, when it was taken up to be carried in the journeys, but would be borne straightforward. Also from 1 Kings 8:88And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day. (1 Kings 8:8), it would appear that, when drawn out of the rings, the Staves reached forwards towards the holy place; and the high priest, when taking in the incense and blood on the great day of atonement, would (if this were the position of the Staves) go in between them up to the Mercy Seat, instead of going up as it were against one of them.