A) INTRODUCTION.

B) THE GOLDEN CENSER.

C) THE ARK OF THE COVENANT HAS MANY NAMES.

D) SIGNIFICANCE OF THE “SHITTIM WOOD.”

E) THE STAVES.

F) THE CROWNS.

G) THE PAVED WORK.

H) APPROACHING JESUS.

 

 

A) INTRODUCTION

 

 

“The Ark of God was a sacred chest, made to be the depository of the Ten Commandments, which Law was the representative of God Himself.  This Ark was considered the glory and strength of Israel.”  1SP:398.

 

“When the high priest entered within the Most Holy {Place}, once a year, and ministered before the Ark {of the Covenant} in the awful presence of God, he inquired, and God often answered him with an audible voice.  When the Lord did not answer by a voice, He let the sacred beams of light and glory rest upon the cherubim upon the right of the Ark, in approbation, or favor.  If their requests were refused, a cloud rested upon the cherubim at the left.”  1SP:399.1;4aSG:102.

 

Beyond the Inner Veil was the Holy of Holies, where centered the symbolic service of atonement and intercession, and which formed the connecting link between Heaven and earth.  In this Apartment was the Ark {of the Covenant}, a chest of acacia wood, overlaid within and without with gold, and having a crown of gold about the top.  It was made as a depository for the Tables of Stone, upon which God Himself had inscribed the Ten Commandments.  Hence it was called the Ark of God’s Testament, or the Ark of the Covenant, since the Ten Commandments were the basis of the Covenant made between God and Israel.”  PP 348.2.

 

 

B) THE GOLDEN CENSER

 

 

“(3) And after the second veil, the Tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all; (4) Which had the Golden Censer, and the Ark of the Covenant overlaid round about with gold [the Mercy Seat being on top], wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the Tables of the Covenant.”  Hebrews 9:3-4.

 

Although this text suggests that “the Golden Censer” was kept in the Most Holy Place, the High Priest actually brought it into the Most Holy Place.  Otherwise, It rested on the Altar of Incense, hung upon one of the horns, awaiting its entry into the Most Holy Place.  It is the method by which Christ mixes His prayers with ours, making them acceptable to bring into the presence of God the Father.

 

“In the holiest {Most Holy Place} I saw an Ark {the Ark of the Covenant}; on the top and sides of It was purest gold.  On each end of the Ark was a lovely cherub, with its wings spread out over it.  Their faces were turned toward each other, and they looked downward.  Between the angels was a Golden Censer.  Above the Ark, where the angels stood, was an exceeding bright glory, that appeared like a throne where God dwelt.  Jesus stood by the Ark, and as the saints’ prayers came up to Him, the incense in the {Golden} Censer would smoke, and He would offer up their prayers with the smoke of the incense to His Father.”  EW:32.3.

 

“Between the cherubim was a Golden Censer.  And as the prayers of the saints in faith came up to Jesus, and He offered them to His Father, a sweet fragrance arose from the incense.  It looked like smoke of most beautiful colors.”  1SG:160.

 

“[EW:32.3] In the Ark was the golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the Tables of Stone which folded together like a book.  Jesus opened them, and I saw the Ten Commandments written on Them with the finger of God.  On one table were four, and on the other six.  The four on the first table shone brighter than the other six.  But the fourth, the Sabbath Commandment, shone above them all; for the Sabbath was set apart to be kept in honor of God’s Holy Name.  The holy Sabbath looked glorious -- a halo of glory was all around It.  I saw that the Sabbath Commandment was not nailed to the cross.  If It was, the other nine Commandments were; and we are at liberty to break them all, as well as to break the fourth.  I saw that God had not changed the Sabbath, for He never changes.  But the pope had changed It from the seventh to the first day of the week; for he was to change times and laws.

 

“[EW 32.4] And I saw that if God had changed the Sabbath from the seventh to the first day, He would have changed the writing of the Sabbath Commandment, written on the Tables of Stone, which are now in the Ark in the Most Holy Place of the Temple in Heaven.”  EW:32.3-4.

 

“[EW:252.2] And in the wisdom of God the particulars of this work were given us that we might, by looking to them, understand the work of Jesus in the Heavenly Sanctuary.

 

“[EW:253.1] As Jesus died on Calvary, He cried, ‘It is finished,’ and the veil of the Temple was rent in twain, from the top to the bottom.  This was to show that the services of the earthly Sanctuary were forever finished, and that God would no more meet with the priests in their earthly Temple, to accept their sacrifices.  The blood of Jesus was then shed, which was to be offered by Himself in the Heavenly Sanctuary.  As the priest entered the Most Holy {Place} once a year to cleanse the earthly Sanctuary, so Jesus entered the Most Holy {Place} of the Heavenly, at the end of the 2300 days of Daniel 8, in 1844, to make a final atonement for all who could be benefited by His mediation, and thus to cleanse the Sanctuary.”  EW:252.2-253.1.

 

The Most Holy Place is where, once a year, on the Day of Atonement (“Yom Kippur” in the Hebrew), atonement for the people and the Sanctuary took place (Lev. 16:14-16).  According to Leviticus 16:12-13 the Golden Censer’s purpose was to create smoke in order to conceal the form of God, for no man can look upon Him and live.  Thus, the Most Holy Place must not be entered without the Golden Censer.

 

 

C) THE ARK OF THE COVENANT HAS MANY NAMES

 

 

The Ark of the Covenant was in the form of a chest, about 45 inches long, and 27 inches wide and high, made of “shittim wood,” overlaid with “gold” (Exo. 25:10-12 & 37:1-9).  The Ark was designated by many names, such as, “the Ark of the Testimony,” Exodus 25:22, because, “In the earthly Ark Moses was required to place the Tables of Stone.  These were called the Tables of the Testimony, and the Ark was called the Ark of the Testimony, because they contained God’s Testimony in the Ten Commandments.”  4aSG:8.

 

Since the Ark of the Covenant was where the Two Tablets of the Law were kept, It was also designated, “the Ark of the Covenant,” Numbers 10:33.  This speaks of God’s Covenant relationship with His people.  Other designations, or names, or titles are:  “the Ark of God,” First Samuel 3:3; “the Ark of the Lord God,” First Kings 2:26; “the Holy Ark,” Second Chronicles 35:3; and “the Ark of Thy Strength,” Psalm 132:8.

 

At each end of the Ark stood two cherubim of Gold, facing each other, but looking downward toward the “Mercy Seat” (which is the lid of the Ark), with their wings touching each other as they stretched out over the top of the Ark (Exo. 25:10-20).

 

“The cover of this Sacred Chest was the Mercy-Seat made of solid gold.  On each end of the Mercy-Seat was fixed a cherub of pure solid gold.  Their faces were turned toward each other, and were looking reverentially downward toward the Mercy-Seat, which represents all the Heavenly angels looking with interest and reverence to the Law of God deposited in the Ark in the Heavenly Sanctuary.  These cherubs had wings.  One wing of each angel was stretched forth on high, while the other wing of each angel covered their forms.  The Ark of the earthly Sanctuary was the pattern of the true Ark in Heaven.  There, beside the Heavenly Ark, stand living angels, at either end of the Ark, with each, one wing overshadowing the Mercy-Seat, and stretching forth on high, while the other wings are folded over their forms in token of reverence and humility.”  4aSG:7; 1SP:272.

 

 

D) SIGNIFICANCE OF THE “SHITTIM WOOD”

 

 

The hardness and indestructibility of the “shittim wood,” or acacia wood, speaks elegantly of Christ’s humanity, in that He could even die upon the cross (Mat. 27:33-50), yet withstand the decaying effects of the grave (Psa. 16:10 & Acts 2:30-34).  And the “gold” testifies and is emblematic of our Lord’s Deity, in that Scripture specifically speaks of Christ’s Divinity (John 1:1 & 10:30-33), ascribing such Divine attributes to Him as His eternal existence (Rev. 1:8), Omnipresence (Mat. 28:20), Omniscience (John 2:24-25), and Omnipotence (Php. 3:21).  Also, the overlaying of the “shittim wood” with “gold” well typifies the union of Christ’s Divinity with His humanity (Php. 2:6-11 & 2Co. 5:19).

 

The Ark of the Covenant that contained “the Words of the Covenant, the Ten Commandments,” Exodus 34:28, as stated before, is frequently called “the Ark of the Covenant,” and Christ Himself is called “the Angel of the Covenant,” Hebrews 9:4.

 

Exodus 25:10-15 states it this way:  “And they shall make an Ark of shittim wood:  two cubits and a half [3-feet, 9-inches] shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half [2-feet, 3-inches] the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half [2-feet, 3-inches] the height thereof. [11] And 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.  [This “crown of gold” was the same as was on the Altar of Incense]. [12] And 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. [13] And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold. [14] And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the Ark, that the Ark may be borne with them. [15] The staves shall be in the rings of the Ark:  they shall not be taken from It.”

 

 

E) THE STAVES

 

 

Up to this point I have ignored the carrying rings and staves on all of the other Sanctuary articles.  I have not been interested in the movements of the Sanctuary, but the example of the ever present, in a sense, stationary Heavenly Sanctuary, of which this earthly Sanctuary is but an example of (Heb. 8:5).  We notice here that the staves “shall not be taken from it.”  In other words, it becomes clear from this statement that these “staves” were to remain in place MAINLY to avoid the need for touching any part of the Ark, but also to be ever ready to be moved.  Since these “staves” were not part of the Ark Itself, no sacrilege would be committed in touching or handling the Ark.  Thus, we see the higher value that God places upon the Ark of the Covenant over the other articles of the Sanctuary -- remembering Uzzah (see my comments there; 2Sa. 6:6-7 & 1Ch. 13:9-10).

 

In this respect, the Bible mentions two other arks.  First, there was Noah’s ark, and second, the ark that Jochebed,Moses’ mother, made for the baby Moses.  These were places of safety, and likewise, the Ark of the Covenant is a place of safety for the Law of God and those who are obedient to It.  By contrast, as in Noah’s ark, it is to be feared by those who do not enter in to Covenant with God.

 

The Ark was also covered with pure gold “within and without,” Exodus 25:11 & 37:2, meaning It had a double covering of gold, or double the protection, and showed more of the Divine character of God than any other article in the Sanctuary (or the universe for that matter) could.

 

According to Numbers 7:9; Deuteronomy 31:9; Joshua 3:3 & 15 & 17; 4:9 & 10 & 18; 6:6; 8:33; First Samuel 4:4, the Ark of the Covenant was ONLY to be caried upon the “shoulders” of the designated priests.  Also, according to Numbers 4:6, “a cloth wholly of blue” was to “cover” It when in transit.  This is why David’s transporting of it in Second Samuel, Chapter 6, got him in trouble.

 

 

F) THE CROWNS

 

 

The border of crowns of pure gold encircling the Ark of the Covenant fittingly typified not only the “many crowns” which the Saviour will wear (Rev. 19:12), but also the crowns which He will place upon the heads of all the redeemed, whose “delight is in the Law of the Lord; and in His Law doth he meditate day and night,” Psalm 1:2.  Those only in whom God has written His Law “not with ink, but with the Spirit of the Living God; not in Tables of Stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart,” Second Corinthians 3:3, will wear these crowns of glory.

 

 

G) THE PAVED WORK

 

 

According to Exodus 24:9-10, “(9) Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel: (10) And they saw the God of Israel:  and there was under His feet as it were a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of Heaven in His clearness.”

 

This “paved work” is admonished as the “Stone of the Ten Commandments,” and would thus be made “of a sapphirestone.”  This becomes notable if we connect it with Numbers 15:38-39, which states:  “[38] Speak unto the children of Israel, and bid them that they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put upon the fringe of the borders a ribband of blue: [39] And it shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the Commandments of the LORD, and do them.”

 

All of this fits more clearly together when we understand that the color of a “sapphire stone” is “blue.”  Thus, by the putting on of the boarders of their garments, both on the hems and the necks and the arm-pits, they were prominently displaying this “blue” boarder as a commitment to the keeping of God’s Commandments.  The head, arms, and feet reach out to the world and invite people into and with God’s Covenant keeping Church; while they themselves [their main torso] remains inside the protection of “blue,” symbolizing the keeping God’s Commandments.

 

The fact that the Tables of Stone were “graven,” Exodus 32:15-16, means that the God Wrote His Commandments in the Stone in a sunken posture, or impressed the words deeply into the stone, which indelibly illustrates the permanency of His Law.  Also, that God’s Law cannot be erased or changed, because It is the writing of God.  By contrast, after Moses broke the Two Tables (representing the fact that the people had broken God’s Law), we find in Exodus 34:1:  “And the LORD said unto Moses, Hew thee Two Tables of Stone like unto the First:  and I will Write upon these Tablesthe Words that were in the First Tables, which thou brakest.”  God condescended AGAIN to Write “the Words that were in the First Tables.”  This is an incredible example of God’s patience and mercy toward those who break His Law.

 

 

H) APPROACHING JESUS

 

 

“Humility and reverence should characterize the deportment of all who come into the presence of God.  In the Name of Jesus we may come before Him with confidence, but we must not approach Him with the boldness of presumption, as though He were on a level with ourselves.  There are those who address the great and all-powerful and Holy God, Who dwelleth in light unapproachable, as they would address an equal, or even an inferior.  There are those who conduct themselves in His House as they would not presume to do in the audience chamber of an earthly ruler.  These should remember that they are in His sight whom seraphim adore, before Whom angels veil their faces.  God is greatly to be reverenced; all who truly realize His presence will bow in humility before Him, and, like Jacob beholding the vision of God, they will cry out, ‘How dreadful is this place!  This is none other but the House of God, and this is the gate of Heaven.’ ”  PP:252.1.

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