The Ark of the Covenant - a Picture of Christ (Part 2)

In Part 1 we looked at the materials that made up the Ark and what they represent. (You can read Part 1  here). In Part 2 we shall look at what the Ark represents, which in my opinion is exciting, encouraging and shows the coherency of the Word of God and its inspiration by the Holy Spirit.

What the Ark Represents:

Exodus 25:17 "You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. 

^{Exodus 25:21-22 "}You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. ²² And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel."

The mercy seat is vital to the ark, because without it the ark would not operate as it did and it would not be a picture of Christ. We will see why.

First, notice that the seat is pure gold, therefore (read Part 1), it represents Christ's Divine nature as the Son of God. Whilst Christ was fully human, He was fully Divine and perfect. It was His Divinity that made Him sufficient to take the punishment for our sins upon His shoulders.

Hebrews 9:3-5 (below) discusses the Ark briefly. The Greek word for 'mercy seat' used in Hebrews 9:5 is 'hilasterion', which literally means 'propitiation'. Propitiation means atonement or appeasement. 

Romans 3:24-25 tells us that God set forth Jesus Christ 'as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because God in His forbearance (patience) had passed over the sins that were previously committed.'

The Hebrew word for 'mercy seat', used in Exodus 25 and Leviticus 16 is 'Kapporeth'. This literally means 'place of atonement' or 'to cover' or 'to appease'. This literal meaning is very important to what the Ark represents.

Leviticus 16 tells us about the Day of Atonement and the rules for high priests. The Day of Atonement was one day each year where the high priest would enter the Holy of Hollies and sprinkle the blood of a bull and a goat onto the mercy seat as a sacrifice to the Lord to atone for the sins of the people and the high priest himself (Leviticus 16:14-15).

Thus, to sum up so far: 

• The mercy seat represents Christ, but more specifically it represents the Divinity and perfection of Christ as Lord, rather than the humanity of Christ which can be seen in other parts of the Ark through acacia wood (see Part 1).
• The mercy seat itself represents atonement. The yearly process of the Day of Atonement and the blood sacrifices made on the mercy seat are a picture of the much greater sacrifice that Christ was to make on the cross. Unlike the sacrifice of imperfect animals, which had to be made once a year, Christ's sacrifice was sufficient once for all sins. (Read Hebrews 10 for more on this).

Hebrews 10:4&10: "⁴ For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and goats could take away sins. ... ¹⁰ ...we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

Whereas the sacrifice of animals on the Day of Atonement appeased God's wrath for past sins committed, only Christ's sacrifice could take away that wrath completely and make us appear perfect and worthy to be in the presence of God.

So now we know that the mercy seat represents atonement. Atonement for what, we ask? The answer to that lies inside the Ark itself.

In the Ark there are three things present. The first is Aaron's rod that budded and bore fruit and almonds (Numbers 17:1-4). The second item is the golden pot of manna - a piece of what God provided to His people in the wilderness (Exodus 16:4). The third was the 10 commandments.

Hebrews 9:3-4 "³ and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, ⁴ which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant."

1.    Aaron's Rod (Numbers 17):

The people of Israel had complained against God's appointment of Aaron as the high priest and rebelled against Moses and Aaron, therefore God caused Aaron's rod to bud overnight and flower as a sign that Aaron was God's true appointment. Aaron's rod represents man's rebellion against God.

Numbers 17:10 "And the Lord said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die.”"

(Read Numbers 16 and 17. It is an action-packed passage to say the least!).

2.    The Golden Pot of Manna (Exodus 16:33):

God faithfully provided food in the wilderness, yet Numbers 21 tells us that the people's souls 'loathed' that which the Lord who loved them provided.

Numbers 21:5 "And the people spoke against God and against Moses: “Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and our soul loathes this worthless bread.”"

The Israelites had witnessed so much of God's might and caring nature, yet they completely rejected Him and loathed what He provided, rebelling against Him.

3.    The 10 Commandments (Exodus 20):

This item needs no introduction. We all know what this represents. It is the perfect standard that God requires. It is the thing that shows us our sin. Whilst it is perfect and true and holy, it brings death to us because 'none, no not one are good' (Romans 3:12) and none have kept the Commandments. We have all fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

Therefore, the three items signify man's sin: man's rebellion against God's appointments; man's rebellion against God's care and provision; and man's sin and falling short of the glory of God.

It is these three things that keep us from the presence of God because God cannot be in the presence of sin. It may appear strange that the things which God cannot be in the presence of are all placed in the very Ark where God resided! However, that brings us to the whole point of the Ark of the Covenant...

If you read Exodus 25:21 again you will see that the mercy seat is placed on top of the Ark. How significant a point this is. Remember, the Hebrew word for mercy seat, Kapporeth, means 'to cover'. Just as we are covered by the blood of Christ, the three items in the Ark are at all times completely covered and hidden from God, who resides on top of the Ark, by the mercy seat! 

Therefore, in a nut shell: the mercy seat represents Christ. It is positioned between man who is sinful and God who is perfect. Through the blood sacrifice of Christ, the sins of man are atoned for and the wrath of God is put away. Therefore if we recognise that sin and call upon the Lord, He will be faithful and just and answer our call, making us appear holy and perfect before God (1 John 1:9)!

The Ark is a true picture of God's plan for salvation. It represents the sacrifice of Christ that was able to take away the punishment for our sins by placing it on the shoulders of our Saviour and completely cover us forever more with the blood of the Lamb, that is eternal and Divine.

Hallelujah!

-BACChristian