a small chest or coffer, three feet nine inches in
length, two feet three inches in breadth, and two feet three inches in
height; in which were contained the golden pot that had manna, Aaron’s
rod, and the tables of the covenant, Num. xvii, 10; Heb. ix, 4. This
coffer was made of shittim wood, and was covered with a lid, called the
_mercy seat_, Exod. xxv, 17–22, &c, which was of solid gold, at the two
ends whereof were two figures, called _cherubim_, looking toward each
other, with expanded wings, which, embracing the whole circumference of
the mercy seat, met in the middle. The whole, according to the rabbins,
was made out of the same mass, without any of the parts being joined by
solder. Over this it was that the Shechinah, or visible display of the
divine presence in a luminous cloud rested, both in the tabernacle and
in the temple, Lev. xvi, 2; and from hence the divine oracles were given
forth by an audible voice, as often as God was consulted in behalf of
his people. Hence it is that God is said in Scripture to dwell between
the cherubim, on the mercy seat, because there was the seat or throne of
the visible appearance of his glory among them, 2 Kings xix, 15; 2
Chron, xiii, 6; Psalm lxxx, 1, &c; and for this reason the high priest
appeared before the mercy seat once every year, on the great day of
expiation, at which time he was to make his nearest approach to the
divine presence, to mediate and make atonement for the whole people of
Israel. On the two sides of the ark there were four rings of gold, two
on each side, through which staves, overlaid with gold, were put, by
means whereof they carried it as they marched through the wilderness,
&c, on the shoulders of the Levites, Exod. xxv, 13, 14; xxvii, 5. After
the passage of the Jordan, the ark continued for some time at Gilgal,
from whence it was removed to Shiloh. From this place the Israelites
carried it to their camp, where, in an engagement with the Philistines,
it fell into their hands. The Philistines, having gotten possession of
the ark, carried it in triumph to one of their principal cities, named
Ashdod, and placed it in the temple of Dagon, whose image fell to the
ground and was broken. The Philistines also were so afflicted with
emerods, that they afterward returned the ark with various presents; and
it was lodged at Kirjath-Jearim, and afterward at Nob. David conveyed it
to the house of Obededom, and from thence to his palace at Zion; and
lastly, Solomon brought it into the temple which he had built at
Jerusalem. It remained in the temple till the times of the last kings of
Judah, who gave themselves up to idolatry, and even dared to place their
idols in the holy temple itself. The priests, being unable to bear this
profanation, took the ark and carried it from place to place, to
preserve it from the hands of those impious princes. Josiah commanded
them to bring it back to the sanctuary, and it was accordingly replaced,
2 Chron. xxxv, 3. What became of the ark at the destruction of the
temple by Nebuchadnezzar, is a dispute among the rabbins. Had it been
carried to Babylon with the other vessels of the temple, it would, in
all probability, have been brought back with them at the close of the
captivity. But that this was not the case, is agreed on all hands;
whence it is probable that it was destroyed with the temple.
The ark of the covenant was, as it were, the centre of worship to all
those of the Hebrew nation who served God according to the Levitical
law; and not only in the temple, when they came thither to worship, but
every where else in their dispersions through the whole world; whenever
they prayed, they turned their faces toward the place where the ark
stood, and directed all their devotions that way, Dan. vi, 10. Whence
the author of the book of Cosri, justly says, that the ark, with the
mercy seat and cherubim, were the foundation, root, heart, and marrow of
the whole temple, and all the Levitical worship performed therein; and,
therefore, had there been nothing else wanting in the second temple but
the ark only, this alone would have been a sufficient reason for the old
men to have wept when they remembered the first temple in which it
stood; and for the saying of Haggai, ii, 3, that the second temple was
as nothing compared with the first; so great a share had the ark of the
covenant in the glory of Solomon’s temple. However, the defect was
supplied as to the outward form, for in the second temple there was also
an ark of the same dimensions with the first, and put in the same place;
but it wanted the tables of the law, Aaron’s rod, and the pot of manna;
nor was there any appearance of the divine glory over it; nor any
oracles delivered from it. The only use that was made of it was to be a
representation of the former on the great day of expiation, and to be a
repository of the Holy Scriptures, that is, of the original copy of that
collection of them made by Ezra after the captivity; in imitation of
which the Jews, in all their synagogues, have a like ark or coffer in
which they keep their Scriptures.
For the temple of Solomon a new ark was not made; but he constructed
cherubim in the most holy place, which were designed to give additional
state to this most sacred symbol of God’s grace and mercy. These
cherubim were fifteen feet high, and were placed at equal distance from
the centre of the ark and from each side of the wall, so that their
wings being expanded, the two wings which were extended behind touched
the wall, and the other two met over the ark and so overshadowed it.
When these magnificent cherubim were finished, the ark was brought in
and placed under their wings, 2 Chron. v, 7–10.
The ark was called the _ark of the covenant_, because it was a symbol of
the covenant between God and his people. It was also named the _ark of
the testimony_, because the two tables which were deposited in it were
witnesses against every transgression.
length, two feet three inches in breadth, and two feet three inches in
height; in which were contained the golden pot that had manna, Aaron’s
rod, and the tables of the covenant, Num. xvii, 10; Heb. ix, 4. This
coffer was made of shittim wood, and was covered with a lid, called the
_mercy seat_, Exod. xxv, 17–22, &c, which was of solid gold, at the two
ends whereof were two figures, called _cherubim_, looking toward each
other, with expanded wings, which, embracing the whole circumference of
the mercy seat, met in the middle. The whole, according to the rabbins,
was made out of the same mass, without any of the parts being joined by
solder. Over this it was that the Shechinah, or visible display of the
divine presence in a luminous cloud rested, both in the tabernacle and
in the temple, Lev. xvi, 2; and from hence the divine oracles were given
forth by an audible voice, as often as God was consulted in behalf of
his people. Hence it is that God is said in Scripture to dwell between
the cherubim, on the mercy seat, because there was the seat or throne of
the visible appearance of his glory among them, 2 Kings xix, 15; 2
Chron, xiii, 6; Psalm lxxx, 1, &c; and for this reason the high priest
appeared before the mercy seat once every year, on the great day of
expiation, at which time he was to make his nearest approach to the
divine presence, to mediate and make atonement for the whole people of
Israel. On the two sides of the ark there were four rings of gold, two
on each side, through which staves, overlaid with gold, were put, by
means whereof they carried it as they marched through the wilderness,
&c, on the shoulders of the Levites, Exod. xxv, 13, 14; xxvii, 5. After
the passage of the Jordan, the ark continued for some time at Gilgal,
from whence it was removed to Shiloh. From this place the Israelites
carried it to their camp, where, in an engagement with the Philistines,
it fell into their hands. The Philistines, having gotten possession of
the ark, carried it in triumph to one of their principal cities, named
Ashdod, and placed it in the temple of Dagon, whose image fell to the
ground and was broken. The Philistines also were so afflicted with
emerods, that they afterward returned the ark with various presents; and
it was lodged at Kirjath-Jearim, and afterward at Nob. David conveyed it
to the house of Obededom, and from thence to his palace at Zion; and
lastly, Solomon brought it into the temple which he had built at
Jerusalem. It remained in the temple till the times of the last kings of
Judah, who gave themselves up to idolatry, and even dared to place their
idols in the holy temple itself. The priests, being unable to bear this
profanation, took the ark and carried it from place to place, to
preserve it from the hands of those impious princes. Josiah commanded
them to bring it back to the sanctuary, and it was accordingly replaced,
2 Chron. xxxv, 3. What became of the ark at the destruction of the
temple by Nebuchadnezzar, is a dispute among the rabbins. Had it been
carried to Babylon with the other vessels of the temple, it would, in
all probability, have been brought back with them at the close of the
captivity. But that this was not the case, is agreed on all hands;
whence it is probable that it was destroyed with the temple.
The ark of the covenant was, as it were, the centre of worship to all
those of the Hebrew nation who served God according to the Levitical
law; and not only in the temple, when they came thither to worship, but
every where else in their dispersions through the whole world; whenever
they prayed, they turned their faces toward the place where the ark
stood, and directed all their devotions that way, Dan. vi, 10. Whence
the author of the book of Cosri, justly says, that the ark, with the
mercy seat and cherubim, were the foundation, root, heart, and marrow of
the whole temple, and all the Levitical worship performed therein; and,
therefore, had there been nothing else wanting in the second temple but
the ark only, this alone would have been a sufficient reason for the old
men to have wept when they remembered the first temple in which it
stood; and for the saying of Haggai, ii, 3, that the second temple was
as nothing compared with the first; so great a share had the ark of the
covenant in the glory of Solomon’s temple. However, the defect was
supplied as to the outward form, for in the second temple there was also
an ark of the same dimensions with the first, and put in the same place;
but it wanted the tables of the law, Aaron’s rod, and the pot of manna;
nor was there any appearance of the divine glory over it; nor any
oracles delivered from it. The only use that was made of it was to be a
representation of the former on the great day of expiation, and to be a
repository of the Holy Scriptures, that is, of the original copy of that
collection of them made by Ezra after the captivity; in imitation of
which the Jews, in all their synagogues, have a like ark or coffer in
which they keep their Scriptures.
For the temple of Solomon a new ark was not made; but he constructed
cherubim in the most holy place, which were designed to give additional
state to this most sacred symbol of God’s grace and mercy. These
cherubim were fifteen feet high, and were placed at equal distance from
the centre of the ark and from each side of the wall, so that their
wings being expanded, the two wings which were extended behind touched
the wall, and the other two met over the ark and so overshadowed it.
When these magnificent cherubim were finished, the ark was brought in
and placed under their wings, 2 Chron. v, 7–10.
The ark was called the _ark of the covenant_, because it was a symbol of
the covenant between God and his people. It was also named the _ark of
the testimony_, because the two tables which were deposited in it were
witnesses against every transgression.