(remember, these are unedited/draft show notes, not a transcript — listening is always better — and if you listen AND follow along below, you’ll see why)
Focus Question:
What does the “ark of the covenant” symbolize?
Intro:
The ark of the covenant was a chest, covered with gold, that God commanded the Israelites to construct during the exodus. In addition to holding the two tablets that bore the 10 commandments, it symbolically represented the presence of God.
But it’s barely mentioned in the New Testament.
Today we’re going to throw another changeup pitch for the week an just read the Old Testament because there’s a longer narrative segment that I want to tackle in one sitting so we can catch the big picture. And for our Bottom Line segment, we’ll not only answer the question ‘what does the ark of the covenant symbolize’ a little more fully, but I’ll share why I think it’s barely mentioned in the New Testament.
Original TESTAMENT SEGMENT:
Passage: 1 Chronicles 13-16
Translation: CSB (Christian Standard Bible)
Verses: 103
Words: ~2025
THE BOTTOM LINE:
What does the ark of the covenant symbolize? And why isn’t it mentioned more in the NT?
Well, besides being thought of as the location of God’s presence, remember that most of the time it was behind the veil in the temple, in the innermost chamber called the Holy of Holies. And remember that this is where only the high priest went, and that once a year. Put another way, it’s a big deal to approach the most holy God because God takes sin seriously.
Inside the ark were the two tablets containing the 10 commandments, and in a spiritual sense we know that God is synonymous with The Law…and the 10 commandments represent the whole kaboodle.
When we get to the NT, though, we also read in Hebrews 9:4 that it contained Aaron’s rod that had budded as a demonstration of God’s approval of his priesthood. But perhaps more significantly, the ark plays a role implicitly when Jesus dies on the cross — we read in Mark 15 that the veil is torn from top to bottom, and in Hebrews 10 we read the significance of that — Israelites under the original or old covenant couldn’t enter the most holy place…only a mediator for them could. But here comes Jesus, the new and great High Priest, who is both God and the mediator between us and God. In other words, we can, with confidence, draw near to God ourselves in and through Christ.
So why isn’t the ark of the covenant mentioned more in the NT? I think it’s because, like the old testament laws, its time was done when Christ died on the cross on our behalf, the ultimate sacrifice. God is omnipresent, so His location was never, per se, the location of the ark or temple or some rock somewhere. But being saved by repenting and trusting Jesus changes our relational disposition — just like the original covenant was with Israel and therefore a relationship, a relationship restored symbolically by David returning the ark to Jerusalem, so is ours…albeit the new location is your hearts.
ForTheHope is a daily audio Bible + apologetics podcast and blog. We’ve got a passion for just keepin’ it real, having conversations like normal people, and living out the love of Jesus better every single day.
Roger Courville, CSP is a globally-recognized expert in digitally-extended communication and connection, an award-winning speaker, award-winning author, and a passionately bad guitarist. Follow him on Twitter -- @RogerCourville and @JoinForTheHope – or his blog: www.forthehope.org.
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