Hebrews 9:4-5 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, in which was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; And over it the cherubim of glory shadowing the mercy seat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
Hebrews 9:12 Neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained eternal redemption for us.
Let’s look at the instructions for the ark
Exodus 25:10 And they shall make an ark of acacia wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it.
Note it is made of acacia wood.
An Acacia Tree in Israel
The Thorns of the Acacia Tree
The thorns are part of the curse from Gen 3:18
Genesis 3:17-19 And unto Adam he said, Because you have listened unto the voice of your wife, and have eaten of the tree, of which I commanded you, saying, You shall not eat of it: cursed is the ground for your sake; in sorrow shall you eat of it all the days of your life; Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to you; and you shall eat the plants of the field; In the sweat of your face shall you eat bread, till you return unto the ground; for out of it were you taken: for dust you are, and unto dust shall you return.
Almost certainly it was a crown of acacia thorns placed on Yeshua’s head by the Roman soldiers before crucifying Him.
The Lord thus takes all represented by the curse from Gen 3 on His own head.
So the ark is built of acacia wood.
Wood speaks of man in the Bible.
The Hebrew word for wood – aytz . In its pictogram form it means 1. to experience need
2. a man on his side – i.e not upright!
Nobody and nothing has a greater need in this world than man for his God. Woos speaks of man.
Taking all this together – The acacia wood then speaks of man under a curse and his need for a saviour.
Acacia Bushes
The acacia bush – Almost certainly the type of bush from which the Lord spoke to Moses at Ex 3, though I can’t prove it.
And this wood – acacia wood is being used to make the ark.
So the ark is made 2.5 cubits long by 1.5 by 1.5 cubits high.
Exodus 25:11 And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and shall make upon it a moulding of gold round about.
The wood is overlayed – inside and out – every tiny sq mm – by PURE gold.
The pictogram for the Hebrew word for gold – zahab – means: “cut off – behold the nail!”Pure Gold can only be representing the saviour who will be nailed to the tree.
SO – in the construction of the ark, acacia wood is covered in pure gold. In the typology man is encased in the divine eternal God – wrapped around on all sides.
But there is more!
Into the ark goes some stuff!
Hebrews 9:4 …….. and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, in which was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;
We tend to understand this wrongly. We think they are there as a memorial to the wonders of God, but they are there for another reason.
First – the tables with the 10 commandments inscribed by the finger of God. These speak of man’s inability to keep the law. They are the constant reminder that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. They shout out and call for death and condemnation.
Second – Aaron’s rod that budded. Korah leads a mass rebellion against the leadership of Moses and Aaron described in Numbers 16 where they directly challenge the authority of God. This is rebellion against God on a corporate scale.
What does God do?
Numbers 17:1-8 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, and take of every one of them a rod according to the house of their fathers, of all their leaders according to the house of their fathers twelve rods: write every man’s name upon his rod. And you shall write Aaron’s name upon the rod of Levi: for one rod shall be for the head of the house of their fathers. And you shall lay them up in the tabernacle of meeting before the testimony, where I will meet with you. 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, which they murmur against you. And Moses spoke unto the children of Israel, and every one of their leaders gave him a rod apiece, for each leader one, according to their fathers’ houses, even twelve rods: and the rod of Aaron was among their rods. And Moses laid up the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. And it came to pass, that the next day Moses went into the tabernacle of witness; and, behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi was sprouted, and brought forth buds, and bloomed blossoms, and yielded almonds.
And the rod goes into the ark as a memorial to the rebellion of man against God
Numbers 17:10-11 And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a sign against the rebels; and you shall put away their murmurings from me, that they die not. And Moses did so: as the LORD commanded him, so did he.
Thirdly the manna.
This is given to the Israelites at Ex 16:15
Exodus 16:13-15 And it came to pass, that at evening the quails came up, and covered the camp: and in the morning the dew lay round about the host. And when the dew that lay was gone up, behold, upon the face of the wilderness there lay a small round thing, as small as the hoar frost on the ground. And when the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, It is manna: for they knew not what it was. And Moses said unto them, This is the bread which the LORD has given you to eat.
The manna was fresh every morning like the mercies of God
Lamentations 3:22-23 It is of the LORD’S mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is your faithfulness.
But by Numbers 11 they are complaining about the manna
Numbers 11:4-6 And the mixed multitude that was among them had a strong craving: and the children of Israel also wept again, and said, Who shall give us flesh to eat? We remember the fish, which we did eat in Egypt freely; the cucumbers, and the melons, and the leeks, and the onions, and the garlic: But now our soul is dried away: there is nothing at all, besides this manna, before our eyes.
So the manna which was commanded to be out in the ark at Ex 16:33 speaks of man’s rejection of the grace and mercies of God, the provision of God, the blessings of God.
So there in the ark are
1. Memorials to the fact that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God – the tablets of the law.
2. Memorial to the rebellion against God – Aaron’s rod that budded.
3. mans rejection of the blessing, grace and mercy of God – the manna.
So now what happens.
The ark is closed by placing over all these things the mercy seat – the place where the blood is poured out. And God looks down and all he sees is the blood of the offering. All the sin contained in the ark is covered by the blood.
This is grace indeed.
When you come to Christ all that your flesh does is in the ark, in the heavenly equivalent of the ark which is of limitless dimensions. And when the Father looks down all He sees is the blood of His Son.
This is why and how you are forgiven for ever.
This why you must stop beating yourself up when you fail.
This is why you must be secure in your salvation.
This is the epitome of grace.
