Exodus 25:10-16

The Ark of the Covenant

25:10 ¹ “They are to make an ark ²  of acacia wood – its length is to be three feet nine inches, its width two feet three inches, and its height two feet three inches. ³  25:11 You are to overlay ⁴  it with pure gold – both inside and outside you must overlay it, ⁵  and you are to make a surrounding border ⁶  of gold over it. 25:12 You are to cast four gold rings for it and put them on its four feet, with two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. 25:13 You are to make poles of acacia wood, overlay them with gold, 25:14 and put the poles into the rings at the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark with them. 25:15 The poles must remain in the rings of the ark; they must not be removed from it. 25:16 You are to put into the ark the testimony ⁷  that I will give to you.

Exodus 26:33

26:33 You are to hang this curtain under the clasps and bring the ark of the testimony in there behind the curtain. ⁸  The curtain will make a division for you between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. ⁹ 

Exodus 31:7

31:7 the tent of meeting, the ark of the testimony, the atonement lid that is on it, all the furnishings ¹⁰  of the tent,

Exodus 40:3

40:3 You are to place the ark of the testimony in it and shield the ark with the special curtain.

Exodus 40:20-21

40:20 He took the testimony and put it in the ark, attached the poles to the ark, and then put the atonement lid on the ark. 40:21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, hung ¹¹  the protecting curtain, ¹²  and shielded the ark of the testimony from view, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Numbers 10:33-36

10:33 So they traveled from the mountain of the Lord three days’ journey; ¹³  and the ark of the covenant of the Lord was traveling before them during the three days’ journey, to find a resting place for them. 10:34 ¹⁴  And the cloud of the Lord was over them by day, when they traveled ¹⁵  from the camp. 10:35 And when the ark traveled, Moses would say, “Rise up, O Lord! May your enemies be scattered, and may those who hate you flee before you!” 10:36 And when it came to rest he would say, “Return, O Lord, to the many thousands of Israel!” ¹⁶ 

[25:10]  ¹ sn This section begins with the ark, the most sacred and important object of Israel’s worship. Verses 10-15 provide the instructions for it, v. 16 has the placement of the Law in it, vv. 17-21 cover the mercy lid, and v. 22 the meeting above it. The point of this item in the tabernacle is to underscore the focus: the covenant people must always have God’s holy standard before them as they draw near to worship. A study of this would focus on God’s nature (he is a God of order, precision, and perfection), on the usefulness of this item for worship, and on the typology intended.

[25:10]  ² tn The word “ark” has long been used by English translations to render אָרוֹן (’aron), the word used for the wooden “box,” or “chest,” made by Noah in which to escape the flood and by the Israelites to furnish the tabernacle.

[25:10]  ³ tn The size is two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. The size in feet and inches is estimated on the assumption that the cubit is 18 inches (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 267).

[25:11]  ⁴ tn The verbs throughout here are perfect tenses with the vav (ו) consecutives. They are equal to the imperfect tense of instruction and/or injunction.

[25:11]  ⁵ tn Here the verb is an imperfect tense; for the perfect sequence to work the verb would have to be at the front of the clause.

[25:11]  ⁶ tn The word זֵר (zer) is used only in Exodus and seems to describe something on the order of a crown molding, an ornamental border running at the top of the chest on all four sides. There is no indication of its appearance or function.

[25:16]  ⁷ sn The “testimony” is the Decalogue (Exod 24:12; 31:18; Deut 4:13; 9:9; 1 Kgs 8:9); the word identifies it as the witness or affirmation of God’s commandments belonging to his covenant with Israel. It expressed God’s will and man’s duty. In other cultures important documents were put at the feet of the gods in the temples.

[26:33]  ⁸ tn The traditional expression is “within the veil,” literally “into the house (or area) of the (special) curtain.”

[26:33]  ⁹ tn Or “the Holy of Holies.”

[31:7]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “all the vessels of the tent.”

[40:21]  ¹¹ tn Heb “set up,” if it includes more than the curtain.

[40:21]  ¹² tn Or “shielding” (NIV); Heb “the veil of the covering” (cf. KJV).

[10:33]  ¹³ tn The phrase “a journey of three days” is made up of the adverbial accusative qualified with the genitives.

[10:34]  ¹⁴ tc The scribes sensed that there was a dislocation with vv. 34-36, and so they used the inverted letters nun (נ) as brackets to indicate this.

[10:34]  ¹⁵ tn The adverbial clause of time is composed of the infinitive construct with a temporal preposition and a suffixed subjective genitive.

[10:36]  ¹⁶ sn These two formulaic prayers were offered by Moses at the beginning and at the end of the journeys. They prayed for the Lord to fight ahead of the nation when it was on the move, and to protect them when they camped. The theme of the first is found in Ps 68:1. The prayers reflect the true mentality of holy war, that it was the Lord who fought for Israel and defended her. The prayers have been included in the prayer book for synagogue services.