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 ¹  the protecting curtain, ²  and shielded the ark of the testimony from view, just as the Lord had commanded Moses.

Exodus 25:10

The Ark of the Covenant

25:10 ³ “They are to make an ark ⁴  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. ⁵ 

Exodus 25:22

25:22 I will meet with you there, ⁶  and ⁷  from above the atonement lid, from between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will command you for the Israelites.

Exodus 26:31

26:31 “You are to make a special curtain ⁸  of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen; it is to be made ⁹  with cherubim, the work of an artistic designer.

Exodus 26:33-34

26:33 You are to hang this curtain under the clasps and bring the ark of the testimony in there behind the curtain. ¹⁰  The curtain will make a division for you between the Holy Place and the Most Holy Place. ¹¹  26:34 You are to put the atonement lid on the ark of the testimony in the Most Holy Place.

Exodus 35:12

35:12 the ark, with its poles, the atonement lid, and the special curtain that conceals it;

Exodus 36:35-36

36:35 He made the special curtain of blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine twisted linen; he made ¹²  it with cherubim, the work of an artistic designer. 36:36 He made for it four posts of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold, with gold hooks, ¹³  and he cast for them four silver bases.

Exodus 37:1-9

The Making of the Ark

37:1 Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; its length was three feet nine inches, its width two feet three inches, and its height two feet three inches. 37:2 He overlaid it with pure gold, inside and out, and he made a surrounding border ¹⁴  of gold for it. 37:3 He cast four gold rings for it that he put ¹⁵  on its four feet, with ¹⁶  two rings on one side and two rings on the other side. 37:4 He made poles of acacia wood, overlaid them with gold, 37:5 and put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark in order to carry the ark.

37:6 He made ¹⁷  an atonement lid of pure gold; its length was three feet nine inches, and its width was two feet three inches. 37:7 He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered metal on the two ends of the atonement lid, 37:8 one cherub on one end ¹⁸  and one cherub on the other end. ¹⁹  He made the cherubim from the atonement lid on its two ends. 37:9 The cherubim were spreading their wings ²⁰  upward, overshadowing the atonement lid with their wings. The cherubim ²¹  faced each other, ²²  looking toward the atonement lid. ²³ 

Leviticus 16:14

16:14 Then he is to take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the eastern face of the atonement plate, ²⁴  and in front of the atonement plate he is to sprinkle some of the blood seven times with his finger. ²⁵ 

Numbers 4:5

4:5 When it is time for the camp to journey, ²⁶  Aaron and his sons must come and take down the screening curtain and cover the ark of the testimony with it.

Revelation 11:19

11:19 Then ²⁷  the temple of God in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant was visible within his temple. And there were flashes of lightning, roaring, ²⁸  crashes of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm. ²⁹ 

[40:21]  ¹ tn Heb “set up,” if it includes more than the curtain.

[40:21]  ² tn Or “shielding” (NIV); Heb “the veil of the covering” (cf. KJV).

[25:10]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ 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).

[25:22]  ⁶ sn Here then is the main point of the ark of the covenant, and the main point of all worship – meeting with God through atonement. The text makes it clear that here God would meet with Moses (“you” is singular) and then he would speak to the people – he is the mediator of the covenant. S. R. Driver (Exodus, 272) makes the point that the verb here is not the word that means “to meet by chance” (as in Exod 3:18), but “to meet” by appointment for a purpose (וְנוֹעַדְתִּי, vÿno’adti). The parallel in the NT is Jesus Christ and his work. The theology is that the Law condemns people as guilty of sin, but the sacrifice of Christ makes atonement. So he is the “place of propitiation (Rom 3:25) who gains communion with the Father for sinners. A major point that could be made from this section is this: At the center of worship must be the atoning work of Christ – a perpetual reminder of God’s righteous standard (the testimony in the ark) and God’s gracious provision (the atonement lid).

[25:22]  ⁷ tn The verb is placed here in the text: “and I will speak”; it has been moved in this translation to be closer to the direct object clause.

[26:31]  ⁸ tn Although translated “curtain” (traditionally “veil,” so ASV, NAB, NASB) this is a different word from the one used earlier of the tent curtains, so “special curtain” is used. The word פָרֹכֶת (farokhet) seems to be connected with a verb that means “to shut off” and was used with a shrine. This curtain would form a barrier in the approach to God (see S. R. Driver, Exodus, 289).

[26:31]  ⁹ tn The verb is the third masculine singular form, but no subject is expressed. It could be translated “one will make” or as a passive. The verb means “to make,” but probably has the sense of embroidering both here and in v. 1.

[26:33]  ¹⁰ tn The traditional expression is “within the veil,” literally “into the house (or area) of the (special) curtain.”

[26:33]  ¹¹ tn Or “the Holy of Holies.”

[36:35]  ¹² tn The verb is simply “he made” but as in Exod 26:31 it probably means that the cherubim were worked into the curtain with the yarn, and so embroidered on the curtain.

[36:36]  ¹³ tn Heb “and their hooks gold.”

[37:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “molding.”

[37:3]  ¹⁵ tn “that he put” has been supplied.

[37:3]  ¹⁶ tn This is taken as a circumstantial clause; the clause begins with the conjunction vav.

[37:6]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and he made.”

[37:8]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “from/at [the] end, from this.”

[37:8]  ¹⁹ tn The repetition of the expression indicates it has the distributive sense.

[37:9]  ²⁰ tn The construction is a participle in construct followed by the genitive “wings” – “spreaders of wings.”

[37:9]  ²¹ tn “The cherubim” has been placed here instead of in the second clause to produce a smoother translation.

[37:9]  ²² tn Heb “and their faces a man to his brother.”

[37:9]  ²³ tn Heb “to the atonement lid were the faces of the cherubim.”

[16:14]  ²⁴ tn Heb “on the faces of the atonement plate toward the east.” Some have taken this to mean that the ark was stationed just behind the veil-canopy on the eastern side of the most holy place. Thus, the high priest would need to enter and walk toward the west end of the most holy place and then turn eastward in order to face the ark and sprinkle the blood in an eastward direction. The rendering here, however, requires that the ark was stationed on the western end, or perhaps in the middle of the area, so that as the priest entered he was already facing the ark and would sprinkle the blood on the eastern face of the atonement plate, in a westward direction (see, e.g., J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 239 versus J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:1032).

[16:14]  ²⁵ sn Presumably in this case the blood was sprinkled seven times on the ground in front of the ark on which the atonement plate was mounted.

[4:5]  ²⁶ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive construct in an adverbial clause of time; literally it says “in the journeying of the camp.” The genitive in such constructions is usually the subject. Here the implication is that people would be preparing to transport the camp and its equipment.

[11:19]  ²⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence on events within the vision.

[11:19]  ²⁸ tn Or “sounds,” “voices.” It is not entirely clear what this refers to. BDAG 1071 s.v. φωνή 1 states, “In Rv we have ἀστραπαὶ καὶ φωναὶ καὶ βρονταί (cp. Ex 19:16) 4:5; 8:5; 11:19; 16:18 (are certain other sounds in nature thought of here in addition to thunder, as e.g. the roar of the storm?…).”

[11:19]  ²⁹ tn Although BDAG 1075 s.v. χάλαζα gives the meaning “hail” here, it is not clear whether the adjective μεγάλη (megalh) refers to the intensity of the storm or the size of the individual hailstones, or both.