… ⁴ having a golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered on all sides with gold, in which was a golden jar holding the manna, and Aaron’s rod which budded, and the tables of the covenant …

Absolute center of Jewish worship during the early days was the ark of the covenant. This oblong box, roughly 54” long x 27” wide x 27” high, was constructed of decay-resistant wood (Acacia) and layered over with gold. This box contained three items, each emblematic of the Exodus experience where the people of Israel were forged into an identifiable nation.

First mentioned is the golden jar holding manna. The manna, as you recall, was the miraculously-provided bread-like substance. The word itself is a Hebrew word meaning, “What is it?” That was the people’s response when God first began to supply it. Each morning when the dew evaporated, they would find the manna lying on the ground. It sustained them for 40 years, until Israel entered the land under Joshua’s leadership and ate the local produce for the first time (Josh 5:12). God provided for them faithfully in desert conditions and then continued to sustain them with the ready-to-go produce in the promised land which was “flowing with milk and honey” (Ex 3:8). Placement of a sampling of it in the ark was a reminder that Yahweh was a sustaining God.

Next mentioned was “Aaron’s rod which budded.” In Numbers 16-17 we find Korah, Dathan and Abiram and 250 leaders of Israel, frustrated that Israel had not yet entered the promised land, rising up against Moses and Aaron, proclaiming that Egypt was the real land of “milk and honey” (Num 16:13-14). As punishment some of them died in a cataclysmic sinkhole, as it were, while the rest were destroyed in a firestorm from heaven. The congregation complained about this but Moses and Aaron interceded on their behalf before God lest they also die by the plague.

To settle the matter of leadership, God instructed each of the tribes to present a rod to Moses, which were placed before the Lord in the tabernacle. The next day, God communicated which tribe was to be pre-eminent, namely that of Levi. Specifically, Aaron’s rod budded (Num 17:9) and it was this rod that was placed permanently in the ark as a testimony to all Israel that the Levites were favored in their direct access to God in the tabernacle.

Finally, the stone tablets on which the Law was written were included in the ark, a constant reminder of their “founding documents” on which the covenant between God and His people stood.

Lord, in that Ark I see Your provision, Your leadership and Your instructions for life. These are simply pictures of Your Son, who is greater than the Ark.