Jesus Christ is the Ark of the Covenant!
Who carries the rebellion of the mankind and atoned all with His precious blood!
Let us see in this article the
information pertaining to the objects found inside the Ark of the Covenant. This piece of information will further strengthen your knowledge on Gods divine plan hidden as shadows in the Old Testament about Jesus Christ.
We know that the Ark of the Covenant – was a sort of wooden chest overlaid with plates of gold, in which the two tables of the law, Aaron’s rod, the pot of manna, etc., were deposited. Its top, or lid, was the propitiatory or mercy-seat where the Cherubim’s are placed face to face.
Let us look inside the chest and see what was inside it and the importance to know about it!
“This ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant “[Heb 9:4]
In the above verse the Apostle Paul speaks of the tabernacle built by Moses, and contents of that tabernacle as they were during the lifetime of Moses. For your information that the book of Hebrews is the connecting bridge used to reach the Old Testament shadows.
Here are the specific references in the Old Testament about the 3 objects inside the Ark
- The covenant stones [10Commandments]- Mans disobedience over Gods commandments!
- A golden pot of manna – Mans rejection on Gods provision
- The budded rod of Aaron – Man questioning on God appointed leadership1.Unbroken tablets of stone.[10 Commandments]
“.. put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law, which I will give you” [Exodus 25:16]
First of all, the Ark contained the Covenant Stones which served as a continual reminder of the covenant between God and Israel. The Covenant Stones were engraved with the 10 commandments from God. The Holy standards of God where God bless the people if they obey and curse if they don’t obey it! As we know no one can keep the standard of God and the people had broken it. The 10 commandments here represented by man’s disobedience on God’s holy standard, and the tablets in the Ark which Moses made, signifying man’s inability to measure up to God’s holiness in his own efforts.
“But The Messiah has redeemed us from the curse of The Written Law, and he became a curse in our place, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”,[A.B – Gal 3:13]
But Jesus Christ came as a Jew under Gods law and kept or fulfilled all its codes up to its desired demand and nailed it on the cross and redeemed us form the curse of it.
“Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;[Col 2:14]
2.The golden Pot of Manna
The 2nd item found inside the Ark was the Pot of Manna. It represented the bread of God that came down from heaven and fed the nation of Israel as they wondered through the desert:
“Then Moses said, This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ And Moses said to Aaron, Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations” [Exod 16:32-33]
Manna was the food of angels which God gave to children of Israel during their 40 years in the desert. It was like bread appeared on the ground each morning as their “daily bread’. It tasted sweet like honey and people had it all the days of their journey towards Canan. But in the later part of their journey towards the end the people murmured against God and spoke against Moses over the ” Manna” despising it as a ” worthless food” !
“Why have you brought us out of Egypt to die here in the wilderness?” they complained. “There is nothing to eat here and nothing to drink. And we hate this horrible manna!”[Num 21:5]
So here the pot of manna represents man’s rejection on God’s provision. Jesus Christ the true Ark of the Covenant who covered our rejection on Gods provision by giving up His life on the cross, He became our daily bread, the True Manna from heaven. It was a type of Christ who came down from Heaven, the true living Manna who become the food for the mankind to feed us, The true life giving bread!
“This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” [John 6:50-51]
When Jesus fed the 5 thousand He said, ” Moses did not give you the bread from heaven, but My Father gives you the true bread from heaven…the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives life’s to the world![John 6:33] The Holy Communion is the life sustaining food for the believers.
3. Aarons Rod that Budded!
The 3rd item which was placed inside the Ark of the Covenant was Aarons rod that sprouted buds and blossoms and ripe almonds in a single night. Authenticating Gods sovereign choice of priesthood!
“Put back Aaron’s staff in front of the ark of the covenant law, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.”[Num 17:10]
Num 17:7-8 “And Moses placed the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds.”
The background of this event is that the people of Israel complained about Moses and Aarons authority and tried opposing them. There were great troubles in Israel as a result. People had the mistaken notion that they made themselves leaders. To put an end to the dispute over Aarons appointment as a priest God staged a demonstration this is given in Bible as a scripture!
“Speak to the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father’s house, all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses-twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. And you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi. For there shall be one rod for the head of each father’s house. Then you shall place them in the tabernacle of meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you. And it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will blossom; thus I will rid Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, which they make against you” (Numbers 17:2-5).
God told Moses to takes the staff from the leaders of each tribe with their name written on it and place it on the tabernacle. When Moses collected the staffs on the next day, amazingly the staff of Aaron become alive with buds and flowers and fruit[almond] in it. Thus they had accepted Aaron as their priest from this Godly intervention of election. Later Aaron’s staff was placed in the Ark of the Covenant as a memorial to the fact that God chooses whom He wishes to lead His people.
The staff that blossomed and made alive represents the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the early morning on the resurrection day [Almond flower is the one which blossoms early in the morning] . Jesus rose from the dead and seated at the right hand of the Father as our Royal High Priest provided by God!
The fact that Jesus is God’s chosen High priest is further substantiated by the prophets foretelling that there would be a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek ordained by God Himself! Jesus, being God’s son can perfectly perform the duties of High Priest and as a result He ends the reliance on the continuous sacrifices on the old covenant.
Summary!
Aaron’s rod is the rebellion of People on Godly anointed leadership!
The Golden pot of Manna is Peoples rejection on Gods Provision!
The Ten Commandments is man’s disobedience over God given laws!
But God says all the sum total of Mans rebellion put it inside the ark.
Cover it with the mercy seat and put the blood over It.! Halleluiah.
God never wants to see it and talk about it!
The holy and judgmental eyes of the Cherubim will be satisfied by the blood!
He closed the whole chapter of Mans rebellion and put an end to it on the cross!
Jesus Christ absorbed it all and made us Holy and Righteous in the eyes of God!
At the end Jesus proclaimed! IT IS FINISHED!! Perfect and Complete work of Christ!
Now Jesus Christ,our High Priest is in Heaven pouring out on us His unmerited favor unceasingly!
We have seen that how God has given us the most intricate pictures of His Son Jesus Christ in these shadows and we are like a king called to search and study them diligently and grow in the knowledge of Christ. The more we discern the work of Christ in these pictures , the more and more we will see our perfection in Him and will adore and love Him forever! Jesus Christ is the New ark of the Covenant! You the new Covenant Priest carrying Him inside of you! Know this. Christ is now in you! The hope of Glory!
