Definition
The gold-covered chest of acacia wood made at Sinai to hold the tablets of the law, the manna and Aaron's rod, over which the cloud of God's presence rested (Exodus 25; 40:34–35; Hebrews 9:4). David brought it up to Jerusalem with dancing and holy dread (2 Samuel 6); it was lost at the exile, hidden by Jeremiah according to 2 Maccabees 2, and is seen again in heaven in John's vision (Revelation 11:19). The New Testament presents Mary as its fulfilment: overshadowed by the same cloud, greeted with the same words, and carrying God himself.
Start here
Begin with the five things the Ark was, then "overshadow", then the Visitation read against 2 Samuel 6.
From Jewish Roots of Mary
- 1.Jesus the new Moses — three parallels, and an exodus that ends in heaven
Following the book's rule, the Ark chapter begins with Jesus. Moses fasted forty days on Sinai; Jesus fasts forty days in the desert. Moses fed Israel with bread from heaven; Jesus feeds the multitudes. Moses sealed the covenant with the twelve tribes; Jesus makes a new covenant with the twelve apostles. But there is a difference: 'the word exodus means journey,' and while Moses' exodus ran from Egypt to the promised land, Luke's runs from Jerusalem to heaven — Moses and Elijah speak of the 'exodus' Jesus will accomplish at Jerusalem, and the Gospel ends as he is 'carried up into heaven.' 'For Jesus the earthly promised land is just the point of departure — not the ultimate destination.'
- 2.Five things the Ark was — meeting place, chest, incorruptible wood, pure gold, place of the cloud
Pitre numbers the Ark's features. (1) It is where God meets and speaks with his people, from the mercy seat between the cherubim — and, for readers who think all statues are unbiblical, God commands two golden statues of angels. (2) It is a chest ('aron, simply a box) for the 'testimony,' the tablets, later joined by the manna and Aaron's rod. (3) It is made of acacia, which the Septuagint calls 'incorruptible wood.' (4) It is overlaid with 'pure' (tahor) gold, free from impurity, a sign of absolute holiness — carried only by its poles and veiled in blue before it moves. (5) It is the place the glory cloud descends.
- 3.What did the Ark contain — and how does Mary fulfill it?
The Ark of pure gold held the tablets (God's word), the manna (bread from heaven), and Aaron's rod (the priesthood). Mary bears the reality of all three: Jesus the Word made flesh, the Bread of Life, and the true High Priest. So the new Ark, like the old, must be wholly holy.
- 4.Why the Ark had to be pure and untouchable.
The Ark was where God said he would 'dwell' among his people; it was overlaid with pure gold inside and out, and so holy that the holy things could not be touched on pain of death. If the new Ark is the dwelling of God in the flesh, it too must be pure and wholly holy — Mary.
- 5.The Ark goes up to Jerusalem — Jericho, the Philistine plague, Uzzah's cart, Obed-edom's blessing
The Ark's history is a history of God's presence in battle and procession. With the Ark in their midst Israel took Jericho; without it they were defeated (Numbers 14). It moved from sanctuary to sanctuary, was captured by the Philistines until a plague of tumours — 'hemorrhoids' in the New American Bible — persuaded them to send it back, and was then moved by David's men on an ox-cart instead of by its poles, 'a plan which proves fatal for a man named Uzzah.' Left three months with Obed-edom, it blessed his house, so David resumed the procession the right way, carried by its poles with sacrifice, dancing 'with all his might' and 'with shouting, and with the sound of the horn.'
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