The Ark Research Paper

The word Ark, Aron in Hebrew, means simply a chest. The Ark was made in Sinai by Bezaleel ben Uri, whose name suitably means, "In the Shadow of El (God), The Son of my Light".
It consisted of a rectangular chest made of acacia wood and covered over with gold. It measured 1.15 meters long, 0.7 meters wide and 0.7 meters high. Two long bars, also made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, carried it. 1 The mercy seat was a kind of lid, which closed the chest from above. It was made of pure gold and was held in place by a golden ridge or crown. Beaten out of this mercy seat were two cherubim, (a winged creature with human face) with their wings overshadowed the mercy seat. They were beaten out of the same piece of pure gold as the mercy seat. 2

God had commanded Moses to make the Ark of the Covenant (Ex. 25.10-22) and inside it Moses placed the two tables of the law. Later on, Aaron's rod that budded was placed in it (Num. 17.10), together with the golden pot that had the manna (Ex. 16.33, Heb. 9.4). Together these three items form the Testimony (Exodus 25:21); hence the Ark is called the Ark of the Testimony.

The Ark of the Covenant is the best-known item in the Tabernacle, (the tent carried by the Jews through the desert and used as a temple). It resided in the Holy of
But, God wanted to demonstrate absolutely that Aaron was his choice for the priesthood (Numbers 17:5). A rod from the head of each of the twelve tribes was marked with the name of the tribe and placed before the Lord, at Ark of the Testimony (Numbers 17:4). When Moses returned the next day, Aaron's rod had budded with sprouts, yielding blossoms and ripe almonds. God commanded Moses to place Aaron's rod back before the Testimony, "to be kept as a sign against the rebels" to prevent further murmurings and death (Numbers 17:10).