We call it by the same name with the great vessel wherein Noah and the seed of all living creatures were preserved ; but their names are far distant in the original, both in sound and signification. This was {N, “aaron,” a chest, it may be from MX, a certain wood whereof such chests were made; that was 7234, “tebah,” the name of any vessel in the water, great or small, though made with bul- rushes, Exod. ii. 3.
6. It was, as the principal, so the first utensil of the tabernacle that God appointed to be made, Exod. xxv. 10; and therein it was as
SECT. 5-8. | OF THE TABERNACLE AND ARK. 515
the heart, from which, by a communication of sacred holiness from the presence of God, all other things belonging unto the worship of the whole were spirited and as it were enlivened. And immediately upon its entrance into the temple, the visible pledge of the presence of God therein appeared to all, and not before, 1 Kings viii. 6, 10, 11.
7. The matter whereof it was made was 0°)Y ‘SY, Exod. xxv. 10, “ shittim wood,” or boards of the 78% tree, mentioned Isa. xli. 19. What wood it was is altogether uncertain, although it seems sure enough to have been none that grew in the wilderness, where the people were at the erection of the tabernacle: for these shittim boards were reckoned amongst the stores of silver and brass, and such other things as they had brought with them into the wilder- ness, Exod. xxxv. 24; and that expression, JAN NY] WY 29, “ Every one with whom was found shittim wood,” intimates the rarity of it, and that, it may be, it had been preserved by them for sundry generations. There is, indeed, a place called Shittim, and Abel- shittim, mentioned Num. xxv. 1, and chap. xxxiii. 49, but not pro- bably from these trees. However, it was in the plains of Moab, whereunto the Israelites came not until forty years after the making of the ark. Further, then, we know nothing of the shittim tree, or of this wood; for whatever is discoursed of it, as it hath been dis- coursed by many, is mere conjecture, ending in professed uncer- tainty. Only, it seems to have been notable for firmness and duration, as continuing in the ark apparently nine hundred years, even from the making of it unto the destruction of the temple by the Chaldeans; and, it may be, it was returned to the second temple, not perishing absolutely until the covenant with that people expired six hundred years after the captivity. But herein it had the ad- vantage of preservation from all external causes of putrefaction, by its enclosure on all parts in a covering of gold.
8. The form of the ark was of a long square chest, of small di- mensions, two cubits and an half in length, one and an half in breadth, and so in height.also, Exod. xxv. 10,—that is, according to the most approved estimation of these measures, near four feet long, and two feet and some inches broad and high; and further exactness or accuracy about these measures is of little certainty and less use. How the boards of it were joined is not mentioned. Overlaid it was with pure gold, beaten gold, pure and unmixed, /9721 M29, “ intus et extra, undequaque,” on all the boards of it, both within and without, so that no part of the wood was anywhere to be seen or touched. Round about it,—that is, on the edge of the sides upwards,—it had (230 Y2Y, “upon it,” round about) %, “a diadem,” or a fringe of gold-work, such as encompassed diadems or crowns. And this J, or “ diadem,” was put only on the ark, the table of shew-bread, and the altar of incense ; intending expressions of rays of gold, as coming
516 OF THE TABERNACLE AND ARK. [EXERC. XXII.
from 1, “to scatter abroad” in the manner of rays and beams; which, Heb. i. 3, is called dratyacua, the “ brightness” of glory. And hence the rabbins speak of a threefold crown, of the ark, altar, and table ;—of the last for the king; of the midst for the priest; of the first for they know not whom, as Rabbi Solomon expressly ;— indeed, all representing the threefold office of Christ, for whom the crowns were laid up, Zech. vi. 11, 14
9. At the four corners, on the outside, were annexed unto it four rings of gold, on each side two. Through these rings went two staves or bars, wherewith the ark was to be carried on the shoulders of the Levites, Exod. xxv. 12-15; for the neglect of which service, strictly enjoined them, Num. vii. 9, God made a breach on Uzzah in the days of David, 2 Sam. vi. 6, 7.
10. The end wherefore God appointed the making of this ark, was to put therein N7Y0, “the testimony,” Exod. xxv, 16; that is, the two tables of stone engraved on both sides with the ten com- mandments, pronounced by the ministry of angels, and written with the finger of God. Besides this there was in it nothing at all, as is expressly affirmed, 1 Kings vii. 9; 2 Chron. v. 10; Deut. x. 2, 5. The appearance of a dissent from hence in an expression of our apostle, Heb. ix. 4, shall be considered in its proper place.