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The Role of the Ark Today
The Ark remains a topic of study even today, over 2000
years after it was last seen. A great deal of research
has attempted to explain the wonders that are attributed
to the Ark in the Bible. One recent study suggests the
possibility that the Ark represented man's first
harnessing of electricity. The accounts given of
peoples' sudden deaths from touching the Ark are
consistent with death by a high voltage, lethal
electrical charge. Such a charge could have resulted
from the constant exposure of the box to static
electricity, which builds up quickly in a hot, dry
climate like the Middle East. The materials that the Ark
was made of further support this theory: gold is one of
the most powerful electrical conductors, and wood is an
excellent insulator
The Lost Ark of the Covenant
By David Shyovitz
Judaism, as a general rule, rejects physical
manifestations of spirituality, preferring instead to
focus on actions and beliefs. Indeed, the story of
Judaism begins with Abraham, the original iconoclast,
who, according to ancient sources, shattered the idols
that were the conventional method of religious
observance at the time. Worship of graven images is
harshly condemned throughout the Torah, and perhaps the
greatest sin the Israelites collectively committed was
the construction of the Golden Calf (in Ex. 32),
intended to serve as a physical intermediary between
them and God. Today, Jews do not venerate any holy
relics or man-made symbols.
But early in the history of the Jewish people, there was
one exception to this rule, one man-made object that was
considered intrinsically holy. The Ark of the Covenant,
constructed during the Israelites' wanderings in the
desert and used until the destruction of the First
Temple, was the most important symbol of the Jewish
faith, and served as the only physical manifestation of
God on earth. The legends associated with this object,
and the harsh penalties ascribed for anyone who misuses
it, confirm the Ark's centrality to the Jewish faith of
that period; the fact that Jews and non-Jews alike
continue to study and imitate it confirms its centrality
even today.
Building the Ark
The construction of the Ark is commanded by God to Moses
while the Jews were still camped at Sinai (Ex. 25:10-22;
37:1-9). The Ark was a box with the dimensions of
two-and-a-half cubits in length, by one-and-a-half
cubits in heights, by one-and-a-half cubits in width (a
cubit is about 18 inches). It was constructed of acacia
wood, and was plated with pure gold, inside and out. On
the bottom of the box, four gold rings were attached,
through which two poles, also made of acacia and coated
in gold, were put. The family of Kehath, of the tribe of
Levi, would carry the ark on their shoulders using these
poles.
One artist's rendition of what the Ark looked like.
Covering the box was the kapporet, a pure gold covering
that was two-and-a-half by one-and-a-half cubits.
Attached to the kapporet were two sculpted Cherubs, also
made of pure gold. The two Cherubs faced one another,
and their wings, which wrapped around their bodies,
touched between them.
The contents of the Ark has been debated through the
centuries. The general consensus is that the first
tablets containing the Ten Commandments, which were
broken by Moses, and the second tablets, which remained
intact, were contained in the Ark (Bava Batra 14b).
According to one opinion in the Talmud, both Tablets
were together in the Ark; according to another, there
were two Arks, and each contained one set of Tablets (Berakhot
8b).
The Ark was built by Bezalel, son of Uri, son of Hur,
who constructed the entire Tabernacle – the portable
Temple used in the desert and during the conquest of the
land of Israel. The Tabernacle was the resting place for
the Ark, and also contained other vessels that were used
in the physical worship of God. The Biblical
commentators argue over why God commanded Moses to build
a Tabernacle in the first place: According to Rashi (Ex.
31:18), God realized after the sin of the Golden Calf
that the Israelites needed an outlet for physical
worship, and commanded that they build the Tabernacle as
a way of expressing their own need for physical
representation of God. According to Nachmanides (Ex.
25:1), however, the Jews were commanded to build the
Tabernacle even before the sin of the Golden Calf;
rather than filling a human need, the Tabernacle was
God's method of achieving continuous revelation in the
Israelites' camp. These two opinions as to whether the
Tabernacles, and the Temples that followed them, were an
a priori necessity or a necessary evil demonstrate the
controversial role of physical worship in Judaism as a
whole.
The Role of the Ark
The Ark was used in the desert and in Israel proper for
a number of spiritual and pragmatic purposes.
Practically, God used the Ark as an indicator of when he
wanted the nation to travel, and when to stop. In the
traveling formation in the desert, the Ark was carried
2000 cubits ahead of the nation (Num. R. 2:9). According
to one midrash, it would clear the path for the nation
by burning snakes, scorpions, and thorns with two jets
of flame that shot from its underside (T. VaYakhel, 7);
another midrash says that rather than being carried by
its bearers, the Ark in fact carried its bearers inches
above the ground (Sotah 35a). When the Israelites went
to war in the desert and during the conquering of
Canaan, the Ark accompanied them; whether its presence
was symbolic, to provide motivation for the Jews, or
whether it actually aided them in fighting, is debated
by commentators.
Spiritually, the Ark was the manifestation of God's
physical presence on earth (the shekhina). When God
spoke with Moses in the Tent of Meeting in the desert,
he did so from between the two Cherubs (Num. 7:89). Once
the Ark was moved into the Holy of Holies in the
Tabernacle, and later in the Temple, it was accessible
only once a year, and then, only by one person. On Yom
Kippur, the High Priest (Kohen Gadol) could enter the
Holy of Holies to ask forgiveness for himself and for
all the nation of Israel (Lev. 16:2).
The relationship between the Ark and the shekhina is
reinforced by the recurring motif of clouds. God's
presence is frequently seen in the guise of a cloud in
the Bible (Ex. 24:16), and the Ark is constantly
accompanied by clouds: When God spoke from between the
Cherubs, there was a glowing cloud visible there (Ex.
40:35); when the Jews traveled, they were led by the Ark
and a pillar of clouds (Num. 10:34); at night, the
pillar of clouds was replaced by a pillar of fire,
another common descriptor of God's appearance (Ex.
24:17); and when the High Priest entered presence of the
Ark on Yom Kippur, he did so only under the cover of a
cloud of incense, perhaps intended to mask the sight of
the shekhina in all its glory (Lev. 16:13).
The holiness of the Ark also made it dangerous to those
who came in contact with it. When Nadav and Avihu, the
sons of Aaron, brought a foreign flame to offer a
sacrifice in the Tabernacle, they were devoured by a
fire that emanated "from the Lord" (Lev. 10:2). During
the saga of the capture of the Ark by the Philistines,
numerous people, including some who merely looked at the
Ark, were killed by its power. Similarly, the Priests
who served in the Tabernacle and Temple were told that
viewing the Ark at an improper time would result in
immediate death (Num. 4:20).
History of the Ark
The Ark accompanied the Jews throughout their time in
the desert, traveling with them and accompanying them to
their wars with Emor and Midian. When the Jews crossed
into the land of Canaan, the waters of the Jordan River
miraculously split and the Ark led them through (Josh.
3). Throughout their conquest of the land, the Jews were
accompanied by the Ark. The most dramatic demonstration
of its power comes when the Jews breached the walls of
Jericho merely by circling them, blowing horns and
carrying the Ark (Josh. 6).
After the conquest was completed, the Ark, and the
entire Tabernacle, were set up in Shiloh (Josh. 18) .
There they remained until the battles of the Jews with
the Philistines during the Priesthood of Eli. The Jews,
after suffering a defeat at the Philistines' hands, took
the Ark from Shiloh to Even-Ezer in hopes of winning the
next battle. But the Jews were routed, and the Ark was
captured by the Philistines. Back in Shiloh, Eli, the
High Priest, immediately died upon hearing the news (I
Sam. 4).
The Philistines took the Ark back to Ashdod, their
capital city in the south of Canaan, where they placed
it in the temple of their god Dagon. The next day,
however, they found the idol fallen on its face. After
replacing the statue, they found it the next day
decapitated, with only its trunk remaining, and soon
afterward, the entire city of Ashdod was struck with a
plague. The Philistines moved the Ark to the city of
Gath, and from there to Ekron, but whatever city the Ark
was in, the inhabitants were struck with plague. After
seven months, the Philistines decided to send the Ark
back to the Israelites, and accompanied it with
expensive gifts. The Ark was taken back to Beit Shemesh,
and, according to midrash, the oxen pulling the Ark
burst into song as soon as it was once again in Israel's
possession (A.Z. 22b). The actual text of the story,
however, tells a much grimmer tale: The men of Beit
Shemesh were punished for staring disrespectfully at the
Ark, and many were killed with a plague.
From Beit Shemesh, the Ark was transported to Kiryat
Yearim, where it remained for twenty years. From there,
King David transported it to Jerusalem. En route,
however, the oxen pulling it stumbled, and when Uzzah
reached out to steady the Ark, he died immediately. As a
result of this tragedy, David decided to leave the Ark
at the home of Obed-edom the Gittite.
Obed-edom The Gittite.
Three months
later, he moved it to Jerusalem, the seat of his
kingdom, where it remained until the construction of the
First Temple by David's son Solomon (I Sam. 5-6). When
the Ark was finally placed in the Temple, the midrash
reports that the golden tree decorations that adorned
the walls blossomed with fruit that grew continuously
until the Temple's destruction (Yoma 39b).
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