Based on Exodus 37:1-9 (New King James Version)
“Then Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits was its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. He overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold all around it. And he cast for it four rings of gold to be set in its four corners: two rings on one side, and two rings on the other side of it. He made poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. And he put the poles into the rings at the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. He also made the mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits was its length and a cubit and a half its width. He made two cherubim of beaten gold; he made them of one piece at the two ends of the mercy seat: one cherub at one end on this side, and the other cherub at the other end on that side. He made the cherubim at the two ends of one piece with the mercy seat. The cherubim spread out their wings above, and covered the mercy seat with their wings. They faced one another; the faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.”
The ark of the covenant and everything that composed it has a lot of meaning, and one could explore for some time the meaning of its materials, how it was made, and why it had the design and elements it had. In any case, and at first glance, so to speak, it was a fascinating object with incomparable value and craftsmanship, which had never existed before. It is believed to have been lost in approximately 586BC, when Babylon invaded Israel. Since then, there has been a lot of speculation of its whereabouts, but nothing has ever been known for certain. It remains lost to this day.
The ark fulfilled two fundamental things: to contain the stone tablets of the ten commandments, Aaron's rod, and a portion of the manna that Israel received in the desert. And the other was that it was the main way in which God's presence was manifested at that time and where He spoke to His people. In order to understand the true value of the ark, you must understand its functions. The ten commandments, Aaron's rod, and manna were part of the old covenant that God made with Israel. The old covenant was that God, by His grace, and out of love for Abraham His friend, would miraculously free Abraham's descendants from the hands of the Egyptians, who used them as slaves to build their great buildings and cities. God did His great deeds and miracles through Aaron's rod. And later, when the people of Israel were delivered from Egypt and began to cross the desert, God miraculously fed them in the middle of the desert with manna from heaven. And then, He took them to Mount Sinai where He would give them His Word, which would serve as a covenant between God and His people. This was the fundamental symbolism of its content.
And to continue explaining its functions, and the covenant that it established, when the tabernacle was made, God gave ordinances as part of the covenant to His people, so that if they fulfilled the conditions prescribed in the Law of Moses (which God also gave to His people), He would speak to them from this ark of the covenant. And God did it that way. He spoke to His people from the mercy seat. So, clearly we see in this covenant a deliverance by grace, and sustaining by grace, instruction by grace, and a way of communicating when fulfilling what God has prescribed.
Now, why was the ark lost? The answer is, because of Israel's constant sin and rebellion. Israel abused God's mercy for a long time. And God constantly sent His prophets to warn them of the evil that would come if they persisted in their sin, in their rebellion, in short, in their idolatry and spiritual adultery, trying to be right with God and with idols and demons, doing hateful things. before God, and also, humanly speaking, sacrificing even their children to other gods. And because of Israel's constant sin, God allowed their enemies, the Babylonians, to completely devastate Israel and Judah, thus destroying Jerusalem and the temple, where Nebuchadnezzar would take the ark and all the sacred things of the temple. And from there, it was no longer known what happened to the ark. And so, the ark was lost due to the constant and continuous sin of the people.
What do we have today since the ark has been lost? Only by the grace of God, and through faith, do we have a new covenant through the only begotten Son of God, through the Lord Jesus Christ. He is our new ark of the covenant, based on the same principles of the old covenant. The old covenant was started by God with man, through Abraham. God spoke to Abraham, and Abraham believed God. That is the foundation of the old covenant, which later materialized over time through this ark of the covenant that we saw before. But now, and only by the grace of God (just as before), God the Father has given us a part of himself, because the Lord Jesus Christ is part of the Holy Trinity (He is God), as the eternal covenant, because the Covenant no longer consists of material things such as tablets of stone, or a rod, or manna, and even less of an ark made of wood with gold, but of the eternal person of God himself. That is why it is written: “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’” John 14:6. The Lord Jesus Christ is the new and eternal covenant of God.
Now, for a covenant to be fulfilled, there must be two parties. It is impossible for a person to make a pact with themselves, because otherwise it is not a pact. And for an agreement to be fulfilled, there must be conditions that both parties meet. In the past, God made a covenant with man through faith but without His personal materialization, and it was mostly with the people of Israel. And I say mostly with Israel because there were men who did not belong to the people of Israel who did find the grace of God through faith, like Nebuchadnezzar, whom God called His servant. Nebuchadnezzar did remove his idols from before God and recognized the Most High God before all his kingdom, and proclaimed Him as his God. But that old covenant was broken by man, due to his rebellion against God. God more than did His part, but the people failed God. That is why God, by His grace, made a new covenant, and this time, through His own person, and made a blood covenant, because God shed His blood on the cross of Calvary for the salvation of man. But, for this covenant that is now in place to continue in each of us, what must happen? What is our part since God, as always, has already done more than what was required? We must repent and convert from all our sins and make the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of our lives, literally, effectively, and completely (without reservation), and thus do His will. But, if a person practices sin and God finds them in that when He comes for them, just as the people of Israel did, that person is the one who breaks the covenant. In contrast, if we take up our cross daily to follow the Lord and to do the will of the Father, the covenant is eternally ratified, and we will receive eternal life with all its rewards, according to our works, which are only valid if our faith is the root of them. That is how we fulfill our part of the covenant. So, do you live as if you have a covenant with God for eternal life? Lord bless! John. God bless Israel.