Once again, Aaron woke up with the sound of a familiar voice calling him in his sleep. He knew the Lord had something interesting and important to show him. He jumped up and said, “Yes, Lord, Your servant hears.” He learned this from Samuel in the Bible who also used to listen to the Lord in the night.
“Aaron,” the Voice said, “I have come today to take you back to the Holy of Holies.”
Aaron was excited. He really liked that place. There was so much glory of God in there that he wished he could just live there all the time.
The Lord kept talking to him while He was taking him through the whole Tabernacle to the Holy of Holies. “Aaron,” He said, “have you noticed that the seven pieces of furniture in the Tabernacle form a cross, with the Ark of the Covenant at the head?”
Aaron had to think about it for a while, but as he pictured his way through the Tabernacle, he realized it was true. “This is exciting, Lord!” he exclaimed. “It means that the whole Tabernacle shows the life of sacrifice.”
“Very good observation, My young friend,” the Lord replied. Then He continued, “The Ark of the Covenant is made out of wood and overlaid, or sealed, with gold. I am sure you remember that it symbolizes humanity covered with My nature.”
Aaron nodded his head. He did remember.
“Before we arrive at the full symbolic meaning of this Ark, though,” the Lord said, “you must first understand the meaning of the word ark. Let Me take you into the history of arks from the beginning.
“There are three arks that you can read about in the Bible:
1. Noah’s ark,
2. Moses’ ark,
3. The Ark of the Covenant.
All these were constructed to save my elect.”
Aaron was excited. He loved Noah’s ark. He had read about it in the Bible many times by now. He also liked to draw this big boat with Noah and all the animals. He could not wait to hear what the Lord had to say next.
“Aaron, you might remember that the first ark was constructed to save Noah and his family. These eight persons constituted the whole world of those who were not against God. These were the remnant of a righteous generation. Others were destroyed by violent men and by the action of sin.”
Aaron further learned that this ark had three stories. The bottom story represented God the Father. The seal, with pitch and tar, was the main feature of its salvation quality. The ark had to have a special time for the pitching and tarring. If it had taken him 120 years or just 20 years to build, he would have been forced to put on the tar at a specific time, near the time when the ark would float. Otherwise, the exposure to wind and sun would spoil it. The pitch and the tar, therefore, represent the seal of the living God. This seal saved the ark and all that were in it, therefore, it is very important. So we see that God is our salvation.
The second story represented Jesus Christ the Son, because it had the door, and Jesus is the door of entering into God (John 10:9). The most significant thing about the door of the ark was that it was closed by God before the rain started falling, when God shut Noah and his family and the animals in. This shows that after this seal of the living God is applied to the church and the destruction begins on earth, some people will be in a place of safety and others will not. According to God’s promise, some will escape the destructive force of the tribulation. All that the tribulation will do to them is purify them and make them ready to meet Jesus at His coming and at His personal appearance.
The third story typifies the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit for us is a window looking up into Heaven.
Even though Aaron had known about Noah’s ark, He had never thought of the things he was just hearing. But this was all so exciting!
“Aaron,” the Lord continued, “let Me now show you Moses’ ark.” With these words, the Lord showed Aaron a basket with a baby boy in it. He further told him that it was made of leaves and twigs from the river. It was made by women, Moses’ sister and mother, who are a type of the church. It did not have stories like Noah’s ark, but in place of the stories was a manchild – Moses. This meant that if the hull of the ark represented God the Father with the seal, then Moses represented the Son and the Spirit. The Son and the Spirit are God’s two witnesses on earth. Moses was God’s witness in Egypt, both to the Israelites and to the Egyptians. He manifested God magnificently, not carnally, but by Spirit action. The papyrus leaves and twigs from the river represented flesh and humanity, just as the wood of the ark represented flesh and humanity. God uses humanity as the negative through which He manifests His positive nature.
“Aaron, there is still much to tell you about the arks,” the Lord said. “But our time is running out. I will come again soon, though, and tell you all about the Ark of the Covenant.”
Aaron was sad. He didn’t want the Lord to leave him now. He really wanted to hear about the Ark of the Covenant and its purpose in the life of a believer. However, the Lord was already gone. And so he has to wait a little longer.
Answer the following questions to see how well you understood this chapter:
- What do the seven pieces of furniture in the Tabernacle form?
- What are the three arks mentioned in the Bible and what were they constructed for?
- What did the first story in Noah’s ark represent?
- What did the second story in Noah’s ark represent?
- What did the third story in Noah’s ark represent?
- Can you describe Moses’ ark, what it was made out of and what it represented?