What a beauty!” thought Aaron, looking at the Ark of the Covenant. He still had the lesson he had learned the last time while in the Holy of Holies fresh in his memory – three arks. Now, he was standing in front of the Ark of the Covenant. It was made out of wood and covered with gold. He knew that wood represented humanity and here it was covered with God’s nature. He admired the beauty of this Ark. The Lord was there to show him the secrets of this last piece of furniture in the Tabernacle.
“Aaron,” the familiar Voice asked the young boy, “can you see how the Ark of the Covenant is sealed as both Noah’s and Moses’ arks were?”
Aaron looked all around but could not find anything that would be similar to the sealing of the previous two arks. He said, “No, Lord, I don’t think it is sealed.”
The Lord smiled. He knew He had asked a tricky question. “Actually, Aaron, it is sealed,” He said. “But its seal is different from that of the other arks. It is not sealed by pitch and tar, which were designed to withstand water, but by gold, which is designed to withstand fire. When Noah came out of the ark, God showed him the sign of the rainbow. It meant that the earth would no more be destroyed by water, but by fire; and gold is not destroyed by fire, only purified by it.”
The Lord then continued, “There is no man that was ever able to look inside of the Ark of the Covenant and live. Therefore, I can’t show you what is in it, but I will tell you all about it.”
Aaron was happy. He knew that if the Lord said it was best not to look then it must have been the best. He was listening attentively so that he would not miss any small detail of the inside of the Ark.
“Tell Me, Aaron,” the Lord asked, “if the Mercy Seat represents the covering of My people, what does the Ark of the Covenant represent?”
Aaron thought for a minute, “Well, Lord, if it is us who are to be covered under the shadow of Your wings then the Ark must represent us.”
“Very good, Aaron. You are absolutely right. The Ark of the Covenant represents My people, My sons, who have three things within them, just as the Ark has three things inside of it.
“The first thing,” the Lord continued, “is the testimony, which I have given to Moses. These are the Ten Commandments written on two slabs of stone. This represents My divine order, which I am planting in the hearts of My people.
“Further, you can find two living miracles in the Ark. The first one is the pot of manna, which never grew stale, as a sample of the food that I fed the children of Israel with in the wilderness for forty years. When it first appeared, Moses commanded Aaron to preserve some of it in a golden pot. Let’s read about it in Exodus 16:33.”
With these words, the Lord handed Aaron the big Bible and let him read out loud, “And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.”
“You see, Aaron,” the Lord continued, “this manna represents the Christ-life, energy food, which My people will receive in the Spirit to bring forth the works of power that are needed on earth. Psalm 78:25 calls it angel’s food. Revelation 2:17b calls it hidden manna. The human realm is being robbed of all the energy to bring forth life and you need to receive this Spirit energy.
“The second living miracle, and the third thing in the Ark, is Aaron’s rod, which budded overnight and brought forth fruit. You can read about it in Numbers 17:5-8. The budding of this rod was conclusive proof of the man whom I chose to be the chief. The budding shows supernatural fruit-bearing and life-giving quality, while the rod shows authority, rulership, and government. Have you noticed, Aaron, that the rod is the only thing in the Holy of Holies that is not pure gold, neither is it covered with gold or engraved? It shows that I am well pleased with My people only when they bear fruit.”
Aaron was deep in thought after he was left alone again. Basically, the Lord was telling him that in order to be among His elect people, among His sons, he has to have within himself God’s divine order, God’s energy, and he has to bear fruit. He knew there was much that he would have to think about in the days ahead.
How about you, young reader? What are you going to be thinking about in the days to come? Will you choose to set your mind on the things of God and serve Him so that He can place within you the same things that are found in the Ark of the Covenant?
Answer the following questions to see how well you understood this chapter:
- What is the Ark of the Covenant sealed with? Why?
- What does the Ark of the Covenant represent?
- What is the first thing hidden in the Ark of the Covenant? What does it represent?
- What is the second thing hidden in the Ark of the Covenant? What does it represent?
- What is the third thing hidden in the Ark of the Covenant? What does it represent?
- What do you have to have within yourself in order to be among the sons of God?