87
God appears as a cloud over the
Ark by day and as a fireball by night.
Whenever the cloud lifts, it is a sign
for the Israelites to move on.See also: The Exodus 74–77 ■ The Ten Commandments 78–83 ■ The Wisdom of Solomon 120–23 ■
The Fall of Jerusalem 128–31EXODUS TO DEUTERONOMY
Inside the Tabernacle are two inner
rooms. The first is the Holy Place,
containing the golden menorah
(the seven-armed lampstand); the
table of showbread, containing
12 loaves of unleavened bread, each
representing a tribe of Israel and
laid in two rows each week as
specified in Exodus 25:23–30 and
later confirmed by Leviticus 24:5–9;
and the altar of incense, also plated
in gold. Beyond this, separated
by a veil, stands the Holy of Holies
containing the Ark of the Covenant
itself, a wooden chest overlaid
inside and out with gold. Four gold
rings are attached to the bottom of
the chest, through which two poles
can be passed to carry the Ark.
The Ark contains the two stone
tablets inscribed with the Ten
Commandments and a pot of
manna, the food God provides for
the starving Israelites in the
wilderness. According to some
traditions, it also contains Aaron’s
rod, which had miraculously
produced blossoms to indicate thatAaron was God’s choice as high
priest. The lid of the Ark, in Hebrew
the kapporet, but in English known
as the mercy seat, is solid gold.Day of Atonement
Only the high priest was allowed
to enter the Holy of Holies and then
only once a year on the day now
known as Yom Kippur, when the
Israelites atoned for their sins.
Burning incense to shield his eyes
from the divine presence, the high
priest would sprinkle blood from a
newly sacrificed bull onto the
mercy seat to atone for his and his
family’s sins and then blood from a
goat to atone for the sins of the
Israelites in general.
A second goat was then brought
into the Holy of Holies. Placing his
hands on its head, the priest then
confessed the Israelites’ sins before
releasing the goat into the wild.
This ritual is the root of the word
scapegoat, as the second goat now
carries all the sins of the Israelites. ■The fate of the Ark
The last time the whereabouts
of the Ark of the Covenant is
mentioned in the Bible is in
2 Chronicles 2:35. It details
how King Josiah ordered the
Levites to return it to the
Temple of Jerusalem.
The Ark then vanishes
from Bible history. One theory
is that it was removed from
the temple—probably by
Jeremiah—before the fall of
Jerusalem. It is said he hid
the Ark in a cave on Mount
Nebu. Other scholars suggest
King Josiah buried it under a
storehouse on the Temple
Mount where the Dome of
the Rock now stands. A more
fanciful theory claims that
Menelik I, the son of Solomon
and the Queen of Sheba, took
the Ark to Axum in Ethiopia,
where it is still housed in the
Church of St. Mary of Zion.Have them make a
sanctuary for me, and I will
dwell among them.
Exodus 25:8US_086-087_Ark_and_Tabernacle.indd 87 13/10/2017 12:05