A Picture in a Gold Box
- Pastor Jay Christianson
- Jun 13
- 6 min read
“…the ark of the covenant, covered with gold on all sides, in which was a gold jar containing the manna, Aaron’s staff that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.” (Hebrews 9:4 CSB)
Our Heavenly Father is a wonderful parent.
Good parents teach their children using age-appropriate materials. Preschool kids start with pictures because they haven’t learned the alphabet. Elementary-age children learn concepts in simplified ways because their cognitive abilities are in early development. We don’t teach Ph.D.-level material to a first-grader. Unless you’re Elon Musk, but that might be an exaggeration.
Maybe.
Don’t sneer. I haven’t seen you produce self-driving cars or rockets that eclipse NASA’s efforts.
Anyway, our Heavenly Father, His thoughts, and His ways are so far beyond our comprehension we’re like toddlers presented with quantum physics (Isaiah 55:8-9). We’re absolutely clueless.
That’s why so much about God, as revealed through His word, is presented in the Bible through pictures. Once you adjust your thinking to read and study His word via pictures and patterns, remarkable insights explode in our tiny-by-comparison brains. I’d like to share one such picture in four quick parts, much like a puzzle.
It starts with the Ark of the Covenant. Even if a person has little Bible knowledge, they likely know of the famous Ark through the movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark. This 1981 film (Over forty years old. Wow! Has it been that long?) followed intrepid explorer Indiana Jones through jungles, over mountains, across deserts, and past phalanxes of Nazi scum, to locate God’s Ark of the Covenant, supposedly squirreled away in Egypt. As awesome as its discovery and subsequent release of God’s judgmental power at the movie’s climax was, the Ark’s true nature is even more magnificent.
The Ark was a gold-plated acacia wood box (Exodus 25:10-22) upon which rested a solid gold lid with two cherubim (spiritual beings with two pairs of wings, Ezekiel 1:23). The cherubim images sat on the lid, facing each other with their heads down and wings spread forward. God’s physical divine presence rested over this lid called the Mercy Seat from the moment the Lord took up residence in the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:34-35) to the day His presence left Israel’s First Temple because of their covenant violations and unrepentant idolatry (Ezekiel 9-11).
That’s the outside of the Ark. Let’s talk about what was in it. By the time Israel had completed their forty-year sojourn in the wilderness and entered the Promised Land, the Ark contained three significant items: the tablets of the covenant (Deuteronomy 10:2,5), a gold jar of manna (Exodus 16:33), and Aaron’s staff (Numbers 17:10). Hebrews 9:4 records these in the New Covenant scriptures as well. These things served as spiritual object lessons.
The big question is, “What do these four items reveal to us as pictures?”
The Ark is God’s holy throne on earth. “The Lord reigns! Let the peoples tremble. He is enthroned between the cherubim. Let the earth quake…Exalt the Lord our God; bow in worship at his footstool. He is holy.” (Psalm 99:1,5) and “Lord of Armies, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you are God—you alone—of all the kingdoms of the earth. You made the heavens and the earth” (Isaiah 37:16, italics author).
The Mercy Seat of the Ark is a beautiful picture revealing the truth that God is our absolute, sovereign monarch. Let this mind-blowing truth sink in: the King of all that is seen and unseen, all that He has created, has chosen to reign over us and live with us. That is, after all, as it was in the beginning. No matter what happened in the interim—the Fall, humanity’s continual failures, Jesus’ redemption, and promised return—our Heavenly King’s undeniable purpose was to reestablish His rule over our lives and restore our intimate fellowship with Him. Under the New Covenant, this and more has happened. For the born-again person, God is our King and lives not just with us but in us!
The Tablets of the Covenant – God’s Divine Law. Every king has his laws of the land, and our Divine King is no different. When God became Israel’s king and they His subjects, the first thing He did was present them with the laws of His realm. The King’s subjects were to live only His way. In ancient Israel’s day, a conquering king would make a covenant with his new subjects and present the terms (his law) on two copies, one for the king and one for the people. There were duplicate copies so that both parties could ensure each side was following the terms of the agreement. It’s likely that the Ten Commandments were written on two tablets to reflect the custom of the day. Both copies were kept in the Ark as a testimony for both Israel and her King.
Under the New Covenant, God’s law and our requirement to live His way haven’t changed. Don’t take my word for it. Read what Jesus, our King, said. “Don’t think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all things are accomplished (meaning the wrap-up of the Father’s plan to restore everything). Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commands and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven. But whoever does and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:17-19).
Aaron’s Staff – God’s Authority. Now, we come to a weird item. We find Aaron’s staff, which budded and bore almonds (Numbers 17). The context is God putting down a rebellion among His people. You can read about Korah’s rebellion in Numbers 16-17. Moses was His national leader, and Aaron, Moses’ brother, was God’s priestly leader. After Israel’s King quashed the rebellion in a rather spectacular way, He wanted to ensure that any challenge to His authority and ordained leadership was never questioned again.
God called for a staff from every Israelite tribal leader, twelve in all, marked with that tribe’s name. These dead sticks were placed within the Tabernacle overnight. When the staffs were brought out in the morning, Aaron’s staff (marked “Levi”) “had sprouted, formed buds, blossomed, and produced almonds!” (Numbers 17:8), proving that God had chosen the tribe of Levi and only that tribe to serve Him as His priests. Aaron and his kin carried God’s spiritual authority over Israel only.
The kicker is the pun found in the Hebrew word for “almond” (shaqed) because it’s very similar to the Hebrew word for “watching” (shaqad). In clear terms, Israel’s King showed His people that He was watching so there would be no rebellion or mischief ever again.
As for us disciples, Jesus proclaimed His absolute authority after His resurrection, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth” (Matthew 28:18). Jesus’ authority extends over all creation, whether physical or spiritual. As God, Jesus has absolute authority over all. He does not countenance rebellion or mischief in His kingdom, even though He may allow it until the time to judge it arrives. Oh, and He will judge it.
The Gold Jar of Manna – God’s Daily Provision. Finally, we have the golden jar of manna (Exodus 16:32-34). It’s the King’s reminder to His people that, as their King, He has promised to provide for their needs. God also showed the Israelites that caring for a multitude of them on a daily basis for decades was easy for Him. It was both a trust-building exercise and an obedience test for the Israelites (Exodus 16:4), one they had to undergo for forty years to ensure it was ingrained in their minds and hearts. For us followers of King Jesus, He showed that nothing about His Father’s daily provision has changed. “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things (food and clothing) will be provided for you.” (Matthew 6:33)
When we put the puzzle pieces together, we have a powerful picture of our God.
Our Heavenly Father is our King, our Sovereign Lord, under whose laws and authority we live and who provides daily everything we need.
And He gave us that picture wrapped up in a gold box.
Shining the Light of God’s Truth on the Road Ahead
Pastor Jay Christianson
The Truth Barista, Frothy Thoughts