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Exodus 37

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1 And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the hight of it:

2 And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about.

3 And he cast for it four rings of gold, to be set by the four corners of it; even two rings upon the one side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it.

4 And he made staffs of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold.

5 And he put the staffs into the rings by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark.

6 And he made the mercy-seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and one cubit and a half the breadth of it.

7 And he made two cherubim of gold, beaten out of one piece he made them, on the two ends of the mercy-seat;

8 One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy-seat made he the cherubim on the two ends of it.

9 And the cherubim spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy-seat, with their faces one to another; even towards the mercy-seat were the faces of the cherubim.

10 And he made the table of shittim wood: two cubits was its length, and a cubit its breadth, and a cubit and a half its hight:

11 And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made to it a crown of gold round about.

12 Also he made to it a border of a hand-breadth round about; and made a crown of gold for its border round about.

13 And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings upon the four corners that were in its four feet.

14 Over against the border were the rings, the places for the staffs, to bear the table.

15 And he made the staffs of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold, to bear the table.

16 And he made the vessels which were upon the table, its dishes, and its spoons, and its bowls, and its covers to cover with, of pure gold.

17 And he made the candlestick of pure gold; of beaten work he made the candlestick; its shaft, and its branch, its bowls, its knobs, and its flowers were of the same:

18 And six branches proceeding from its sides; three branches of the candlestick from the one side of it, and three branches of the candlestick from the other side of it.

19 Three bowls made after the fashion of almonds in one branch, a knob and a flower; and Three bowls made like almonds in another branch, a knob and a flower: so throughout the six branches proceeding from the candlestick.

20 And in the candlestick were four bowls made like almonds, its knobs, and its flowers:

21 And a knob under two branches of the same, and a knob under two branches of the same, and a knob under two branches of the same, according to the six branches proceeding from it.

22 Their knobs and their branches were of the same: all of it was one beaten work of pure gold.

23 And he made its seven lamps, and its snuffers, and its snuff-dishes, of pure gold.

24 Of a talent of pure gold he made it, and all its vessels.

25 And he made the incense-altar of shittim wood: the length of it was a cubit, and the breadth of it a cubit; it was foursquare; and two cubits was the hight of it; the horns of it were of the same.

26 And he overlaid it with pure gold, both the top of it, and its sides round about, and its horns: also he made to it a crown of gold round about.

27 And he made two rings of gold for it under its crown, by the two corners of it, upon its two sides, to be places for the staffs to bear it with.

28 And he made the staffs of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold.

29 And he made the holy anointing oil, and the pure incense of sweet spices, according to the work of the apothecary.

   

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Ark

  
Depiction of Noah sending off a dove from the ark by DREUX, Jean;   MASTER of Margaret of York;   HENNECART, Jean

The third ark represents the third or inmost heaven where the angels are closest to the Lord, and the Lord Himself is represented by the two tables of stone which had on them His law, written by His finger. For this reason it was the most holy possession that the children of Israel had and it had power to affect the Jordan river and to discomfit Israel's enemies. It was kept in the closed part of the tabernacle where only Moses and Aaron could go. From the ark in its chamber the holiness rested in a lower degree in the outer room of the tabernacle, which represented the second or middle heaven, and in an even lower degree in the courtyard, inside the curtain fence, which represented the first or outer heaven.The ark for Moses, made of rushes was also sealed inside and out. Moses represents the Lord's Word, and because he was then an infant, our first ideas about the holiness of the Word when we are very young. So it isn't a solid and lasting structure, but a crude one because our young ideas are so unformed as yet. It also represents the first ideas of the Word in the mind of JesusAt the time of Noah the very first church, represented by Adam, had come to its end, and a new one had to be opened by the Lord. The minds of the people that were in that church are represented by the ark, and all the animals represented loves and affections, both good and bad, that those people had. The minds of these people were not the same as those of the people of the former church. The old selfish will inherited from their ancestors is represented by the gopher wood from which the basic ark was built, but which was sealed off inside and out by the bitumin. Their ancestors, the Adamites, didn't have this "sealing off" and so couldn't divide what they knew from what they desired. Noah and his family represent the ruling loves and the wish to follow the Lord. The ark keeps the flood of falsities from drowning those minds, and the door and window represent the hearing and seeing of truth from the doctrines that remained from the Adamic church. And so, held safe, they could use those principles, learned from doctrine, to form a conscience, which if followed would allow the Lord to build a new will for good in the mind. This separation of the will and understanding that can be made in the mind still reflects today the way we are, and still allows us to build a conscience, despite our own selfish will.There are three arks mentioned in the Word, the ark of Noah, the ark of bulrushes for the baby Moses, and the ark of the covenant in the tabernacle. All three of these represent the human mind at some point in its development