Symbolism of the Ark of the Covenant

by

Rabbi Hirsch Geffen

(1879 - 1977)

The Ark of the Covenant contained the most sacred monument of the Jewish, or of any other, religion. At the east end of every synagogue, the Jews have a chest which they call Aron, or Ark, in which they lock the Pentateuch, written on parchment. As the Ark was the emblem of the peace and alliance God made with His people, it was put under the shadow of the wings of the cherubim.

The Ark was a symbol of the divine presence and protection of the Israelites, and a pledge of the stability of the theocracy, so long as the people adhered to articles of the Covenant which the Ark contained.

It is perpetually called the Ark of the Covenant, with a primary preference to the Covenant vouchsafed by God to Noah, with a secondary reference to the same covenant renewed in a particular manner with the seed of Abraham. Hence, in the Tabernacle, it was surmounted by the mercy seat and the cherubim; as the mercy of God rested on the diluvian ark, and as His providence guarded it from surrounding dangers, the Holy Ark was to remind the people of the most signal instance of Divine mercy and judgement.