ARK OF
THE COVENANT
Part II New Testament
Typology
Ark
in the New Covenant
Ark in Luke’s Gospel
Old
Testament Prefigures Christ’s Ascension into Heaven Along with His Ark
Typology
Types And Shadows Pointing
Ahead And Revealing God’s Glory
Men in the Old Testament who prefigured Christ
are called
types
of Christ. Christ is the “anti-type” or the
“archetype” the One in whom they prefigured and the
One in whom is found complete and infinite perfection.
Christ is the new Moses who leads us out of the bondage of sin.
He is the new Solomon, the true Son of David. David, the
King of Israel, is a type of Christ. In the Old Testament we
also find him crushing Satan’s head.
Ark
in the New Covenant
Revelation 11:19
“Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the
ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple.”
This had to have been a startling declaration by John. The
much longed for Ark had not been seen in centuries.
2 Maccabees 2:5
“And Jeremiah came and found a cave, and he brought there the tent and
the ark and the altar of incense, and he sealed up the entrance.”
The Ark was treasured by the Israelites because it was a place of
prayer to the One True God. It symbolized His power and glory, but
we read in 2 Maccabees 2:5 that Jeremiah had hidden the Ark. So,
when John records in the Book of Revelation - also called Apocalypse
which literally means the unveiling - his vision of heaven that he had
seen the Ark up in heaven the Jewish people must have been ecstatic to
read that. The Ark had been hidden and lost for hundreds of years.
At this point John immediately records visions of lightning,
thunder, and earthquakes. This is John’s special effects to let us
know that something really spectacular is about to happen. If John
had been making a modern day movie of this Book we probably see the best
computer graphics and special effects ever because John is about to
reveal who this Ark is up in heaven. See, there were no chapter
separations in the original Books of the Bible. Chapter and verse
numbers were added hundreds of years later. So the Book of
Revelation Chapter 11:19 flows right into Chapter 12 verse one.
The Ark was holy because of what it contained.
Within it was placed the Manna that Moses and the Israelites collected
in the desert. It also had the Budding Staff of Aaron which
symbolized his high priesthood, and the Tablets upon which were written
the Ten Commandments. See Hebrews 9:3-4
All of these also symbolized and pointed toward Jesus Christ.
He is our Heavenly Bread come down from heaven, John 6, our eternal High
Priest, Hebrews 7-9, and the Word of God made flesh, John 1.
Jesus was conceived in Mary’s womb and lived there for nine
months. Therefore, Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant. That
is why when John says he sees the Ark of the Covenant after the
description of the special effects John proclaims that he sees a woman,
the mother of the Christ child.
Revelation 11:19 - 12:17
“Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the
ark of his covenant was seen within his
temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder,
an earthquake, and heavy hail.... And a
great portent appeared in heaven, a woman
clothed with the sun, with the moon
under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars;
she was with child and she cried out in her pangs of birth, in anguish
for delivery. ...
she brought forth a male child, one who is
to rule all the nations with a rod of
iron, but her child was caught up to God
and to his throne …
9 And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent,
who is called the Devil and Satan,
the deceiver of the whole world—he was
thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.
… And when the dragon saw that he had been thrown down to the
earth, he pursued the woman who had borne
the male child.
… 17 Then the dragon was angry with the woman, and
went off to make war on the rest of her
offspring, on
those who keep the commandments of God and bear
testimony to Jesus.”
Because Mary was saved by God's grace from the first moment of her
Immaculate Conception she was spared the curse of original sin.
(Genesis 3:16) The pangs of birth is a reference to the pains she
willingly undertook in becoming the mother of all the beloved disciples.
(John 19:26)
Jerusalem had been the center of religious worship of the One True
God. So, King David had the Ark of the Old Covenant brought up to
Jerusalem. Therefore, it is only fitting and proper that Jesus,
the King of Kings, brought Mary, the Ark of the New Covenant, up to
Heaven. And this is what John saw in his heavenly vision.
The Book of Revelation is about New Testament fulfillment. It
is about the consumption, the apocalypse, … the Revelation of all
things.
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