“Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.”
~ Exodus 37:1
Hi James and Ellen,
Do you like to make things with your hands? Do you like to build things? Do you like to fix things? Your grandpaa is not very good at making things with his hands. Your grandpaa is not into building things. Your grandpaa can make a real mess trying to fix something. Your grandpaa can make some pretty big holes in a wall when he has to put up curtain rods. Bezalel must have been very good at making things. Bezalel had become the chief craftsman among God’s specially chosen guys – the Israelite people groups guys. Because God was expecting His specially chosen guys and gals to worship Him, God gave Moses the instructions for the construction of a tabernacle where animal and incense sacrifices were to be made to Him. God also gave Moses at the same time the instructions for the making of the ark of the covenant. The ark of the covenant was to be placed behind thick curtains at the back of the tabernacle. The ark of the covenant was to be a different kind of place. The ark of the covenant was to be the place where God would always have His presence reside with His specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people groups guys and gals, as they traveled and as they settled down in the land that He had told them that they would one day always have to live in as their very own land. Bezalel was tasked to make the ark of the covenant. Out of around 600,000 guys, Bezalel was the guy for the job of the making of something where God’s presence would reside in on planet Earth. How would you have liked to have been in Bezalel’s shoes about 3400 years ago – being selected and tasked to make something where God’s presence would reside in on planet Earth? Would you have worked really hard to carefully follow God’s instructions that He had passed on through Moses for the making of the ark of the covenant? Are you good at following the instructions for putting something together? Your grandpaa is not good at all at following the instructions for putting something together. Your grandmaa has to always help your grandpaa when your grandpaa has to put something together.
The ark of the covenant was not large. Moses recorded in Exodus 37 how God’s specially chosen guys made the ark of the covenant and some of the things that went into the tabernacle after it was built. Verse 1 describes the ark of the covenant, “Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood—two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.” A cubit is about the length of a guy’s forearm. Do you know how long a guy’s forearm is? A guy’s forearm is about eighteen inches long. The ark of the covenant’s length was three feet and nine inches, its width was two feet and three inches and its height was two feet and three inches. An acacia tree is gnarly, has a rough bark and is thorny. Wood from acacia trees is fine grained and very durable. The ark of the covenant was overlaid with a gold covering. Gold is the precious metal that signifies purity. The ark of the covenant was purified so that God’s presence could always reside in it. There is in Concepción, Nuflo de Chávez, Bolivia, a large, ornate Catholic Church. Your grandmaa and grandpaa lived in Concepción for three years administrating the rural resident leadership training program that they implemented there in January of 1982. There were about 1800 guys and gals living in Concepción when your grandmaa and grandpaa lived there. A guy who was living in Concepción told your grandmaa and grandpaa one day that about 600 of the guys and gals who were living in Concepción worked directly for the Catholic Church that is in Concepción, that about another 600 guys and gals who were living in Concepción were dependent in one way or another on the Catholic Church that is in Concepción and that the remaining 600 or so guys and gals who were living in Concepción were just living in Concepción as a place to live. Guys and gals who live in Bolivia call the Catholic Church in Concepción the ‘Jungle Gem’. Concepción is an isolated community in Bolivia yet it is well-known because of the beautiful Catholic Church that is there. Many of the things that are inside the Catholic Church in Concepción are overlaid with gold. Thick cedar tree trunks have been carved into spiraling, rope like pillars which are all around the Catholic Church that is in Concepción.
God expected a perfect place for His presence to always reside in on planet Earth with His specially chosen guys and gals – the Israelite people groups guys and gals. That perfect place for God’s presence to always reside in on planet Earth would be the ark of the covenant which Bezalel had the blessing of constructing. To enable guys to carry the ark of covenant, Bezalel made four gold rings that he attached to the feet of the ark of the covenant so that there was a golden ring at each corner and that they were two golden rings at each side of the ark of the covenant. Bezalel made two poles out of acacia wood – which he overlaid with gold, which were to be used for carrying the ark of the covenant when God wanted His specially chosen guys and gals to move from where they had been encamped to another place. Bezalel made an atonement cover out of pure gold. The atonement cover went over the ark of the covenant. The atonement cover was three feet – nine inches long and two feet – three inches wide. This pure gold atonement cover fitted perfectly over the ark of the covenant. Bezalel made two cherubim that were placed at opposite ends of the pure gold atonement cover – facing each other, with their wings spread. What today is like the ark of the covenant? Your bodies are like the ark of the covenant. God’s presence as God the Spirit will always be residing in your bodies when you accept what God – as God the Son, did for you when He sacrificed His body and blood as an atonement sacrifice for your sins. Have you offered your bodies to God to use as living sacrifices?
Exodus 37 (549)