The essence of my very being is to think in terms of
metaphors and symbols and God has used them as his method for drawing me close
to him so I now thirst for his presence through the Holy Ghost and his
Word. I recently embarked on a journey
to read the Bible in entirety in chronological order so that I could understand
his Word. As I take this journey I will
share my thoughts with the readers of Sacred Souls.
I have finished reading Genesis and Exodus and my objective today
was to absorb the detail of God’s directions to Moses on how to build the Ark
of the Covenant. “The ark was made of
acacia wood – two and half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit
and a half high. He overlaid it with
pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it.” Additional rings, an atonement cover, and
cherubim were all made of gold. A table,
lampstand, altars, courtyard, and priestly garments were also constructed of
gold, silver, bronze, beautiful colorful linens, and jewels. After reflecting on the passage in Genesis of
Noah’s ark, and God’s promise to Noah he would never wipe out humanity again, I
had a revelation on why the beautifully rendered ark by Moses and the
Israelites meant.
The SIL Glossary of linguistic Terms identifies an ontological
metaphor as “a metaphor in which an abstraction, such as an activity, emotion,
or idea, is represented as something concrete, such as an object, substance,
container, or person.” The ark in Genesis was a
vessel, a container and a representation of the covenant made by God with Noah,
never to devastate the Earth again.
During the flood the ark physically contained and protected Noah, his
family, and earth’s animals against God’s devastation. So what did the Ark of the Covenant in Exodus represent? It physically contained the
Ten Commandments. Moses and the
Israelites recognized God wanted the Ark and the tabernacle in which it resided
to be holy. At the time of Exodus these objects
symbolized how to outwardly and physically be holy by following the Ten
Commandments, cleanliness, and through sacrifice. However, humans through these actions could
not wipe the stain of sin from our souls and its consequences on the human
race. What would be our ark that would
save us in a flood (death) and how could we truly be holy with our innate
sinfulness? God’s answer was later revealed in the Gospels through Jesus
(although unknown to Moses and the Israelites at the time of Exodus). Jesus sinless (cleanliness), sacrifice on the cross, promise of resurrection by God, and God's release of
the Holy Ghost which enters each one of us as we submit our will to God and act
out of love like Jesus did.
