'Ark' in the Bible

Make yourself an ark of gopher wood; make in it rooms (stalls, pens, coops, nests, cages, compartments) and coat it inside and out with pitch (bitumen).

This is the way you are to make it: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits (450’ x 75’ x 45’).

You shall make a window [for light and ventilation] for the ark, and finish it to at least a cubit (eighteen inches) from the top—and set the [entry] door of the ark in its side; and you shall make it with lower, second and third decks.

But I will establish My covenant (solemn promise, formal agreement) with you; and you shall come into the ark—you and your [three] sons and your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

And of every living thing [found on land], you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

Then the Lord said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you with all your household, for you [alone] I have seen as righteous (doing what is right) before Me in this generation.

Then Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives with him entered the ark to escape the flood waters.

they came [motivated by God] into the ark with Noah two by two, the male and the female, just as God had commanded Noah.

On the very same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark,

So they went into the ark with Noah, two by two of all living beings in which there was the breath and spirit of life.

The flood [the great downpour of rain] was forty days and nights on the earth; and the waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it floated [high] above the land.

The waters became mighty and increased greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters.

God destroyed (blotted out, wiped away) every living thing that was on the surface of the earth; man and animals and the crawling things and the birds of the heavens were destroyed from the land. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive.

And God remembered and thought kindly of Noah and every living thing and all the animals that were with him in the ark; and God made a wind blow over the land, and the waters receded.

On the seventeenth day of the seventh month [five months after the rain began], the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat [in Turkey].

At the end of [another] forty days Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;

But the dove found no place on which to rest the sole of her foot, and she returned to him to the ark, for the waters were [still] on the face of the entire earth. So he reached out his hand and took the dove, and brought her into the ark.

He waited another seven days and again sent the dove out from the ark.

Now in the six hundred and first year [of Noah’s life], on the first day of the first month, the waters were drying up from the earth. Then Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked, and the surface of the ground was drying.

“Go out of the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives with you.

So Noah went out, and his wife and his sons and their wives with him [after being in the ark one year and ten days].

Every animal, every crawling thing, every bird—and whatever moves on the land—went out by families (types, groupings) from the ark.

and with every living creature that is with you—the birds, the livestock, and the wild animals of the earth along with you, of everything that comes out of the ark—every living creature of the earth.

The sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth. Ham would become the father of Canaan.

When she could no longer hide him, she got him a basket (chest) made of papyrus reeds and covered it with tar and pitch [making it waterproof]. Then she put the child in it and set it among the reeds by the bank of the Nile.

Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the Nile, and [she, together with] her maidens walked along the river’s bank; she saw the basket among the reeds and sent her maid [to get it], and she brought it to her.

As the Lord commanded Moses, so Aaron [eventually] placed it in the presence of the Testimony, to be kept.

“They shall make an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high.

You shall overlay the ark with pure gold, overlay it inside and out, and you shall make a gold border (frame) around its top.

The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it [so that the ark itself need not be touched].

You shall put into the ark the Testimony (Ten Commandments) which I will give you.

You shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony which I will give you.

There I will meet with you; from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, I will speak [intimately] with you regarding every commandment that I will give you for the Israelites.

You shall hang the veil from the hooks [that connect the curtains together], and you shall bring the ark of the Testimony there within the veil. The veil shall separate for you the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.

You shall put the mercy seat on the ark of the Testimony in the Holy of Holies.

You shall put the altar of incense [in the Holy Place] in front and outside of the veil that screens the ark of the Testimony, before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you.

You shall anoint the Tent of Meeting with it, and the ark of the Testimony,

the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony, the mercy seat that is upon it, all the furnishings of the tent—

the ark [of the covenant] and its carrying poles, with the mercy seat and the veil (partition curtain) of the screen [to hang between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies];

Bezalel made the ark [of the covenant] of acacia wood—it was two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high.

He put the carrying poles through the rings at the sides of the ark, to carry it.

the ark of the Testimony, its carrying poles and the mercy seat;

You shall place the ark of the Testimony there, and you shall screen off the ark [from the Holy Place of God’s Presence] with the veil (partition curtain).

You shall set the golden altar of incense in front of the ark of the Testimony [outside the veil], and put the [hanging] veil at the doorway of the tabernacle.

He took the Testimony [the stones inscribed with the Ten Commandments] and put it into the ark [of the covenant], and placed the poles [through the rings] on the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark.

Moses brought the ark into the tabernacle, and set up a veil (partition) for the screen (curtain), and screened off the ark of the Testimony, just as the Lord had commanded him.

and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood, and sprinkle it seven times before the Lord, in front of the veil [which screens off the Holy of Holies and the ark of the covenant].

The Lord said to Moses,“Tell Aaron your brother that he must not enter at any time into the Holy Place inside the veil (the Holy of Holies), before the mercy seat which is on the ark, or he will die, for I will appear in the cloud over the mercy seat.

and put the incense on the fire [in the censer] before the Lord, so that the cloud of the incense may cover the mercy seat that is on [the ark of] the Testimony, otherwise he will die.

Now their responsibilities involved the ark, the table [on which the bread of the Presence was placed], the lampstand, the altars, the utensils of the sanctuary with which the priests minister, and the curtain, and all the service concerning them.

“When the camp prepares to move out, Aaron and his sons shall come into the sanctuary and take down the veil (curtain) screening off the Holy of Holies, and cover the ark of the testimony with it;

and they shall put on it a covering of porpoise skin (fine leather), and shall spread over that a cloth of pure blue, and shall insert the carrying poles of the ark.

Now when Moses went into the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) to speak with the Lord, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the mercy seat (the gold cover) that was on the ark of the Testimony from between the two cherubim; and He spoke [by special revelation] to him.

So they set out from the mountain of the Lord (Sinai) three days’ journey; and the ark of the covenant of the Lord went in front of them during the three days’ journey to seek out a resting place for them.

Whenever the ark set out, Moses said,“Rise up, O Lord!Let Your enemies be scattered;And let those who hate You flee before You.”

But [in their arrogance] they dared to go up to the ridge of the hill country; however, neither the ark of the covenant of the Lord nor Moses left the camp.

You shall then deposit them in the Tent of Meeting (tabernacle) in front of [the ark of] the Testimony, where I meet with you.

But the Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony [in the ark], to be kept as a [warning] sign for the rebellious and contentious, so that you may put an end to their murmurings [of discontent] against Me, so that they do not die.”

“At that time the Lord said to me, ‘Cut out for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain, and make an ark (chest) of wood for yourself.

I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets which you shattered, and you shall put them in the ark.’

So I made an ark of acacia wood and cut out two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain with the two tablets in my hand.

Then I turned and came down from the mountain and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and they are there, just as the Lord commanded me.”

At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord, to stand before the Lord to serve Him and to bless in His name until this day.

So Moses wrote this law and gave it to the priests, the sons of Levi who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.

he commanded the Levites who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying,

“Take this Book of the Law and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, so that it may remain there as a witness against you.

and they commanded the people, “When you see the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God being carried by the Levitical priests, then you shall set out from where you are and follow it.

However, there shall be a distance between you and it of about 2,000 cubits (3,000 ft.) by measurement. Do not come near it, so that you may [be able to see the ark and] know the way you are to go, for you have not passed this way before.”

Joshua said to the priests, “Take up the ark of the covenant and cross over [the river] ahead of the people.” So they took up the ark of the covenant and went on ahead of the people.

You shall command the priests who carry the ark of the covenant, saying, ‘When you come to the edge of the waters of the Jordan, you shall stand still in the Jordan.’”

Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is crossing over ahead of you [leading the way] into the Jordan.

When the soles of the feet of the priests who carry the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, [come to] rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan flowing down from above will be cut off, and they will stand in one mass [of water].”

So when the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan with the priests who were carrying the ark of the covenant before the people,

and when those who were carrying the ark came up to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests carrying the ark were submerged at the edge of the water (for the Jordan overflows all of its banks throughout the time of harvest),

And while all [the people of] Israel crossed over on dry ground, the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firm on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan [riverbed], until all the nation had finished crossing over the Jordan.

and Joshua said to them, “Cross over again to the ark of the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Israel,

then you shall say to them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord; when it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall become a memorial for Israel forever.”

Then Joshua set up [a second monument of] twelve stones in the midst of the Jordan at the place where the feet of the priests who carried the ark of the covenant were standing, and they are there to this day.

For the priests who carried the ark were standing in the midst of the Jordan until everything was finished that the Lord had commanded Joshua to tell the people, in accordance with everything that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people hurried and crossed [the dry riverbed];

and when all the people had finished crossing, the ark of the Lord and the priests crossed over in the presence of the people.

“Order the priests carrying the ark of the Testimony to come up out of the Jordan.”

When the priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord had come up from the midst of the Jordan, and the soles of their feet were raised up to the dry land, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place, and flowed over all its banks as before.

Also, seven priests shall carry seven trumpets [made] of rams’ horns ahead of the ark; then on the seventh day you shall march around the city seven times, and the priests shall blow the trumpets.

So Joshua the son of Nun called for the priests and said to them, “Take up the ark of the covenant, and have seven priests carry seven trumpets made of rams’ horns ahead of the ark of the Lord.”

He said to the people, “Go forward! March around the city, and let the armed men go ahead of the ark of the Lord.”

And it was so, that when Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets made of rams’ horns went on before the Lord and blew the trumpets; then the ark of the covenant of the Lord went behind them.

The armed men went in front of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard came after the ark, while the priests continued to blow the trumpets.

So Joshua had the ark of the Lord taken around the city [on the first day], circling it once; then they came back into the camp and spent the night in the camp.

Then Joshua got up early in the morning [on the second day], and the priests took up the ark of the Lord.

The seven priests carrying the seven trumpets made of rams’ horns ahead of the ark of the Lord went on continually, blowing the trumpets; and the armed men went ahead of them and the rear guard came after the ark of the Lord, while the priests continued to blow the trumpets.

Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell face downward on the ground before the ark of the Lord until evening, he and the elders of Israel; and [with great sorrow] they put dust on their heads.

All Israel, the stranger as well as the native born [among them], with their elders and officers and their judges, stood on either side of the ark before the Levitical priests who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord. Half of them stood in front of Mount Gerizim and half of them in front of Mount Ebal, just as Moses the servant of the Lord had commanded at first to bless the people of Israel.

And the sons of Israel inquired of the Lord (for the ark of the covenant of God was there [at Bethel] in those days,

and the [oil] lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying down in the temple of the Lord, where the ark of God was,

When the people (soldiers) came into the camp, the elders of Israel said, “Why has the Lord defeated us today before the Philistines? Let us bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord here from Shiloh, so that He may come among us and save us from the hand of our enemies.”

So the people sent word to Shiloh, and from there they carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts who sits above the cherubim; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were with the ark of the covenant of God.

So it happened that as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came into the camp, all [the people of] Israel shouted with a great shout, and the earth resounded.

When the Philistines heard the noise of the shout, they said, “What does the noise of this great shout in the camp of the Hebrews mean?” Then they understood that the ark of the Lord had come into the camp.

Also the ark of God was taken; and the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were killed.

When he arrived, Eli was sitting on his seat by the road, keeping watch, because his heart was anxious about the ark of God. When the man arrived to report [the news] in the city, everyone in the city cried out [to God, for help].