The two Arks

Noah, Moses, and the move from the physical to the mental realm.

Welcome to the Daily Bible Chapter. My name is James Leroy Wilson and I invite you to join me as we discover new insights and new perspectives from a very old book.

Exodus 25

I’m reading Young’s Literal Translation (YLT) and the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV).

Like Noah, Moses is also asked to build an “ark,” this time to house a covenant in the form of a written agreement.

If you’re like me, you rarely encounter the word “ark” without Moses or Noah being mentioned. The dictionary seems to bear this out:

ark noun

1 a: a boat or ship held to resemble that in which Noah and his family were preserved from the Flood b: something that affords protection and safety

2 a: the sacred chest representing to the Hebrews the presence of God among them b: a repository traditionally in or against the wall of a synagogue for the scrolls of the Torah

The commonality of the two arks seems to be affording “protection and safety.” Noah’s ark was huge and filled with physical life, and after the flood the LORD made a seemingly verbal covenant with him. Moses’s ark, though ornate, was quite small. Translated measurements suggest…