Hebrews 11:23, 7; Hebrews 9:3-5.
J. B. Duff.
The three arks, connected with the passages we have read, present our Lord Jesus Christ in three different aspects. In the first scripture, we have a beautiful child, fair to God; a type of the Lord Jesus, who grew up before Jehovah as a tender plant. On Him God's eye rested continually with delight, for He was the altogether lovely One. Moses was born at a time when the children of Israel were suffering under the oppression of Pharaoh, and he was the one through whom God was to deliver them, and bring them to Himself. When the ark was opened, the child wept; a beautiful picture of the Man of Sorrows, who was born under the law that He might redeem them that were under the law. "He hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows." We read, "The man Moses was very meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the earth" (Numbers 12:3). This beautifully portrays Him who said, "I am meek and lowly in heart." Such was the character of Him in whom God intervened for the deliverance of His people.
In the second scripture (Hebrews 11:7), we read, "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith." He lived in an evil age, and "It repented the Lord that He had made man, and it grieved Him at His heart. And the Lord said, I will destroy man." How sad this is to read! Is there no remedy? Yes, thanks be to God! He found a means of perpetuating humanity, and that was by the ark which Noah built. In this, I believe, we have a type of the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In His death the end of all flesh came before God. Sin, the flesh, and the world, were all judged and condemned at the Cross; and, of this, baptism is a sign (1 Peter 3:21); but, in resurrection, Christ is the head of a new race, who are entirely free from condemnation, and who shall be to the eternal pleasure and glory of God.
In the third scripture, we have the ark of the Covenant, speaking of Him, who has entered in, and abides forever before the face of God; the One who is crowned with glory and honour. Before reaching that place, He must first be the Man of Sorrows. How beautiful that life was in God's sight, a life of perfect love and of sorrows meekly borne. All is treasured up before God, as set forth in the golden pot that had manna. Then we have the truth of Christ's death and resurrection brought before us in Aaron's rod that budded. He was cut off in the midst of His days, but He lives now "in the power of an endless life" as our Great High Priest. The tables of the Covenant teach us, that in Him God's disposition towards us in grace is expressed, and God's will has been established: and lastly, the Cherubim of glory remind us, that in Him all God's claims have been met, and His nature glorified. As we meditate upon these truths, we make no wonder that, in the description of the Holiest, the Golden Censer is mentioned first; for what can we do in the presence of God s glory, but worship and adore!