We’ve seen that the Ark is a picture of the Godhead, covered inside and outside with gold. And at its core is the incorruptible shittim (sheh team) wood, representing Yeshua. Now we will take a closer look at the items God told Moses to put in the Ark. 

In Hebrews 9:4 we read, …the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant.

The Pot of Manna

Exodus 16:33-34 And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.

As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

An omer today is equal to two dry quarts. The Golden Pot of Manna is Yeshua, the Son of God. He is the Bread of Life that came down from heaven and fed Israel for forty years. 

John 6:51 “I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.”

Manna that fed the Israelites melted away within hours but this manna represented the ever-living One and it remained whole.

The Rod of Aaron

To understand the message of the Rod of Aaron, I encourage you to read all of Numbers 16. Korah and a group of other leaders rebelled against Moses and Aaron. 

Here is a brief overview.

God was angry with them because of their rebellion. He consumed 250 men who were coming to offer incense in their complaints against Moses and Aaron. Then He opened the earth and swallowed Korah, his sons, their families, and all their belongings. 

The rest of the people complained, shouting at Moses and Aaron, “You have killed the people of the Lord.” 42 Now it happened, when the congregation had gathered against Moses and Aaron, that they turned toward the tabernacle of meeting; and suddenly the cloud covered it, and the glory of the Lord appeared. 43 Then Moses and Aaron came before the Tabernacle of meeting.

44 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 45 “Get away from among this congregation, that I may consume them in a moment.”

And they fell on their faces.

46 So Moses said to Aaron, “Take a censer and put fire in it from the altar, put incense on it, and take it quickly to the congregation and make atonement for them; for wrath has gone out from the Lord.

47b So he put in the incense and made atonement for the people. 48 And he stood between the dead and the living; so the plague was stopped. 49 Now those who died in the plague were fourteen thousand seven hundred, besides those who died in the Korah incident. 50 So Aaron returned to Moses at the door of the Tabernacle of meeting, for the plague had stopped.

It was at this point that the rod of Aaron enters the story. 

Numbers 17:1-5, 8 And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2 “Speak to the children of Israel, and get from them a rod from each father’s house, all their leaders according to their fathers’ houses—twelve rods. Write each man’s name on his rod. 3 And you shall write Aaron’s name on the rod of Levi. For there shall be one rod for the head of each father’s house. 4 Then you shall place them in the tabernacle of meeting before the Testimony, where I meet with you. 5 And it shall be that the rod of the man whom I choose will blossom; thus I will rid Myself of the complaints of the children of Israel, which they make against you.”

8 Now it came to pass on the next day that Moses went into the tabernacle of witness, and behold, the rod of Aaron, of the house of Levi, had sprouted and put forth buds, had produced blossoms and yielded ripe almonds.

Aaron’s rod sprouted, put forth buds, blossoms, and fruit. – And the LORD said unto Moses, Bring Aaron’s rod again before the testimony, to be kept for a token against the rebels; and thou shalt quite take away their murmurings from me, that they die not.

And Aaron’s Rod that budded depicts Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit raised Christ from the dead to resurrection life. It is through Holy Spirit that we have life and fruit. 

Romans 8:11  But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

The Tables of the Covenant or the Testimony

Exodus 25:21 You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark, you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. 

The Tables of the Covenant and the Testimony here are both speaking of the stone tablets on which God wrote the ten commandments or Ten Words.

This is what Moses later told the people. — When I went up into the mountain to receive the tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant which the Lord made with you, then I stayed on the mountain forty days and forty nights. I neither ate bread nor drank water. 10 Then the Lord delivered to me two tablets of stone written with the finger of God, and on them were all the words which the Lord had spoken to you on the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly. 11 And it came to pass, at the end of forty days and forty nights, that the Lord gave me the two tablets of stone, the tablets of the covenant. Deuteronomy 9:9-11

The Tables of the Covenant or the Law represent Father God. He was the Lawgiver the One who gave the Law to Moses.

The word Testimony here is Strong’s #5715 – עֵדוּת From עֵד (H5707) 

Strong’s Definitions עֵדוּת ʻêdûwth, ay-dooth’; feminine of H5707; testimony:—testimony, witness.

When we look at the letters from right to left we find, 

Ayin 70= Completion of time. Means: Eye, to See, Understand, Experience, or to be Seen, Window of the soul-good or bad (made of a Zayin and Yod—Word and Spirit)

Dallet  4 = Earth or creation. Means: Door, Gate, Impoverished man, to come from indicates a pathway, a place of decision, or an entrance to life or death. 

Vav 6 = Man. Means: Nail or Hook, to Secure, Pin together, Connect -Yeshua

Tav 400 = the Outcome of Trial and Testing. Picture: A Rough Cross. Means: Cross, Covenant, Seal, Mark, a Sign, Ownership, Finished or Complete.

Testimony means to See or Understand by the Word and the Spirit

that we are Impoverished men

until we walk through the Door and enter Life in Yeshua – in Covenant.

It is interesting to note that when the Ark was placed in Solomon’s Temple many years later, this was the report given in two different places:

1 Kings 8:9, 2 Chronicles 5:10 There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt.

Other means to describe these three articles are:

The Tables of  Testimony or the Covenant = the Way = The Moral law and covenant of God’s kingdom, the Ketuba or Covenant with His Bride.

The Manna = the Truth = How to daily live out the moral law in the kingdom, feeding on the Bread of Life—the Truth

The Rod = the Life = The promise of abundant life found in oneness with the King.

This is only a thumbnail sketch of the meaning of these contents and why God wanted them to be in the Ark. Each one spoke of the Godhead. As their forty-year journey began, the Ark held a powerful visual reminder to the Israelites. God was with them, and He was going before them. They had nothing to fear.

God does not change. He goes with us and is before us as well. 

Shalom ♥