16 And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.

Yesterday we discussed the materials and design of the ark of the covenant, and I said that I saw in it a symbolism of structured order overlaid with natural, pure beauty. Today we learn that the words of God’s law, the testimony that He had been delivering to Moses, would be the first items to be housed within the ark. Eventually other spiritual relics would be kept there as well, such as Moses’s staff and a jar of manna.

Thus, the words and signs of God are the elements housed within His structure and His beauty. One could view this from the outside in: The order and beauty of God are protecting His inner word, or from the inside out: God’s word is the beating heart within the body of His order and beauty.

With the outer body and the inner word, we are almost finished with the description of the ark. There yet remains one part: the lid that sits on top of it all. We’ll examine that portion next time.