The Ark of His Testament | Part 1 (Heaven)
The Sapphire Review Vol. 1 | No. 7 • July 9, 2024
And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
This writing will be the first of a four part series where I will endeavor to show how this verse provides sufficient evidence for the immutability of the decalogue (10 commandments) as well as its applicability to Christians living under Jesus Christ in the new covenant era.
In this verse we are presented with a view inside of the temple in heaven. This scene allows us to draw some very important conclusions. From this verse, I will present the following four points in this series:
1. There is an ark in heaven
2. There is something inside the ark
3. There is an authority
4. There is an application today
That There Is An Ark In Heaven
This point is the simplest and most clear of all the points. Though it may go without saying, this point is nonetheless necessary to be stated in order to establish a proper foundation for the following parts of the series to build on.
The Bible plainly tells us that Moses was given a pattern (or a plan) for the construction of the tabernacle.1
The main vessels constructed for the tabernacle (candlestick, table, altar, and ark) were also themselves fashioned after a pattern that was given to Moses.2
Websters 1828 dictionary defines “pattern” as the following:
An original or model proposed for imitation; the archetype; an exemplar; that which is to be copies or imitated, either in things or in actions; as the pattern of a machine;
Now, if all we had to work with was this information, we would be unable to conclude that there was most certainly a physical tabernacle and vessels in heaven. All we could determine is that Moses was given a set of plans to work from.
However, because of the inspiration given to Paul in the book of Hebrews, we are able to take this information one step further. We can know for certain that the pattern/plans Moses was given were indeed based on something that physically existed in heaven.
Jesus Christ is now operating in the role of our high priest. If He is fulfilling the office of a high priest, then there must be a sanctuary for this office to be valid. The book of Hebrews confirms that there is indeed a real temple in heaven that was “not made with [human] hands.” This is called the “true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched” in Hebrews 8:2. Since this true tabernacle served as a model from which Moses’ plans were drawn, it must have predated the things which Moses constructed, and thus would be “greater and more perfect” than that which is of the earth.3
Lastly, we find our second witness to the existence of a physical temple in heaven through the writings of John in the book of Revelation. Here we find references to the following:
The heavenly temple (compare Rev 11:19, 15:5 with Exo 25:8-9; Num 1:50);
The heavenly candlestick (compare Rev 1:12, 4:5 with Exo 25:31-37);
The heavenly altar of incense (compare Rev 8:3-4, 9:13 with Exo 30:1-3);
The heavenly ark (compare Rev 11:19 with Exo 25:10-15).
NEXT PART:
That there is something inside the ark
In this week’s writing, we see that there is an actual temple in heaven and that there is an actual ark within that temple. Stay tuned for the next part in this series where we will dig deeper to find that the ark is not empty, but rather contains something of great importance.
→ Part 2: That There Is Something Inside The Ark
God Bless,
Charles
Scripture Index
Num 8:4, Exo 25:10-39, 40, 30:1-6.