Commemoration of
the Ark of the Old Covenant
and the Feast of the New Holy Church
Fifty days after Pentecost, on the Saturday preceding the Sunday of Vardavar, the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church commemorates the Feast of the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark is regarded as the foreshadowing of the Ark of the New Covenant—the Holy Church of Christ.
In the Old Testament, the Ark was the most revered and beloved sacred object of the Israelites. It was a holy chest that contained the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, Aaron's blossoming rod, and the golden jar filled with manna. The Ark was placed in the Holy of Holies, where God was invisibly present. The Holy of Holies, with the Ark of the Covenant, symbolized heaven itself, into which the Great High Priest, Christ, entered with His own blood, obtaining eternal redemption for us.
The Bible describes the construction of the Ark as follows:
"Bezalel made the Ark of acacia wood. It was two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. He overlaid it with pure gold, inside and out, and made a gold molding around it. He cast four gold rings for its four feet—two rings on one side and two on the other. He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. He inserted the poles into the rings on the sides of the Ark to carry it. He made the atonement cover of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. He made two cherubim of hammered gold at the two ends of the cover, one at each end. The cherubim spread their wings upward, overshadowing the cover with their wings, and faced one another, looking toward the atonement cover." (Exodus 37:1–9)
As the visible sign of God's presence, the Ark of the Covenant was carried by the Levite priests before the people during Israel's journey through the wilderness. Numerous miracles are associated with the Ark, including the parting of the Jordan River so that Israel could cross, and the collapse of the walls of Jericho after the Ark was carried around the city seven times. During one battle, the Ark was captured by the Philistines, but after they suffered divine afflictions, they quickly returned it.
The Ark disappeared during the Babylonian Exile, most likely having been hidden by faithful Jews.
Because the Ark signifies the establishment of both the Old and the New Covenants, this feast commemorates the institution of both covenants.
The Symbolism of the Ark
The Ark symbolizes:
The incorruptible Body of Christ.
The patriarchs, prophets, and apostles.
The Ark is also compared to the angels, who are incorruptible and immortal by nature.
Its length symbolizes the immortality of the angels, while its width represents their continual growth in wisdom.
The gold covering the Ark inside and out signifies that the angels are radiant with divine purity. They are pure inwardly by nature, and outwardly because their heavenly wisdom continually increases.
The Ark's four rings and two carrying poles signify that the angels care for the four corners of the created world through God's twofold power: His creative power and His royal authority. They both bestow blessings and execute judgment.
The stone tablets kept within the Ark signify that the angels bear witness to those who keep God's commandments.
The Ark as a Symbol of the Holy Mother of God
The Ark also symbolizes the Holy Mother of God.
Its incorruptible wood represents the Virgin Mary's perpetual virginity, while the gold within and without signifies the purity of both her soul and body.
The two tablets inside the Ark symbolize the union of soul and body through the Word.
The manna preserved within the Ark signifies the incorruptible Body of Christ.
Aaron's rod symbolizes the shoot that sprang from the root of Jesse.
The golden censer represents the fragrant fire of divine grace.
The Ark as a Symbol of Christ
The Ark also symbolizes our Lord Jesus Christ.
Its incorruptible wood represents His incorruptible Body.
The gold signifies His divinity, while the wood signifies His humanity—a body that death could not corrupt.
Just as the Ark was fashioned from both gold and wood into one complete whole, so too the eternal Word and His spotless Body are one Christ, one Lord.
The mercy seat upon the Ark proclaims that Christ became the atoning sacrifice for us.
The Ark as a Symbol of the Cross
The Ark's square form and incorruptibility symbolize the life-giving Cross, which has four arms and remains incorruptible. Through the Cross our atonement was accomplished.
The Ark as a Symbol of the Holy Church
The Ark also represents the Holy Church, which does not decay through the corruption of sin but remains adorned with the two Testaments and an incorruptible way of life.
The cherubim signify the ministry of the heavenly hosts within the Church.
The four sides of the Ark symbolize the spread of Christ's faith to the four corners of the earth.
The two poles represent the Old and New Testaments, as well as the Law and the Prophets.
The four priests who carried the Ark symbolize the four Evangelists, who proclaimed the mystery of Christ's Incarnation.
The gold covering the poles signifies the pure confession of faith in the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, together with faithful observance of all God's commandments.
The mercy seat upon the Ark symbolizes the Cross, through which Christ accomplished the perfect atonement.
The two cherubim represent God's two powers—His creative power and His royal authority—and their facing one another signifies both God's blessing and His judgment upon the world.
The golden jar filled with manna symbolizes the Virgin Mary, who, while remaining a virgin, bore the Bread of Life who came down from heaven.
Aaron's blossoming rod represents Christ's eternal priesthood.
The two tablets symbolize the human soul and body, upon which God's commandments are written by the Holy Spirit—not with ink, but by grace upon the heart. The first five commandments correspond to the body's five senses, while the remaining five correspond to the powers of the soul.
The golden censer also symbolizes the Blessed Virgin Mary, who was filled with the Holy Spirit and the power of the Most High.
Just as incense spreads its sweet fragrance, so the Ark signifies the coming of Christ in the flesh and the manifestation of the glory of His Church.
The Honor Given to the Ark
The Ark was greatly honored by God and inspired profound reverence among the people.
The cloud that sheltered Israel by day and the pillar of fire that guided them by night eventually rested upon the Ark, which stood within the Holy of Holies.
Finally, the Ark and everything contained within it prefigured the First Coming of Christ, while the rock that became a fountain of water—a symbol of eternal life—prefigures the Second Coming of the Lord.
SCRIPTURE READINGS
~ Exodus 25:10-14 ~
They shall make an ark of acacia wood; it shall be two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside you shall overlay it, and you shall make a molding of gold upon it all around. You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side. You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, by which to carry the ark.
~ Joshua 3:14-4:18 ~
When the people set out from their tents to cross over the Jordan, the priests bearing the ark of the covenant were in front of the people. Now the Jordan overflows all its banks throughout the time of harvest. So when those who bore the ark had come to the Jordan, and the feet of the priests bearing the ark were dipped in the edge of the water, the waters flowing from above stood still, rising up in a single heap far off at Adam, the city that is beside Zarethan, while those flowing toward the sea of the Arabah, the Dead Sea, were wholly cut off. Then the people crossed over opposite Jericho. While all Israel were crossing over on dry ground, the priests who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood on dry ground in the middle of the Jordan, until the entire nation finished crossing over the Jordan.
When the entire nation had finished crossing over the Jordan, the Lord said to Joshua: "Select twelve men from the people, one from each tribe, and command them, "Take twelve stones from here out of the middle of the Jordan, from the place where the priests' feet stood, carry them over with you, and lay them down in the place where you camp tonight.' " Then Joshua summoned the twelve men from the Israelites, whom he had appointed, one from each tribe. Joshua said to them, "Pass on before the ark of the Lord your God into the middle of the Jordan, and each of you take up a stone on his shoulder, one for each of the tribes of the Israelites, so that this may be a sign among you. When your children ask in time to come, "What do those stones mean to you?' then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off in front of the ark of the covenant of the Lord. When it crossed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the Israelites a memorial forever." The Israelites did as Joshua commanded. They took up twelve stones out of the middle of the Jordan, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites, as the Lord told Joshua, carried them over with them to the place where they camped, and laid them down there. (Joshua set up twelve stones in the middle of the Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the covenant had stood; and they are there to this day.) The priests who bore the ark remained standing in the middle of the Jordan, until everything was finished that the Lord commanded Joshua to tell the people, according to all that Moses had commanded Joshua. The people crossed over in haste. As soon as all the people had finished crossing over, the ark of the Lord, and the priests, crossed over in front of the people. The Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh crossed over armed before the Israelites, as Moses had ordered them. About forty thousand armed for war crossed over before the Lord to the plains of Jericho for battle. On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel; and they stood in awe of him, as they had stood in awe of Moses, all the days of his life. The Lord said to Joshua, "Command the priests who bear the ark of the covenant, to come up out of the Jordan." Joshua therefore commanded the priests, "Come up out of the Jordan." When the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord came up from the middle of the Jordan, and the soles of the priests' feet touched dry ground, the waters of the Jordan returned to their place and overflowed all its banks, as before.
~ 1 Samuel 6:19-7:2 ~
The descendants of Jeconiah did not rejoice with the people of Beth-shemesh when they greeted the ark of the Lord; and he killed seventy men of them. The people mourned because the Lord had made a great slaughter among the people. Then the people of Beth-shemesh said, "Who is able to stand before the Lord, this holy God? To whom shall he go so that we may be rid of him?" So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kiriath-jearim, saying, "The Philistines have returned the ark of the Lord. Come down and take it up to you."
And the people of Kiriath-jearim came and took up the ark of the Lord, and brought it to the house of Abinadab on the hill. They consecrated his son, Eleazar, to have charge of the ark of the Lord. From the day that the ark was lodged at Kiriath-jearim, a long time passed, some twenty years, and all the house of Israel lamented after the Lord.
~ 2 Samuel 6:12-19 ~
So David went and brought up the ark of God from the house of Obed-edom to the city of David with rejoicing; and when those who bore the ark of the Lord had gone six paces, he sacrificed an ox and a fatling. David danced before the Lord with all his might; David was girded with a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting, and with the sound of the trumpet. As the ark of the Lord came into the city of David, Michal daughter of Saul looked out of the window, and saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart. They brought in the ark of the Lord, and set it in its place, inside the tent that David had pitched for it; and David offered burnt offerings and offerings of well-being before the Lord.
~ Hebrews 9:1-10 ~
Now even the first covenant had regulations for worship and an earthly sanctuary. For a tent was constructed, the first one, in which were the lampstand, the table, and the bread of the Presence; this is called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a tent called the Holy of Holies. In it stood the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which there were a golden urn holding the manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot speak now in detail. Such preparations having been made, the priests go continually into the first tent to carry out their ritual duties; but only the high priest goes into the second, and he but once a year, and not without taking the blood that he offers for himself and for the sins committed unintentionally by the people. By this the Holy Spirit indicates that the way into the sanctuary has not yet been disclosed as long as the first tent is still standing. This is a symbol of the present time, during which gifts and sacrifices are offered that cannot perfect the conscience of the worshiper, but deal only with food and drink and various baptisms, regulations for the body imposed until the time comes to set things right.
~ Holy Gospel according to St. Matthew 5:17-20 ~
Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets; I have come not to abolish but to fulfill. For truly I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter, not one stroke of a letter, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.