Everywhere we turn, we see new details that ravish our senses. What a display of God’s glory!
There are both spiritual and practical reasons for the four different coverings of the ark. The distinctions include the words that describe them, the materials used, and their order of placement. The innermost covering was the mishkan, God’s sanctuary, made of “ten curtains of fine woven linen and blue, purple, and scarlet thread” (Ex 26:1). The word curtain indicates that the cloth not only provided a cover overhead, but also draped down to be the walls of the tabernacle. This displayed the beautiful inner secrets of God’s heart: the white linen speaking of His righteous acts with the gold cherubim as guardians of His holiness; the blue, of the Son’s heavenly origin and destiny; the purple, of His rightful rule, majesty, and power; and the scarlet, of the awful price paid to bring us Home to God. Then came “curtains of goats’ hair, to be a tent over the tabernacle” (v 7). Here tent (Heb, ohel) is added to the word curtain. It describes the common dwelling of a nomad, pointing to the Incarnation. This reminds us of God’s desire to go tenting with His people, of the time when “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us” (Jn 1:14) for 33 years, and of His grand objective that some day it will be declared, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God” (Rev 21:3). Then came a double animal-skin weather protection, “a covering of ram skins dyed red for the tent, and a covering of badger skins above that” (Ex 26:14). Thus, the beauty was not seen on the outside, only to those within. Of Christ the Jews could say, “There is no beauty that we should desire Him” (Isa 53:2). But what delights you discover when you are “in Him” (1 Jn 2:5)!