FOUR ARKS IN THE BIBLE

I had never really thought about it before until an article in Biblical Archaeology Today (Summer 2021) prompted me to look into it a little more, but why in the world does the word “ark” apply to both the Ark of the Covenant and Noah's Ark? The answer turns out to be simple in one way but complicated in another. It all goes back to the original Hebrew, since there are actually two completely separate words in the OT.

Aron is a word applied to lidded boxes of various types. It is the appropriate term to be used for the Ark of the Covenant, a 4' x 2 ½' x 2 ½' box made of acacia wood and covered with gold. This moveable container held a jar of manna, Aaron's rod, and the original tablets of the law. A gold lid called the mercy seat and decorated with two cherubim fit on top of the ark.

But the word also appears in II Kings 12:9-10 and II Chronicles 24:8-11 where it is used to describe a chest in which to keep money. In addition, Joseph's mummified body is placed in an aron, or coffin, according to Genesis 50:26.

Tebah is the second Hebrew word translated as “ark” in the Old Testament. Of course, it applies to Noah's ark in Genesis 6-9, a floating container with the rough dimensions of 450 feet long, 75 feet high, and 45 feet high. But in addition, it is the same word used for the basket in which the baby Moses was placed in (Exodus 2:3,5). Thus, the word means some sort of water-worthy vessel.

The confusion between the two came about when the Greek Septuagint translated both words into Greek as kibotos. Why did they do this? Mitchell suggests, “The ark of Moses...may perhaps be pictured as a miniature version of that of Noah...and from the fact that it was necessary to open it (Ex. 2:6), it was apparently, as was probably Noah's ark, completely closed in.” One could point to some other no doubt coincidental correspondences between the two. Thus, both are constructed out of wood, and whereas Noah's ark rose safely over the waters, the Ark of the Covenant passed through the waters of the Jordan River without even getting wet (Joshua 4:7).

When the Bible was later translated into Latin, based partly on the Septuagint, the word was rendered as arca (meaning a box or chest). And from there, we get the English word “ark” and its appearance in the New Testament referring both to the Ark of the Covenant and Noah's ark.

It is tempting to look for parallels between the different types of biblical arks, and some are not hard to detect:

One would expect to find close associations between Noah's ark and Moses' basket since the same Hebrew word is applied to both. Both are what T. C. Mitchell calls “no more than a floating repository.” It is obvious that neither is designed for actually navigating in any sort of waters. He also notes that if one reads qanim (“reeds”) in place of qinnum (“nests” or “rooms”) in Genesis 6:14, then it would indicate that the planks of “gopher” wood (probably cypress) were bound together and made water-tight by the use of reeds subsequently caulked with tar. This method of construction forms a rough parallel to the construction of Moses' basket from reeds covered with tar.

More important theologically is the fact that “the primary meaning of both of these arks in the Bible is preservation and rescue...Moses is a second Noah who stands at another beginning.” (The Dictionary of Biblical Imagery). Hague adds, “Perhaps it is only a coincidence, but worth noting, that the parallels between the arks of Noah and Moses include a time of preceding judgment followed by miraculous deliverance brought about by the original success of the arks themselves." One could also add that whereas Moses' “ark” preserved him from death in Egypt soon after his birth, Joseph's “ark” preserved his mummified body in Egypt after his death.

Moving on to the various uses of aron in the OT, one can see that they share one commonality. Each of them refer to a receptacle used to store something valuable, whether it is money, reminders of the exodus experience, or the mummified body of Joseph.

When we enter the world of the NT, one would not really expect to see any similarities between the ark of the covenant and Noah's ark since the two do not stem from a common Hebrew word. But remember that the authors of the NT for a large part used the Greek Septuagint as their Bible, and so we might expect there to be some similar theological point or two to be gleaned from considering the few NT passages alluding to these two.

Noah's ark is mentioned in Matthew 24:38 and its parallel in Luke 17:27. In addition it is found in Hebrews 11:7 and I Peter 3:20. The Ark of the Covenant is found in the NT only in Hebrews 9:4 and Revelation 11:19.

The two gospel allusions to Noah's Ark appear in Jesus' “little apocalypse” in which he compares the separation of the saved and damned at the Last Judgment to the way the ark saved a remnant from the disaster visited on all others. Similarly, Hebrews 11:7 says that Noah and his household were saved from the water, but the world which did not believe was condemned. I Peter 3:20 follows the theme of these references when it alludes to the ark and the flood and then compares it (in a very obscure passage) with the death and resurrection of Jesus and our spiritual salvation when we are joined with him in the waters of baptism.

The above combined theme of Jesus' work of atonement on our behalf fits in well with the few references to the Ark of the Covenant in the NT. Thus, the author of Hebrews (in 9:4) explains that on the Day of Atonement when the High Priest enters the Holy of Holy where that ark (with its “mercy seat”) is located, he offers a sacrifice to cover the people's sins. But now Jesus as both our High Priest and ultimate sacrifice has made a one-time atonement that will save believers from wrath on the Day of Judgment.

Revelation 11:19 pictures the heavenly temple being opened so that the ark is visible. This scene follows a passage of general disaster being visited upon the earth. 

    “Its disclosure taken with the opening of the sanctuary, will indicate that the way into God's presence is now open. In the earthly sanctuary the veil permanently covered the ark thus making it clear that men had no rights of access. But Christ in His work for men has changed all that and now the way is wide open.” (Morris)

    By contrast, Ford cites an entirely different image of the earthly ark in the OT accounts as explaining the meaning of its appearance in Revelation 11. She points out: “Originally it was a war palladium which was carried into battle and which threw Israel's enemies into panic; cf. The warrior's chant in Num 10:35-36 and Pss 68:2. The accompanying noises, lightning and thunder, earthquake and hail [in Rev. 11:19], may be seen as the instruments of war of the god of war and/or even angels fighting alongside the earthly hosts of Yahweh.”

    Two other authors couple these two concepts together. Mounce states that the ark symbolizes “both the promise of covenant love and righteous anger.” Beale similarly says that “the appearance of the ark signals not only judgment but also God's gracious presence with his redeemed community and his provision of grace by atonement...Therefore, the ark in 11:19 is a suitable symbol for both the judgment and the reward of the last day."

The confusion between the two arks in post-biblical times led to one rather odd phenomenon in the world of sacred art. As demonstrated in the BAR article I mentioned at the start of this article, images of Noah's ark tended to be a common feature in a variety of artistic media since the Church fathers treated it as a type of the salvation we have in Christ. But in attempting to depict the ark, they sometimes rendered it as a container much more suitable for the Ark of the Covenant than the Ark of Noah.

    Images from the 2nd-4^th centuries within the Roman catacombs show Noah's Ark as a cubical box with its lid open. Sometimes the box has four legs on it.

    An Apamean coin minted during the reign of Philip the Arab (AD 244-249) pictures Noah and his wife standing in a cubical box. The lid is open so that they can peek out and look around, and the box is barely big enough to hold the two of them.

    A 4^th century Christian sarcophagus pictures Noah standing in a rectangular box which is floating on the water.

    An illustrated Pentateuch from the 6th-7^th century AD also pictures Noah's Ark as a box on legs.

    A mosaic on the floor of an early church floor in what is now Turkey shows an array of animals surrounding what looks like a hope chest on four legs with the hinged cover open. There is also a small side door on the box to let birds in and out.

In conclusion, the confusion in the NT and later between the two famous arks arises not just because of the same Greek or Latin word used to denote both of them, but also because of some thematic similarities concerning the common function of both as a representation of God's power to save a remnant of mankind from certain destruction.