And place inside the ark the Testimony, which I will give you.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall put the testimony which I shall give you into the ark.
- KJV And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.
- NKJV And you shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you.
- NASB You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you.
- NLT When the Ark is finished, place inside it the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant, which I will give to you.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Moses was to place the testimony, the tablets of the law, inside the ark. The ark held God's covenant words at the center of Israel's worship.
Overview
The 'testimony' refers to the stone tablets of the Ten Commandments, the heart of the covenant. Placing them in the ark beneath the mercy seat showed that God's holy law stood at the foundation of His relationship with Israel. The law within and the mercy seat above together reveal both God's righteous demands and His provision for atonement. This anticipates Christ, who satisfies the law's demands and provides the mercy that covers our sin.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 17
- Deut 31:26“Take this Book of the Law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, so that it may remain there as a witness against you.
- 1 Kgs 8:9There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets that Moses had placed in it at Horeb, where the LORD had made a covenant with the Israelites after they had come out of the land of Egypt.
- Heb 9:4containing the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered ark of the covenant. Inside the ark were the gold jar of manna, Aaron’s staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant.
- Exod 16:34And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
- Acts 7:44Our fathers had the tabernacle of the Testimony with them in the wilderness. It was constructed exactly as God had directed Moses, according to the pattern he had seen.
- Exod 27:21In the Tent of Meeting, outside the veil that is in front of the Testimony, Aaron and his sons are to tend the lamps before the LORD from evening until morning. This is to be a permanent statute for the Israelites for the generations to come.
- Exod 34:29And when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands, he was unaware that his face had become radiant from speaking with the LORD.
- Deut 10:2–5And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you are to place them in the ark.”
- Rom 3:2Much in every way. First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.
- Exod 30:36Grind some of it into fine powder and place it in front of the Testimony in the Tent of Meeting, where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.
- 2 Chr 34:14–15While they were bringing out the money that had been taken into the house of the LORD, Hilkiah the priest found the Book of the Law of the LORD written by Moses.
- Num 17:4Place the staffs in the Tent of Meeting in front of the Testimony, where I meet with you.
- Exod 32:15Then Moses turned and went down the mountain with the two tablets of the Testimony in his hands. They were inscribed on both sides, front and back.
- 2 Kgs 11:12Then Jehoiada brought out the king’s son, put the crown on him, presented him with the Testimony, and proclaimed him king. They anointed him, and the people clapped their hands and declared, “Long live the king!”
- Exod 30:6Place the altar in front of the veil that is before the ark of the Testimony—before the mercy seat that is over the Testimony—where I will meet with you.
- Exod 31:18When the LORD had finished speaking with Moses on Mount Sinai, He gave him the two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone inscribed by the finger of God.
- Exod 38:21This is the inventory for the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the Testimony, as recorded at Moses’ command by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar son of Aaron the priest.
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 25:16 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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