Now Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; its length was two and a half cubits, its width one and a half cubits, and its height one and a half cubits;
Parallel translations
- WEB Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood. Its length was two and a half cubits, and its width a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height.
- KJV And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it:
- BSB Bezalel went on to construct the ark of acacia wood, two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high.
- NKJV Then Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits was its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height.
- NLT Next Bezalel made the Ark of acacia wood—a sacred chest 45 inches long, 27 inches wide, and 27 inches high.
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
Bezalel made the ark of the covenant from acacia wood. It was the most sacred object, the throne and footstool of God's presence.
Overview
Bezalel, the Spirit-filled craftsman, personally made the central piece of the sanctuary, the ark that would hold the testimony and over which God would meet with His people. Its precise dimensions follow Exodus 25:10. As the place of God's presence and atonement, the ark points to Christ, in whom God dwells and meets sinners.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Num 10:33–36They set forward from the Mount of Yahweh three days’ journey. The ark of Yahweh’s covenant went before them three days’ journey, to seek out a resting place for them.
- Exod 25:10–20“They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Its length shall be two and a half cubits, its width a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height.
- Exod 26:33You shall hang up the veil under the clasps, and shall bring the ark of the testimony in there within the veil: and the veil shall separate the holy place from the most holy for you.
- Exod 40:20–21He took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the poles on the ark, and put the mercy seat above on the ark.
- Exod 40:3You shall put the ark of the testimony in it, and you shall screen the ark with the veil.
- Exod 31:7the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the testimony, the mercy seat that is on it, all the furniture of the Tent,
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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 37:1 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.