And thou shalt put therein the ark of the testimony, and cover the ark with the vail.
Parallel translations
- WEB You shall put the ark of the testimony in it, and you shall screen the ark with the veil.
- BSB Put the ark of the Testimony in it and screen off the ark with the veil.
- NKJV You shall put in it the ark of the Testimony, and partition off the ark with the veil.
- NASB You shall place the ark of the testimony there, and you shall screen off the ark with the veil.
- NLT Place the Ark of the Covenant inside, and install the inner curtain to enclose the Ark within the Most Holy Place.
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 ark of the testimony inside and screen it with the veil. The holiest object was to be set and shielded first.
Overview
The ark, containing the covenant law, was positioned in the Most Holy Place and hidden behind the veil, for God's holy presence could not be casually approached. The veil guarded the way, teaching the seriousness of sin's separation from God. Its later tearing in Christ shows that He has opened the once-closed way into God's presence (Hebrews 10:19-20).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Exod 35:12The ark, and the staves thereof, with the mercy seat, and the vail of the covering,
- Num 4:5And when the camp setteth forward, Aaron shall come, and his sons, and they shall take down the covering vail, and cover the ark of testimony with it:
- Rev 11:19And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail.
- Exod 25:22And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
- Lev 16:14And he shall take of the blood of the bullock, and sprinkle it with his finger upon the mercy seat eastward; and before the mercy seat shall he sprinkle of the blood with his finger seven times.
- Exod 40:20–21And he took and put the testimony into the ark, and set the staves on the ark, and put the mercy seat above upon the ark:
- Exod 26:31And thou shalt make a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen of cunning work: with cherubims shall it be made:
- Exod 36:35–36And he made a vail of blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine twined linen: with cherubims made he it of cunning work.
- Exod 37:1–9And 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:
- Exod 26:33–34And thou shalt hang up the vail under the taches, that thou mayest bring in thither within the vail the ark of the testimony: and the vail shall divide unto you between the holy place and the most holy.
- Exod 25:10And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
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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 40:3 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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