Exodo 25:15

Filipino Cebuano Bible

15 Ang mga yayongan magapabilin sa sulod sa mga singsing sa arca: dili sila pagakuhaon gikan niana.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

1 Kings 8:8, 2 Chronicles 5:9

Reciprocal: Exodus 25:12 - General Jeremiah 47:1 - against

Gill's Notes on the Bible

The staves shall be in the rings of the ark,.... Not only be put into them, but remain in them, yea, always:

they shall not be taken from it; or, as the Septuagint version is, be immovable; so that those gold rings in the ark may signify the churches of Christ, which are instrumental to bear his name, and spread his truth in the world, comparable to rings for their circular form, being the purest and most perfect bodies of men on earth, and to gold rings for their worth and value, preciousness, excellency, and duration; and with whom the ministers of the Gospel, comparable to golden staves, are always to be, and never depart from them: or else they may signify the perfect and precious doctrines of Christ, in which his ministers are always to be; either in meditation on them, or in preaching of them, and by which they are always to abide, see 1 Timothy 4:15.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

(compare Exodus 37:1-5). The ark is uniformly designated in Exodus the ark of the testimony. Elsewhere it is called the testimony, the ark of the covenant (most frequently in Deuteronomy and the other books of the Old Testament), the ark of the lord, the ark of god, the ark of the strength of the lord, and the holy ark.

The ark of the covenant was the central point of the sanctuary. It was designed to contain the testimony Exodus 25:16; Exodus 40:20; Deuteronomy 31:26, that is, the tables of the divine law, the terms of the covenant between Yahweh and His people: and it was to support the mercy-seat with its cherubim, from between which He was to hold communion with them Exodus 25:22. On this account, in these directions for the construction of the sanctuary, it is named first of all the parts. But on the other hand, in the narrative of the work as it was actually carried out, we find that it was not made until after the tabernacle Exodus 37:1-9. It was suitable that the receptacle should be first provided to receive and shelter the most sacred of the contents of the sanctuary as soon as it was completed. The order in which the works were executed seems to be given in Exodus 31:7-10, and Exodus 35:11-19. The completion of the ark is recorded in Exodus 37:1-5. On its history, see the concluding $$note to Exodus 40:0.

Exodus 25:10

An ark - Taking the cubit at 18 inches (see Genesis 6:15 note), the ark of the covenant was a box 3 ft. 9 in. long, 2 ft. 3 in. wide, and 2 ft. 3 in. deep.

Exodus 25:11

Overlay it with pure gold - Words descriptive of the common process of gilding. The Egyptians in early times were acquainted with both the art of gilding and that of covering a substance with thin plates of gold.

A crown of gold - That is, an edging or moulding of gold round the top of the ark, within which the cover or mercy-seat Exodus 25:17 may have fitted (compare Exodus 38:2). There were golden mouldings, called by the same name, to the table of showbread Exodus 25:24; Exodus 37:11-12, and to the golden altar Exodus 30:3; Exodus 37:26.

Exodus 25:12

Four corners thereof - Rather, its four bases, or feet. It is not unlikely that there were low blocks, or plinths, placed under the corners to which the rings were attached (see Exodus 25:26), and that it is to them the word is here applied. The ark, when it was carried, must thus have been raised above the shoulders of the bearers.

Exodus 25:15

They shall not be taken from it - This direction was probably given in order that the ark might not be touched by the hand (compare 2 Samuel 6:6).

Exodus 25:16

The testimony - Literally, “something spoken again and again.” The stone tables of the Ten Commandments are called the Testimony, or, the tables of the Testimony, as the ark which contained them is called the ark of the Testimony, and the tabernacle in which the ark was placed, the tabernacle of the testimony. Taking this in connection with the prohibitory form of the commandments, the name must have been understood as signifying the direct testimony of Yahweh against sin in man Deuteronomy 31:26-27.

The ark of the covenant has been most generally likened to the arks, or moveable shrines, which are represented on Egyptian monuments. The Egyptian arks were carried by poles on the shoulders, and some of them had on the cover two winged figures not unlike what we conceive the golden cherubim to have been. Thus far the similarity is striking. But there were points of great dissimilarity. Between the winged figures on the Egyptian arks there was placed the material symbol of a deity, and the arks themselves were carried about in religious processions, so as to make a show in the eyes of the people. We know not what they contained. As regards the ark of the covenant, the absence of any symbol of God was one of its great characteristics. It was never carried in a ceremonial procession: when it was moved from one place to another, it was closely packed up, concealed from the eyes even of the Levites who bore it. When the tabernacle was pitched, the ark was never exhibited, but was kept in solemn darkness. Rest, it is evident, was its appointed condition. It was occasionally moved out of its place in the holy of holies, but only so long as the nation was without a settled capital, and had something of the character of an army on the march. Not less was it distinguished from all other arks in the simple grandeur of its purpose: it was constructed to contain the plain text of the Ten Commandments written on stone in words that were intelligible to all.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Exodus 25:15. The staves - shall not be taken from it. — Because it should ever be considered as in readiness to be removed, God not having told them at what hour he should command them to strike their tents. If the staves were never to be taken out, how can it be said, as in Numbers 4:6, that when the camp should set forward, they should put in the staves thereof, which intimates that when they encamped, they took out the staves, which appears to be contrary to what is here said? To reconcile these two places, it has been supposed, with great show of probability, that besides the staves which passed through the rings of the ark, and by which it was carried, there were two other staves or poles in the form of a bier or handbarrow, on which the ark was laid in order to be transported in their journeyings, when it and its own staves, still in their rings, had been wrapped up in the covering of what is called badgers' skins and blue cloth. The staves of the ark itself, which might be considered as its handles simply to lift it by, were never taken out of their rings; but the staves or poles which served as a bier were taken from under it when they encamped.