Its dimensions, a 3D model built from Exodus 25 and 37, and every verse behind it
The Ark of the Covenant was 2½ cubits long, 1½ cubits wide and 1½ cubits high (Exodus 25:10). With the common cubit of 18 inches that is about 45 × 27 × 27 inches (114 × 69 × 69 cm); with the royal cubit of 20.6 inches, about 51.5 × 30.9 × 30.9 inches (131 × 78 × 78 cm). It was a chest of acacia wood overlaid with pure gold, with a lid of pure gold, the mercy seat, and two
gold cherubim on the lid.
The text gives cubits only, so the inches and centimetres are estimates. A cubit is a forearm's length: about 18 inches for the common cubit, orabout 20.6 inches for the royal cubit(Ezekiel 40:5).
Every part, from the text
Each part of the model comes from the verses below. Where the text gives a part's form, it is marked stated in the text;
where the model has to choose, it is marked an interpretive choice, with what the text leaves open.
1The ark (chest)
Stated in the text
And 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.
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:
Length, breadth and height are given in cubits, in acacia (shittim) wood overlaid with pure gold within and without. The thickness of the wood and of the gold is not given.
A crown of gold "round about" is stated; its profile and height are not. Drawn as a plain rim around the top edge.
Height
0.1 cubits interpretive: Not given.
Thickness
0.05 cubits interpretive: Not given.
3Four rings of gold
Interpretive choice
And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.
And he cast for it four rings of gold, to be set by the four corners of it; even two rings upon the one side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it.
Four cast rings, two on each side, are stated. The Hebrew word the KJV renders "corners" (pa'am) is often read "feet", as the BSB does, so they are drawn low on the chest by default; some place them at the top corners.
0.22 cubits interpretive: How far each ring sits from the end of the chest is not given.
Where the rings sit, debated: low, at the feet (Reads the Hebrew pa'am as "feet" (the BSB's "its four feet")); or at the top corners (Reads it as the KJV's "four corners", placed high so the ark rides above the bearers' shoulders). The model
shows low, at the feet and can switch.
4Staves (poles)
Interpretive choice
And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.
Acacia overlaid with gold, carried in the rings and never taken out. Their number, length and thickness are not given, nor whether they run along the length or the breadth. Shown as two staves of 4.5 cubits along the length.
Count
2 interpretive: Not stated; one stave for each side's pair of rings.
Length
4.5 cubits interpretive: Not given.
Radius
0.055 cubits interpretive: Not given.
5The testimony
Interpretive choice
And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.
And he gave unto Moses, when he had made an end of communing with him upon mount Sinai, two tables of testimony, tables of stone, written with the finger of God.
Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant;
The testimony goes inside the ark. Exodus 31:18 calls it two tables of stone; their size is not given. Hebrews 9:4 adds the pot of manna and Aaron's rod. Turn on See inside.
And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.
Stated in the text: beaten gold, of one piece with the mercy seat, one at each end, wings stretched on high covering the seat, faces toward one another and toward the seat. Interpretive: the kneeling posture, faces, robes and feathers follow artistic tradition, not the text, and so does their height.
1.12 cubits interpretive: Not given. The figures' height, to the top of the wings, follows artistic tradition.
Inset
0.34 cubits interpretive: How far each figure stands from the end of the mercy seat is not given.
8Between the cherubim
Interpretive choice
And 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.
The text names the place: above the mercy seat, between the two cherubim. The soft light is only a visual cue.
Questions
How big was the Ark of the Covenant?
The Ark of the Covenant was 2½ cubits long, 1½ cubits wide and 1½ cubits high (Exodus 25:10). With the common cubit of 18 inches that is about 45 × 27 × 27 inches (114 × 69 × 69 cm); with the royal cubit of 20.6 inches, about 51.5 × 30.9 × 30.9 inches (131 × 78 × 78 cm). The text gives the measurements in cubits only, so any figure in inches or centimetres is an estimate.
A chest of shittim (acacia) wood overlaid with pure gold inside and out, with a crown of gold around it. Its lid, the mercy seat, was pure gold, and the two cherubim on it were beaten gold, of one piece with the lid.
The testimony: the two tables of stone (Exodus 25:16 and 31:18). Hebrews 9:4 adds the golden pot of manna and Aaron’s rod that budded; by the time of Solomon’s temple, 1 Kings 8:9 says only the two tables were in it.
On two staves of acacia wood overlaid with gold, put through four gold rings, two on each side, and never taken out. The text doesn’t give the staves’ length or say whether they ran along the length or the breadth; the model shows them along the length.
The text says they were gold, of beaten work and of one piece with the mercy seat, one at each end, with their wings stretched out on high covering the mercy seat and their faces toward one another and toward the seat. It doesn’t describe their bodies or faces. The kneeling figures in the model follow artistic tradition and are labelled an interpretive choice.
A cubit is the length of a forearm, from the elbow to the fingertip. The common cubit is usually taken as about 18 inches (45.7 cm). Ezekiel measures with a longer cubit, "a cubit and an hand breadth", often called the royal cubit, about 20.6 inches (52.3 cm).
Bezaleel (Bezalel), the craftsman God named for the work of the tabernacle. Exodus 37 records him making the ark to the measurements given to Moses in Exodus 25.
Every number in this model lives in objects/ark.json, with the verse it
comes from and the KJV and BSB words that give it, or a note saying why it's an interpretive choice. A check runs on every
change and finds each quoted phrase in its verse. Think something is wrong? Propose a correction.
