When God gave Moses the pattern of the tabernacle with all its furnishings on the mountain, He was very detailed and precise. On the one hand, when we read Exo. 25 we see a picture of the ark of the testimony – and we even may be able to draw a sketch of the ark; on the other hand, we need to realize that all these specific details God gave Moses concerning the ark of the testimony are for our spiritual experience today.
The ark being of acacia wood overlaid with gold on the inside and on the outside signifies that Christ (who today is the Spirit) is the embodiment of God, the mingling of divinity with humanity, the building of God with man, and this One dwells in our spirit so that we may contact God and enjoy God.
The ark of the testimony is a type of Christ who is the testimony of God; in Christ we have both God (gold) and man (acacia wood), and His human nature was strong in character and high in standing. Just as the acacia wood supported the gold and the gold was the expression of the ark, so Christ’s humanity was the basic element for God’s testimony, and what others saw was God’s divinity being expressed.
This wonderful One, Christ as the mingling of God with man, did not do anything out of Himself, He didn’t do His own work, He didn’t speak His own word, He didn’t do His own will, and He didn’t seek His own glory.
As such a One He now lives in us as the Spirit with our spirit, and whenever we turn to our spirit to enjoy the Lord, He is mingling Himself more with us and has more ground to live in us to be expressed through us. This is a deeper meaning of the spiritual application of the ark of the testimony being made of acacia wood overlaid with gold.
Today we want to look at the four rings of gold cast at the four corners of the ark, and the two poles on the sides of the ark; these signify the move of Christ on earth as God’s testimony. Lord, amen, bring us into the experience of these details of the ark so that we may bear Your testimony on earth today!
The Four Rings of Gold: The Spirit is the Linking Factor and Power through the Cross
Exo. 25:12 says, And you shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them on its four feet; and two rings shall be on one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. The ark of the testimony was not to be stationary but movable; the testimony of God is not something set in one place but needs to move. In Acts we see the move of Christ throughout Judea, Samaria, Antioch, and eventually to the uttermost parts of the earth.
In order for the ark to move, it had four gold rings on its four corners; a gold ring signifies the Spirit with whom we have been sealed, and because a ring has no beginning and no ending, it signifies the eternal Spirit. The nature of the rings was gold: the divine nature of Christ, signifying that the linking factor and power is the eternal life-giving Spirit with the divine nature of Christ.
The fact that there were four rings on the four corners signifies that the move of God’s testimony is to reach all the four corners of the earth, all men in all tribes, tongues, and nations (see Rev. 7:1; 5:6, 9).
The fact that there were two rings on each side signifies that God’s testimony moves not through individuals mainly but through coordination in the Body for God’s testimony, just as the Lord sent His disciples two by two (Luke 10:1).
The fact that the rings were cast, not moulded or beaten, signifies that in order for us to experience this linking power and factor of the Spirit we need to experience the cross; being cast signifies tests which come through suffering.
When we experience and enjoy the eternal life-giving Spirit with the divine nature of Christ through the cross, we can bear God’s testimony in coordination with the saints all over the earth, wherever the Lord leads us. God wants to reach all men through His people as His testimony, and for this we need to experience and enjoy the eternal life-giving Spirit with Christ’s divine nature which becomes the linking factor and power through the experience of the cross.
This enables us and strengthens us to bear God’s testimony in coordination with the saints, so that God would be seen and testified through us wherever we go.
Lord Jesus, may Your testimony reach every tribe, tongue, and nation! Give us the experiences we need so that we may enjoy and experience the eternal life-giving Spirit with the divine nature of Christ through the experience of the cross, so that we may be enabled and strengthened to bear God’s testimony in coordination and fellowship with the saints in the Body. Lord, we want to bear Christ as God’s testimony wherever we are and wherever we go!
The Two Poles for Carrying the Ark: the Move of Christ as God’s Testimony
Exo. 25:13-15 says, And you shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark with them. The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it.
So there were four rings of gold in the four corners of the ark, and two poles of acacia wood overlaid with gold to be put through the two rings on the two sides of the ark so that the ark may be moved when needed.
These two poles being made of acacia wood overlaid with gold signifies that Christ’s human nature (typified by the acacia wood) is the strength for His move as God’s testimony, and that His divine nature (typified by the gold) is the expression of His move. In other words, when we as believers in Christ enjoy Christ in His humanity, we are strengthened for His move on earth, but what others see being expressed through us is God Himself (see 1 Thes. 2:9; 2 Cor. 2:15; 1 Tim. 2:2).
The poles were put into the golden rings to carry the ark – this signifies that the move of Christ is by men bearing God’s testimony in their bodies in the uniting power of the divine nature. Paul was a living example of the ark with the rings and the poles: he wanted Christ to be magnified in his body, for to him to live was Christ, and he expressed Christ by the bountiful supply of the Spirit and the prayers of the saints (Phil. 1:20-21).
We don’t bear God’s testimony merely by speaking the word of God but by our whole being; we need to be one with the ark, one with God’s testimony, so that we may bear God’s testimony in our body in the uniting power of Christ’s divine nature.
However, when we bear God’s testimony we need to be careful to use proper means. The Lord allowed the Philistines to send the ark back to Israel by means of a cart pulled by two young cows, but He did not allow David to use such means when he wanted to move the ark into God’s house (see 1 Sam. 6:7-8; 2 Sam. 6:3-7).
God doesn’t want us to use any worldly means when we bear His testimony, and many times He will come in to stop us when we do so. In our move with the Lord and for the Lord we use only the Word, the Spirit, and prayer, and we reject any other means – no matter how “interesting” or pleasing to people they may be.
The proper way to bear the ark is to have a direct connection with the Lord Jesus, without any distance between us and Him (Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 4:10-12). We are witnesses of Christ, those who bear a living testimony of the resurrected and ascended Christ in life, and we need to have a direct connection with Him and be one spirit with Him.
We need to allow the cross of Christ to operate in us, always bearing in the body about the putting to death of Jesus so that His life may be manifested in our body, to the result that death operates in us and life in others. The putting to death of Jesus is the killing of the cross, which consumes our natural man, our outer man, and our flesh, so that the inner man may have the opportunity to develop and be renewed.
The fact that the two poles were to stay in the rings of the ark and not to be removed from there signifies our readiness for the move of Christ as God’s testimony (see Matt. 4:18-22; Rev. 14:4; cf. Luke 17:32). We should not be set, settled or occupied, but we should be ready to move when the Lord wants us to move.
Wherever we are, we need to exercise our spirit, live according to the spirit, have a direct connection with the Lord, allow Christ’s death to operate in us, remove any distance between us and the Lord, and witness to others of what Christ is and has done; then, when the Lord may burden us and the Body will confirm, we should be ready to go to another city or even another country to bear the Lord’s testimony.
Lord Jesus, may there be no distance between us and You. We want to have a direct and uninterrupted connection between us and You so that we may allow You to operate in us and be testified through us. Oh Lord, may we be those who bear God’s testimony in our body in the uniting power of the divine nature, and may we be careful to use the proper means to bear God’s testimony today. Lord, keep us one spirit with You and ready to move when You want us to move for Your testimony! We don’t want to be set, settled, and occupied but be ready to move with the Lord!
References and Hymns on this Topic
- Inspiration: the Word of God, my enjoyment in the ministry, brother Ed Marks’ sharing in the message for this week, and Life-study of Exodus, msg. 85, by Witness Lee, as quoted in the Holy Word for Morning Revival on, Crystallization-Study of Exodus (3), week 1 (week 25), The Ark of the Testimony.
- All Bible verses are taken from, Holy Bible Recovery Version.
- Hymns on this topic to strengthen this burden:
# In the Testament of old / See th’ acacia wood with gold; / Such humanity behold! / Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, / praise the Lord! (Hymns #1171)
# By Your Spirit in our spirit— / Working, breaking through, / Free us from the self and back to You. / We redeem each precious moment, / Spending time with You, / To become the testimony of Christ. (Song on becoming God’s testimony)
# Lord Jesus, take me, break me; I’d hold nothing back from Thee; / Fill me till it is no more I that live; / That by Your resurrection life, we would Your testimony be. / We would be the church You long for, testimony of Jesus on the earth. (Song on being God’s testimony)
About aGodMan
We must be careful to use only the proper means to carry the Lord’s testimony today….The proper way is to have a direct connection with the Lord Jesus. We must bear Christ upon our shoulders. This means that there should not be any distance between us and Him. If we would bear Him as God’s testimony, we should be one with Him.
According to 25:15, the poles were to stay in the rings of the Ark and not depart from it. This signifies our readiness for the move of Christ as God’s testimony. We must always be ready for the testimony of God to move. We should have the rings and the poles, and the poles should be in the rings. For a period of time, we may stay where we are. At some point the Lord may move us to another city, perhaps even to another country. We should always be ready to go, to move, with the Lord’s testimony. (Witness Lee, Life-study of Exodus, pp. 1004-1006)