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  Tabernacle of Moses

Catholic Thought: The Ark of the New Covenant

    Picture

    "Mary, in whom the Lord himself has just made his dwelling, is the daughter of Zion in person, the Ark of the Covenant, the place where the glory of God dwells. She is 'the dwelling of God [...] with men.'"
    Catechism of the Catholic Church # 2676

    I’ve often wondered why Saint Luke spent time, in his Gospel, talking about Mary going to see her Cousin… I mean, wouldn’t most people have been interested in other aspects of her pregnancy… Did she have Morning Sickness?  Did Unborn Baby Jesus Kick much?  Or more importantly, What did Mary’s Mother Say…?  Or, Yikes, WHAT did her Dad say…? 
     
    And Why would the young woman, with child, Mary, mount a Donkey, or even Walk, all the way to the Hill Country, in Haste, to the town of Judah,  just to see her cousin Elizabeth???  Yet she did… She went where the Holy Spirit sent her… But why did HE send her there…?
     
    Well, maybe it was about Fulfilling Prophecy, Showing Patterns,  and Revealing God’s Plan… That is why things happened as they did… 
    And Saint Luke understood this…
     
    Luke realized that Mary was
    the Ark of the New Covenant…

     
    But since the Virgin Mother was still alive when he wrote the Gospel, he knew that he couldn’t come right out and proclaim it… He didn’t want to make our Dear Mother a target for the Roman persecutors… He had to lay it out in a way that the Jews of the day would  see… In a way that our Church Fathers would see…  But not blatantly evident to the Roman Empire…

    The Following References compare the Ark of the Covenant to the Ark of the New Covenant...

    God the Holy Spirit overshadowed and then indwelled the Ark. The Ark became the dwelling place of the presence of God... see Exodus 40:34-35
    God the Holy Spirit overshadowed and then indwelled Mary. At that time Mary's womb became the dwelling place of the presence of God... see Luke 1:35.

    The Ark contained the Ten Commandments (the words of God in stone), a pot of manna, and Aaron's rod that came back to life... see Deuteronomy 10:3-5; Hebrews 9:4.
    The womb of the Virgin contained Jesus: the living Word of God in Flesh... see John 1:1   and The living bread from heaven, "the Branch" (Messianic title) who would die but come back to life... see Luke 1:35.

    The Ark traveled to the hill country of Judah to rest in the house of Obed-edom... see 2 Samuel 6:1-11
    Mary traveled to the hill country of Judah (Judea) to the home of Elizabeth... see Luke 1:39

    Dressed in a priestly ephod, King David approached the Ark and danced and leapt for joy...  see 2 Samuel 6:14    John the Baptist, son of a priest who would himself becomes a priest, leapt for joy in Elizabeth's womb at the approach of Mary... see Luke 1:43

    David shouted for joy in the presence of God and the holy Ark... see 2 Samuel 6:15
    Elizabeth exclaimed with a loud cry of joy in the presence God within Mary...  see Luke 1:42

    David asked, "How is it that the Ark of the Lord comes to me?" see 2 Samuel 6:9
    Elizabeth asks, "Why is this granted unto me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?"  see Luke 1:43

    The Ark remained in the house of Obed-edom for 3 months... see 2 Samuel 6:11
    Mary remained in the house of her cousin Elizabeth for 3 months... see  Luke 1:56

    The house of Obed-edom was blessed by the presence of the Ark... see  2 Samuel 6:11
    The word "blessed" is used 3 times in Luke 1:39-45 concerning Mary at Elizabeth's house...

    The Ark returned to its sanctuary and eventually ends up in Jerusalem where the presence and glory of God is revealed in the newly built Temple...  see 2 Samuel 6:12 and 1 Kings 8:9-11
    Mary returned home from visiting Elizabeth and eventually comes to Jerusalem, where she presents God the Son in the Temple...  see Luke 1:56; 2:21-22

    God made Aaron's rod (which would be kept in the Ark) return to life and budded to prove he was the legitimate High Priest...  see Numbers 17:8
    God would resurrect His Son, who had become enfleshed in Mary's womb and born to bring salvation to all mankind, to prove He is the eternal High Priest... see Hebrews 4:14.

    When the Ark was outside the Holy of Holies,  while being transported,  was to be covered with a blue veil... Numbers 4:4-6
    In Mary's appearances outside of heaven visionaries testify that she wears a blue veil.

    In Revelation 11:19 John sees the Ark of the Covenant in heaven this is the last verse of chapter 11...
    In Revelation 12:1 John sees Mary in heaven. It is the same vision Juan Diego saw of Mary in 1531 — the Woman clothed with the sun and standing on the moon...


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  • Home
  • The Tabernacle
  • The Eastern Gate
  • The Brazen Altar
  • The Brass Laver and Outer Court
  • The Holy Place
  • Entering The Holy of Holies
  • The Holy of Holies
  • The Seven Sprinklings of the Blood of Christ
  • The Ark of the NEW Covenant
  • El Tabernaculo