The very first thing that Bezalel constructed was the Ark of the
Covenant, contrary to Moses' order, first to erect the Tabernacle and
then to supply its separate furnishings. He succeeded in convincing
Moses that it was the proper thing to begin with the Ark, saying: "What
is the purpose of this Tabernacle?" Moses: "That God may let His
Shekinah rest therein, and so teach the Torah to His people Israel."
Bezalel: "And where dost thou keep the Torah?" Moses: "As soon as the
Tabernacle shall have been complete, we shall make the Ark for keeping
the Torah." Bezalel: "O our teacher Moses, it does not become the
dignity of the Torah that in the meanwhile it should lie around like
this, let us rather first make the Ark, put the Torah into it, and then
continue with the erection of the Tabernacle, for the Tabernacle exists
only for the sake of the Torah." Moses saw the justice of this
argument, and Bezalel began his work with the construction of the Ark.
In this he followed the example of God, who created light before all
the rest of the creation. So Bezalel first constructed the Ark that
contains the Torah, the light that illuminates this world and the other
world; and only then followed the rest. [329] The Ark consisted of
three caskets, a gold one, the length of then spans and a fractional
part; within this a wooden one, nine spans long, and within this wooden
one, one of gold, eight spans long, so that within and without the
wooden was overlaid with the golden caskets. The Ark contained the two
tables of the Ten Commandments as well as the Ineffable Name, and all
His other epithets. The Ark was an image of the celestial Throne, and
was therefore the most essential part of the Tabernacle, so that even
during the march it was spread over with a cloth wholly of blue,
because this color is similar to the color of the celestial Throne. It
was through the Ark, also, that all the miracles on the way through the
desert had been wrought. Two sparks issued from the Cherubim that
shaded the Ark, and these killed all the serpents and scorpions that
crossed the path of the Israelites, and furthermore burned all thorns
that threatened to injure the wanderers on their march through the
desert. The smoke rising from these scorched thorns, moreover, rose
straight as a column, and shed a fragrance that perfumed all the world,
so that the nations exclaimed: "Who is this that cometh out of the
wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense,
with all powders of the merchant?" [330]
Apart from this Ark, which was kept in the Tabernacle, they had another
ark, in which were contained the tables broken by Moses, which they
carried with them whenever they went to war. [331] The Ark that Bezalel
constructed was also used again in Solomon's Temple, for he retained
the Ark used by Moses in the Tabernacle, even though all the other
furnishings of the Temple were fashioned anew. It remained there up to
the time of the destruction of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar, when it
was concealed under the pavement of the wood-house, that it might not
fall into the hands of the enemy. This place remained a secret for all
time. Once a priest, noticing about the wood-house that something lay
hidden under it, called out to his colleagues, but was suddenly
stricken dead before divulging the secret. [332]
On the Ark were the Cherubim with their faces of boys and their wings.
Their number was two, corresponding to the two tables, and to the two
sacred names of God, Adonai and Elohim, which characterized Him as
benevolent and as powerful. The face of each Cherub measured one span,
and the wings extended each ten spans, making twenty-two spans in all,
corresponding to the twenty-two letters of the Hebrew alphabet. [333]
It was "from between the two Cherubim" that God communed with Moses,
for the Shekinah never wholly descended to earth any more than any
mortal ever quite mounted into the heaven, even Moses and Elijah stood
a slight distance from heaven; for, "The heaven, even the heavens, are
the Lord's: but the earth hath He given to the children of men."
Therefore God chose the Cherubim that were ten spans above the earth as
the place where the Shekinah betook itself to commune with Moses. [334]
The heads of the Cherubim were slightly turned back, like that of a
scholar bidding his master farewell; but as a token of God's delight in
His people Israel, the faces of the Cherubim, by a miracle, "looked one
to another" whenever Israel were devoted to their Lord, yea, even
clasped one another like a loving couple. During the festivals of the
pilgrimage the priest used to raise the curtain from the Holy of Holies
to show the pilgrims how much their God loved them as they could see in
the embrace of the two Cherubim. [335]
A tow-fold miracle came to pass when the Cherubim were brought into the
Temple by Solomon: the two staves that were attached to the Ark
extended until they touched the curtain, so that two protuberances like
a woman's breasts became visible at the back of it, and the wings of
the Cherubim furthermore extended until they reached the ceiling of the
Holy of Holies. [336]