The Bible is filled with stories of building projects. Noah was commissioned by God to build a great boat to house a remnant of the original creation. It was a boat big enough to hold “a true sample” of the human family. It was a floating zoo that also housed all God’s creatures two-by-two.
But did you know there’s a second ark story when the Jews built a box vessel to accompany the traveling tabernacle wandering in the Sinai Desert? The Ark of the Covenant was built to contain the tablets of the Law Moses received from God on Mount Sinai. It was covered with gold and the representational figures of the cherubim mounted dramatically on top. Eventually the Ark of the Covenant was brought to port to Jerusalem’s Temple, in the Holy of Holies. Ultimately the Temple of Solomon was built in the ancient city of Jerusalem, a city atop the central highlands, where King David united the tribes of Israel. The Temple was built to tend to the holiness of God.
