The ark of the covenant and the two tables of the law were never found after the return from the Babylonish captivity. We have no proof that, even in the time of Solomon, the golden pot of manna, or the rod of Aaron, was either in or near the ark. In Solomon's temple the holy place was separated from the holy of holies by a solid wall, instead of a veil, and by strong wooden doors, 1 Kings vi. 31-33. In the same temple there was a large vestibule before the holy place; and round about this and the holy of holies there were many chambers in three stories, 1 Kings vi. 5, 6. But there was nothing of all this in the Mosaic tabernacle; therefore, says Calmet, we need not trouble ourselves to reconcile the various scriptures which mention this subject; some of which refer to the tabernacle, others to Solomon's temple, and others to the temple built by ZorobHebel; which places were very different from each other.

The apostle says that the golden censer was in the holy of holies; but this is nowhere mentioned by Moses. But he tells us that the high priest went in, once every year, with the golden censer to burn incense; and Calmet thinks this censer was left there all the year, and that its place was supplied by a new one, brought in by the priest the year following. Others think it was left just within the veil, so that the priest, by putting his hand under the curtain, could take it out, and prepare it for his next entrance into the holiest.

The ark of the covenant] This was a sort of chest overlaid with plates of gold, in which the two tables of the law, Aaron's rod, the pot of manna, &c., were deposited. Its top, or lid, was the propitiatory or mercy-seat.

John Gill's Bible Commentary

And the incense, which was carried in with those coals, typified the intercession of Christ in heaven, which is pure and holy, sweet, fragrant, and perpetual; and the priest having his hands full of it, expresses the fulness of Christ's intercession for all his elect, and for all things for them, and his fulness of merit to plead, which makes his intercession efficacious and prevalent; and hence, through his much incense, the prayers of his people become odorous and acceptable: and the incense being put upon the burning coals in the censer, shows that Christ's intercession proceeds upon the foot of his blood and sacrifice, his sufferings and death; and hence it becomes grateful, and has its influence; the smoke of it covers the mercy seat, or throne of grace, and makes that accessible; and as the priest, who offers it, never dies, so none of those for whom he intercedes. And the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold ; this is called the ark of the covenant, because the tables of the covenant, afterwards mentioned, were put into it; and that it was overlaid with gold round about, is certain from ( Exodus 25:11) where it is said to be overlaid with pure gold, within and without; and that the ark was within the vail, and in the most holy place, is manifest from ( Exodus 40:21 2 Chronicles 5:7) that this was wanting in the second temple, is generally agreed f146 ; but who took it away, where it was put, or what became of it various are the sentiments of the Jewish writers: some say f147 , it was carried away by Nebuchadnezzar into Babylon, and is meant by the goodly vessels of the house of the Lord, ( 2 Chronicles 36:10) others say f148 , that Jeremiah the prophet took it, and hid it in a cave on Mount Nebo; but the more generally received opinion is, that it was hid by King Josiah in some hidden and deep place, which Solomon had built for that purpose under ground, knowing, that the temple would be destroyed f149 ; and it is often said, that it was hid under the pavement of a room in the temple, called �yx[h ryd tk�l , �the wood room� f150 . The ark is, by some, thought to be a type of the church, which is the ark of God, of his building, and where he dwells; the ark of the covenant, or testimony, where the oracles of God, his word and ordinances, are: its being made of Shittim wood may denote the incorruption and duration of it: and its being covered with gold within and without is expressive of its glory; and its being portable, and carried from place to place, shows that the church is not always in one place; its rings, staves, and priests that bore it, may point at the Gospel, and the ministers of it, the instruments of moving it; and its moving from place to place, and falling into the hands of enemies, were emblematical of the church's afflictions; as its rest at last, in Solomon's temple, may signify the church's rest here and hereafter: but the ark is rather to be considered as a type of Christ; its various names agree with Christ, as the ark of God, the ark of his strength, the glory of God, the face of God, the holy ark, the ark of the covenant, or testimony, yea, Jehovah, and God himself: the time of its making is observable, it was made before the tabernacle, and the tabernacle for the sake of it; Christ is before all creatures, and was set up as Mediator before anything existed, and all things are for his sake; it being made of Shittim wood, covered with gold, may denote both the incorruption and glory of Christ; and its several decorations, the graces with which he was adorned, as man and Mediator; its staves and rings may design the word, ordinances, and ministers, whereby he is carried into the several places of the world; here God granted his presence, and counsel was asked of him, and it was brought forth in time of war, as a security from enemies, all which is applicable to Christ; by it wonders were done, as the dividing of Jordan for the Israelites to pass into the land of Canaan, the falling of the walls of Jericho, and the fall of Dagon; so Christ has opened the way for his people to heaven, has spoiled principalities and powers, and his Gospel is powerful to the pulling down the strongholds of sin and Satan; the moving of the ark from place to place, and its rest in the temple, may signify the rest of Christ, after his many fatigues in this world. Wherein was the golden pot that had manna ; which Aaron filled with manna by the direction of Moses, who gave it at the appointment of God, that it might be preserved to future ages, as a memorial of the goodness, care, and power of God in feeding the Israelites with it in the wilderness, ( Exodus 16:33,34). This pot held an omer, which was more than three pints and a half; some say six pints: and though Moses does not call it a golden pot, yet it is so called, not only by the Septuagint in ( Exodus 16:33) but also by Philo the Jew f151 ; nor is it reasonable to think, with some Jewish writers f152 , that it should be made of earth, which was to continue for ages to come: this also was wanting in the second temple f153 ; and this, with Aaron's rod, after mentioned, and other things, is said to be hid when the ark was, and along with it f154 : but how this pot, as well as Aaron's rod, can be said to be in the ark, when it is asserted, at the bringing of the ark into the temple, at the dedication of it by Solomon, that there was nothing in it but two tables of stone, ( 1 Kings 8:9 2 Chronicles 5:10) and both the pot of �manna�, and Aaron's rod, are said to be before the testimony, ( Exodus 16:34 Numbers 17:10) and not in it, is a difficulty. Some, in order to remove it, observe, that the phrase, �wherein�, refers not to the ark, but to the tabernacle; but since the tables of the covenant were in the ark, and these are mentioned with it, and the phrase, �over it�, in the next verse, cannot be understood of the tabernacle, but of the ark, this solution is not satisfactory. Others have observed, that they might be in the ark in Moses's time and in Jeremiah's time, when they are said to be hid, though they were not in Solomon's: and others have taken notice, that the preposition en sometimes signifies �at�, or �with�, as in ( Colossians 3:1 John 1:28 Ephesians 6:1,2) and so the sense is, that these were near unto it in the most holy place, and might be in the sides of it, though not within it; for there were places in the sides of the ark to put things into, ( Deuteronomy 31:26 1 Samuel 6:8). And certain it is from the above account from Scripture, that they were near it; and so, by the Jewish writers, they are always mentioned along with it: when that was carried away, and hid, they were hid with it; but what a certain Jewish commentator observes on ( 1 Kings 8:9) is so express, as if it was designed to vindicate our apostle: his remark is this: �the intention of this is not to deny that there were not the things mentioned in the law, for they were wb �yjnwm , �left in it�, as Aaron's �rod�, and �the pot of manna�, only to deny, hereby, that there was not anything of the law, save the decalogue.�

And it should be observed, that it is not said of these, that they were put before the ark, but �before the testimony�; that is, before the tables of the covenant, which were within the ark. The �manna�, in this pot, was typical of Christ; in the signification of its name, whether it comes from hnm , �manah�, which signifies to appoint, prepare, and distribute, Christ being appointed, prepared, and distributed, as food for his people; or from wh �m , �man hu�, what is it? the words said by the Israelites, when they first saw it, not knowing what it was; so Christ is unknown to his people until revealed to them, and remains unknown to all natural and unregenerate men: the manna came from heaven, from God, and was a free gift of his, and so Christ: it was round in form, and may be expressive of Christ's perfection, and eternity: it was in colour white, which may signify his purity and innocence; it was sweet in taste, and so is Christ, his fruits, his word and ordinances: it was small in quantity, which may denote the meanness and despicableness of Christ in the eyes of the world: the people went out and gathered it, and ground it in mills, or beat it in mortars, and baked it, and ate, which may be typical of the apprehension, sufferings, and death of Christ, in order to be fit food for the faith of believers. The persons that were fed by it were the Israelites, who were brought out of Egypt, and then in the wilderness, a large number, and men of all sorts, rich, and poor, and who had an equal portion, though very undeserving; so those who are fed by Christ, and nourished with him, the bread of life, are the spiritual Israel of God, whom Christ has redeemed from worse than Egyptian bondage and darkness, though they are yet in the wilderness of this world; and they are a large number, the whole family of God, who receive out of Christ's fulness grace for grace; and there is no difference of high and low, rich and poor, bond or free, male or female; they are all one in Christ, and Christ is all in all; and they have all a whole Christ, though they are very undeserving, being by nature children of wrath as others. And as the Israelites had the manna every day, and all the while they were in the wilderness, so Christ is the daily bread of believers; by him, in his word and ordinances, is his church nourished in the wilderness, to whom he gives to eat of the hidden manna, the food of the wilderness. The �pot�, in which this manna was kept, was typical of the ordinances of the Gospel; in its matter, being made of gold, denoting the preciousness and duration of them; in the size of it, holding an �omer�, showing that these contain plenty of good things to satisfaction; in the situation of it before the ark, signifying the presence of Christ with his ordinances; and in its use to hold manna, and be a memorial of it to ages to come, as the ordinances have in them food for souls, and are the means of remembering Christ in future generations, till his second coming. And Aaron's rod that budded ; and not only budded, but bloomed; blossomed, and yielded almonds, ( Numbers 17:8). This also was laid before the ark of the testimony, ( Hebrews 9:10), and may be said to be in it, or with it, in the same sense as the pot of manna was; it was likewise wanting in the second temple f156 , and is said to be hid with the pot of manna, and other things, as before observed: it was a type of Christ: it is affirmed by the Jews, that in the days of the Messiah, the priesthood shall return, and the rod of Aaron shall flourish f157 ; it was, very probably, as some have thought f158 , an almond tree stick, as that in ( Jeremiah 1:11,12).

Matthew Henry Commentary

Greek Textus Receptus

(a) according to Exodus 31 the incense-altar was in the holy place, not in the holy of holies;

(b) Philo and Josephus use qumiathrion for the altar of incense; 208

(c) there is no mention in O.T. Of a censer set apart for the day of atonement;

(d) the high priest was to enter with incense, so that the ark might be veiled by the smoke (Lev. xvi. 12). Hence the censer could not have been kept in the holy of holies;

(e) the writer clearly speaks of an abiding-place of the qumiathrionin a particular division of the tabernacle.

There is evidently a discrepancy, probably owing to the fact that the writer drew his information from the O.T. by which he might have been led into error. Thus Exod. xxvi. 35, there are mentioned in the holy place without the veil only the candlestick and the table, and not the incense-altar. Again, when the standing-place of the incense altar was mentioned, the expressions were open to misconstruction: see Exodus xxx. 6; xl. 5. On the day of atonement, the incense-altar, like the most holy place, was sprinkled with blood. This might have given rise to the impression that it was in the holy of holies.

With gold (crusiw). Properly, wrought gold.

Wherein (en h). But according to Exod. xvi. 34; Num. xvii. 10, neither the pot of manna nor Aaron's rod was in the ark, but "before the testimony"; while in Exod. xxv. 16, Moses was commanded to put only the tables of the law into the ark; and in 1 Kings viii. 9 it is said of the ark in the temple, "there was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone." The writer follows the rabbinical tradition that the pot of manna and the rod were inside of the ark.