The Ark of the Covenant is something that should be familiar to all of us. It was a chest, almost 4 feet long, 1 ½ feet in width and height that contained the two stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments of God were inscribed. Its lid was a solid slab of gold, mounted with two gold cherubim, which was called the mercy seat. The Ark of the Covenant was said to be the dwelling place of God. I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of it, or at least saw a depiction if it in the Indiana Jones movie, “The Raiders of the Lost Ark.”
The Ark was go before the Israelites wherever they went as they travelled or found themselves in battle, and would eventually be kept in the “Holy of Holies” in the Tabernacle, and in the Temple in Jerusalem.
But when the Babylonians destroyed the Temple in 586 B.C. the Ark was unaccounted for. It was not among the spoils taken by the Babylonians, but Scripture tells us that the Ark was saved from destruction by the prophet Jeremiah, hidden in a mountain “until God gathers his people together again and shows his mercy” (2 Macc 2:7). The location of the Ark of the Covenant remains a mystery, and no one knows where the Ark might be. One legend says that it’s somewhere in Egypt, in a remote temple somewhere. Or could it be stored in a secret warehouse by the government?
But we do know the location of the Ark. Saint Luke tells us in this Gospel passage today. In this passage of the Visitation of Mary to her cousin Elizabeth, Luke brings up some amazing parallels to an account of the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament that involves King David after the Philistines had captured the Ark and taken it from the Israelites in battle (2 Sam 6).
Luke tells us that Mary “set out” to the hill country in haste to a town of Judah to visit her cousin Elizabeth. In the same way, King David “set out” to the same region in Judah centuries earlier to retrieve the Ark.
When Mary arrived at the house of Zechariah, Elizabeth is struck with awe and unworthiness when she exclaimed “How does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” When King David began bringing the Ark to Jerusalem, he said in fear and unworthiness “How can the ark of the Lord come to me?”
But there is also joy expressed when the infant in Elizabeth’s womb leapt for joy at the sound of Mary’s greeting. As the ark was on its journey to Jerusalem, all the Israelites made merry before the Lord with singing and playing of instruments, and as it entered into Jerusalem, King David leapt and danced before the Lord.
And if that isn’t enough to convince you, before King David brought the Ark of the Covenant into the city of Jerusalem, he took it to the house of Obed-edom and it remained there in his house for three months. How long did Mary stay with Elizabeth? Three months before returning home.
Finally, it says in this Gospel passage that Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, “cried out” in a loud voice, and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb.” The Greek word used here to “cry out”, or to “exclaim”, is used nowhere else in the New Testament, and in the few times it’s used in the Old Testament, it always refers to the Ark of the Covenant.
But even before this, before Mary set out to visit Elizabeth, when the angel Gabriel came to Mary to announce that she would become the Mother of God, Gabriel said to Mary, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you.” This is the same expression used to describe how Yahweh “overshadowed” the Ark in the Tabernacle, making it his dwelling place in Israel.
So what is Luke telling us here in the account of the Visitation? On one level, he tells us of a joyful encounter between two expectant mothers. But on another level, Luke is telling us that Mary is the Ark of the New Covenant, and that the sacred Ark of the Old Covenant simply prefigured or foreshadowed the more wonderful ark to come: the Mother of the divine Messiah.
And what was contained in the Ark of the Old Covenant? Not just the Ten Commandments (the Law of God), but according to the letter to the Hebrews, also a golden vessel with some of the miraculous manna in the desert, and the staff of Aaron the high priest (Heb 9:4). What is in the Ark of the New Covenant? Jesus, who fulfills the Law, who is the Bread of Life, and who is our true high priest. The ark of the New Covenant, then is not a “thing,” it is a person:
And it’s not just Luke that refers to Mary as the Ark of the New Covenant. In the Book of Revelation, the last book of the Bible, John tells us that “God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple. … And a great sign appeared in heaven, a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.” It’s hard to imagine this woman referring to anyone else but Mary, the Mother of God.
Is it any wonder that we hold Mary in such high esteem, and that she figures so prominently in our liturgies and tradition? This is not just the result of speculation and development from a later age in the Church. It is already embedded in the Scriptures; Saint Luke is already placing Mary in a position of honor, someone deserving of veneration and devotion.
So as we enter into this final week before we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ, may we look with fresh eyes and an open heart at this account of the Visitation. And when we pray this mystery in the Rosary, may our lives be touched in a new way at how our Blessed Mother wants to lead us to Christ. And may we also see her “yes” to God, her obedience and submission to the will of the Father as an example for us to follow, and lead us to that same obedience and submission.
Together, then, let us ask for her intercession as we pray,
Hail Mary, full of grace …