2 Chronicles 5:1–14

Read the passage.

Once the temple was completed, Solomon convened the leaders of Israel for a special worship service in Jerusalem. They gathered to commemorate the transfer of the ark of the covenant from the tabernacle to the temple. Not only the ark was moved, but the whole tabernacle as well, and all the things it contained.

The ark was placed inside the Most Holy Place, the innermost part of the temple, underneath the wings of the large cherubim. I am a little surprised that they left the carrying poles in place after the ark was set down. If they were so long that they could be seen from the inner sanctuary where the priests did most of their work, perhaps there wasn’t a better place for them. Or it may be that even the poles were considered too holy to put in a storage closet.

There is also a mystery concerning the contents of the ark. Verse 10 says only the tablets of the Law given to Moses were within the ark, but when the tabernacle was constructed, it also contained the budded staff of Aaron and the golden jar of manna. What happened to those things?

Once the ark was in place, all of the priests come out of the temple to the rest of the assembly and the musicians sing and play their instruments in praise to the Lord. In response, the Lord blesses the efforts of His people and consecrates the temple with His own presence, just as He had with the tabernacle in the days of Moses. He accepts the temple as His dwelling place on earth by filling it with a cloud to hide His glory from view.

We are grateful that we may look on You and live, because You have washed away our sins.