The Ark of the Covenant, set on the Even HaShetiya. A chest 2.5 amot by 1.5 and 1.5 high, in acacia wood gold-plated inside and out — three nested chests, gold, wood, gold — the gold smooth, without any engraving. The outer gold chest is taller than the others: its rim rises around the lid and overtops it a little, like a crown, the keter Torah. Its long side is oriented north-south, its two bars, the badim, run east-west. Four gold rings are fixed at the upper corners, near the lid, two per side; the badim are never removed from them, and 2.5 amot separate them — enough to let two bearers pass between them. The Ark stays closed, always.
Dimensions
- chest 2.5 × 1.5 × 1.5 amot
- three nested chests (gold, wood, gold)
- four gold rings at the upper corners, two per side (Rashi on Exodus 25:12)
- 2.5 amot between the two badim according to Rashi; in the model, each bad is 1.38 ama from the axis, outside the flanks
- badim ≈ 12 amot (model's choice): off-center, they extend half an ama beyond the Ark to the west and run east through the Amah Traksin to the outer parokhet, some 11 amot from the axis of the Ark
Sources
Project decisionProject's position: the tour shows the Temple to come, with the Ark in its place — the Ark of Moses, which Yoshiyahu hid (Yoma 52b; Rambam, Beit HaBechirah 4:1). No source describes its return, and Jeremiah 3:16 rather foretells that it will be forgotten: the Ark will no longer be spoken of, it will not come to mind, and no other will be made. Tour's choice: the smooth gold, without engraving, and the length of the poles, which no source gives; they cross the Amah Traksin, carry the inner curtain with them and press against the outer one, hence the bulges of Yoma 54a. Adopted: the rings at the upper corners (Rashi on Exodus 25:12). Set aside: the Ramban (on Exodus 25:12), who places them at the lower corners, and Ibn Ezra, who reads “פַּעֲמוֹתָיו” as feet.