Ark of the Covenant

     Moses was to build an ark for God as a place to meet God. The ark had much significance because it was the meeting-place between God and mankind:

10 And they shall make an ark of shittim wood... 16 And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee... 21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. 22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. (Exod 25). 

     An ark is a ship. Essentially, the Ark of God represents safety as Noah's Ark did. Rather than "float" in water, it was suspended by two poles in air. The mercy seat on the Ark represented God's mercy. God met the Hebrews on His Mercy Seat. That seat is representative of God's throne, or judgment seat in Heaven (Great White Throne), whereon He will judge with mercy who will go into Heaven ( a return to Paradise) and who will not.
     The Ark, therefore, represents Heaven and at the same time, the Paradise of the Garden of Eden. That Garden was guarded by cherubim. Likewise the Ark of God displays two cherubim. They guard whosoever attempts to enter God's domain on the Mercy Seat as they did guarding who could enter into Paradise.
     The box of shittim wood (acacia) covered with gold represents the hedge of the Garden and the walls of the City of God. The wild acacia represents the burning bush, or the presence of God. God's "Presence" is Jesus Christ. Thus, the Ark represents Jesus and the space inside safety just as in the Garden.
     "The Testimony" in the Ark is also called "The Covenant." The "Ark of the Testimony" is to contain the Commandments of God. Thus, there is a strong symbolism between the Covenant and the Commandments of God. The Covenant was between God and Abraham and was for perpetuity. Likewise, the Ten Commandments were written on stone for perpetuity. The Covenant was the "deal" between God and mankind, and the Commandments seemed to be the articles of the "deal" or articles of its "Constitution."
     The Ark, representative of Heaven, indicated that the Covenant was the merciful action of God to provide a Redeemer, and that the Commandments were the Way to salvation. Don't be startled by that! The Ten Commandments were nothing more than agape and philio love metricized: the first four are love for God, and the last six love for fellow men. The Ten Commandments remain efficacious to this day, and only the name has changed to "The Greatest Commandment" and "the second like unto it." "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Mat 22:36-40).
     The Ten Commandments were more a Constitution for mankind than commandments in that the Hebrew DEV (pronounced: tsaw-vaw') means "to constitute." That is give order to God's Will. It is still God's Will that men willingly love God and others by refraining from certain sins against them! They are less "commands" than a list of God's Wills which men in harmony with God are willing to do. They are not judged by their conformance but by their willingness to please God; thus "Mercy Seat."
     In summary, the Ark of the Covenant represents salvation and existence with Jesus. Rather than looking for the golden Ark, mankind is encouraged by Jesus to look for Him to find the True Ark, that Ark which both Noah's and the Ark of the Covenant represent!