TYPES OF CHRIST IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
A
Bible Study - Commentary by Jim Melough
Copyright
2000 James Melough
THE
ARK
Genesis 6:14-16
The
ark was to be of gopher wood (cedar, cypress or fir), and it is generally accepted as
a type of Christ. Wood, in Scripture, is
used symbolically to represent man in the body.
The Ark as a type of Christ points to His humanity.
It was as man that He went to Calvary on man’s behalf and endured the flood
waters of God’s judgment. That
overwhelming waters are symbolic of judgment is clear from such Scriptures as Ps 69
and 88.
“Rooms
shalt thou make.” The word translated
“rooms” is literally “nests,” and conveys the idea, not only of security, but
of peace. It is beautifully descriptive
of the refuge the believer finds in Christ.
Pitch
is the translation of the Hebrew word Kaphar, literally “to cover,” and it
is also translated as “atonement,” literally “covering.”
As that which shut out the judgmental waters and secured the safety of
everything inside the Ark by acting as a covering, the pitch very fittingly portrays
Christ’s work of making atonement, covering man’s sin with His own shed blood,
thus covering or sheltering believing men from judgment.
The
pitch was applied inside as well as out, and the spiritual truth conveyed is that the
pitch outside met God’s eye, while that inside met the eye of the Ark’s
occupants. Speaking as it does of the
atonement made through Christ’s shed blood, it portrays the result of that work
manward and Godward. To God it testifies
to the satisfaction of every claim of violated justice; to man it conveys the same
assurance, and gives him peace.
“...
without shedding of blood is no remission” (Heb 9:22).
Man is redeemed only, “with the precious blood of Christ” (1 Pe 1:19).
“The blood of Jesus Christ ... cleanseth us from all sin” (l John 1:7).
The
Ark without pitch would have afforded no safety, nor would a Christ whose blood had
not been shed. He who will not be saved
by trusting in a crucified Christ will not be saved at all.
6:16.
“A window shalt thou make to the Ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it
above; and the door of the Ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower,
second, and third stories shalt thou make it.”
There
are differing opinions as to the nature of this window. Some regard it as a one and-a-half foot space for air
and light, between the sides and the roof, extending the full length of the Ark.
Others take it to be a skylight of some unknown transparent material set in
the roof. Still others take the cubit to
be the height of the peak of the roof, thus giving enough pitch to run off the water.
The
uncertainty as to these details in no way obscures the spiritual truth being
presented. As it was in the Ark of the
Tabernacle, where every detail spoke of Christ, so is it in this Ark.
The details speak of Him.
Whatever
its exact location may have been, the basic thought connected with a window is light.
It speaks of Him Who is Light, and Who, in becoming man, brought to men the
“light of the knowledge of the glory of God” (2 Cor 4:6).
The window teaches us that not only was the Ark a place of refuge for those
inside it, but it was also a place of light. This
is the experience of every man who is “in Christ.” He is eternally secure, and in addition, has spiritual light as
well as life.
In
his natural state man is in darkness. He
cannot understand the Scriptures, “The natural man receiveth not the things of the
Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them because
they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor 2:14). He must therefore, walk in darkness, for only the believer can
say, “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path” (Ps 119:105).
Contention
over such details as the dimensions or exact location of the door, tends only to
obscure what is important: the spiritual truth God would teach us by what
details He has supplied. The only
information needed here to bring us God’s message is that there was a door, and it
was in the side of the Ark.
Not
only does the Ark as a whole present Christ, but every part of it performs the same
service, for this door is but the symbol of Him Who said, “I am the door...” (Jn
10:9). Furthermore, there was only one
door, which is the typical declaration of His uniqueness as the only Door by which
man can enter heaven.
Its
being in the side of the Ark is also significant.
It was through that opening in its side that the occupants passed into the
place of refuge and rest. The side of
Christ, the true Ark, opened by the spear of the Roman soldier, provided the blood
which alone can cleanse sin and give men access to heaven.
“with
lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.” Whatever other significance may attach to these three stories, in
the rooms or nests of which redeemed creation found refuge, one thought presents
itself: through Christ’s redemptive work, the believer enjoys the redemption of all
the three parts of his being. That redemption includes his body (the lower part); his soul (the
second part); his Spirit (the third part).
But,
as made in the image of God, man is also a creature of intelligence, emotion, and
will, and in these three areas also the blood of Christ has brought redemption.
Intellectually man has been restored, for “The fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom,” and emotionally there has been restoration, for “We
(believers) love Him because He first loved us.”
And relative to his volition or will, man has been restored, for the attitude
of the obedient believer is similar to that of the Lord Himself, expressed in His
prayer in Gethsemane, “Not my will, but thine be done,” and as expressed by Paul
on the Damascus road, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?”