Marian Typology: Ark of the Covenant, by Martin Jack

The immaculate conception of the Virgin Mary is most clearly illustrated by looking at Old Testament typology, specifically one of the titles given to her by the early church: Ark of the New Covenant.  By parallels with the Old Testament Ark, Mary as the Theotokos shares many of the characteristics that made the Ark holy to the Israelites, both by what it contained and how the saints responded to its appearance.

1. Holders of the Word

Both the Ark of the Covenant and the Virgin Mary were literal holders of God’s Word.

Hebrews 9: 3-4: Behind the second curtain stood a tent called the Holy of Holies, having the golden altar of incense and the Ark of the Covenant covered on all sides with gold. The ark contained a golden urn holding the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the Covenant with Moses.

Listen to what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: Mary, in whom the Lord himself has just made his dwelling, is the daughter of Zion in person, the ark of the covenant, the place where the glory of the Lord dwells. She is “the dwelling of God . . . with men.” [Rev 21:3] As St. Athanasius concurs saying that Mary is the “dwelling place of God the Word” (CCC 2676).

Just as the old Ark contained the manna that the Israelites received during their travails in the wilderness, so Mary contained the true Manna, the Bread of Heaven, the Word made flesh which resided within her Womb. St. Thomas Aquinas compared the contents of the Ark with that of Mary’s Womb in his “Summa Theologica.” He wrote that, “The Ark, wherein were the Law and the manna, signified Christ, who is the living bread that came down from Heaven and the fulfillment of the Law” (Summa Theologica Part 3: Question 25, Article 3.)

2. Made pure

St Ambrose of Milan: “Lift me up not from Sarah but from Mary, a virgin not only undefiled, but a virgin whom grace had made inviolable, free of every stain of sin” (Commentary on Psalms 118 22:30, in “The Fathers Know Best” by Jimmy Akin, p. 341-342.)

Exodus 40: 9: “Then you shall take the anointing oil, and anoint the tabernacle and all that is in it, and consecrate it and all its furniture; and it shall become holy.”

To become the dwelling place of God, both Arks had to be made pure and holy before they could be filled by “the glory of the Lord” (Exodus 40:34). In Mary’s case she was declared “full of grace” (kecharitomene) by the Angel Gabriel, which was an acknowledgement of her sinlessness granted to her from the first moment of her existence.  This grace was retroactively applied to her at birth by the merits of Christ’s atonement. As the Catechism states, she was “redeemed in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son” (CCC 492). So as the ark was made holy before receiving the Shekinah glory, in like manner Mary was made a holy tabernacle for the living Word of God to indwell.

3. Overshadowed

Mary and the Ark were both overshadowed by the presence of God. See the comparison:

“Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting, because the cloud abode upon it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle” (Exodus 40: 34-35).

“The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you” (Luke 1: 35).

As the new tabernacle of God, we see that Mary’s sinless body was likewise overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, as the Son of God was conceived in her Womb. Her body therefore like the ark was consecrated for a holy purpose, Mary becoming the new Holy of Holies where God would dwell with man. And by doing so win victories for us over sin, death and the devil as the ark had won battles for the Israelites in Canaan.

4. Dancing before the Lord

Another comparison:

From 2 Samuel 6: 13- 15: When those who were carrying the ark of the Lord had taken six steps, he sacrificed a bull and a fattened calf.  Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.

Luke 1: 41-44: When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit.  In a loud voice she exclaimed: “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!  But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy.

As David received the Ark with joy, dancing and leaping before the Lord, so too did the baby in Elizabeth’s womb at the appearance of Mary as she entered the house of Zechariah.  Both appearances by the ark and by Mary in the hill country of Judah are furthermore met by similar statements of unworthiness as Scott Hahn points out:

The perfect comparisons continue. “In their journeys, then, both Mary and David proceeded to the hill country of Judah. David acknowledges his unworthiness with the words, ‘How can the ark of the Lord come to me?’ (2 Samuel 6:9)? We find these words echoed as Mary approaches her kinswoman Elizabeth who exclaims: ‘Why is this granted me, that the mother of the Lord should come to me?’ (Hail Holy Queen, p.64)

These similarities between Mary and the Old Covenant Ark have profound implications for how we venerate the Mother of God. We cannot treat her as though she were a mere vessel or an incubator, as she was set apart by the grace of God to inaugurate a new Covenant through the birth of her Son and with his people, the Church.

As such she is the mother of us all and should be approached with the same reverence shown to her by Elizabeth and the Angel Gabriel: “Hail Mary, full of grace,” as she was blessed and tabernacled by the Holy One of God. It’s no wonder Scripture says that, “All generations will call her blessed” (Lk. 1:48).