And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earth-quake, and great hail.  And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.  ~ Revelation 11:19-12:1

When you take the time to think about Christ's incarnation, it truly is amazing.  God actually dwelled inside a woman's body for 9 months!  Really, Mary was a tabernacle for God just as the Ark of the Covenant was in the Old Testament.  We can see so many parallells between Mary and the Ark in the OT and the NT.  I'd like to take the time today to outline some of those parallells.

First of all, what was it that the Ark of the Covenant held in the Old Testament? 

At that time the LORD said unto me, Hew thee two tables of stone like unto the first, and come up unto me into the mount, and make thee an ark of wood.  And I will write on the tables the words that were in the first tables which thou brakest, and thou shalt put them in the ark.  ~ Deuteronomy 10:1-2

The Ark held the written word of God that was given to the Israelites.  Now what was it that Mary carried in her womb? 

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth. ~ John 1:14

The Ark of the Covenant held the God's word, and Mary held inside of her the ultimate Word of God who became flesh and made His dwelling among us. 

We learn in Hebrews about two other items that were placed in the Ark.

...Which had the golden censor, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron's rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; ~ Hebrews 9:4

So, we know that the Ark contained the tablets with the 10 commandments inscribed on them, the jar of manna, and Aaron's rod.  How is this a foreshadowing of what Mary would contain in her womb?

Our fathers did eat manna in the desert; as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.  Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from heaven; but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. ~ John 6:31-32

Jesus is the true Bread of Life sent from Heaven.

How does Aaron's rod represent Christ? 

Wherefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our profession, Christ Jesus; ~ Hebrews 3:1

The rod is the sign of the high priest in the OT, and Jesus, coming to fulfill the old covenant, becomes the Ultimate High Priest who sacrifices Himself for the pardon of our sins.

There's also another very interesting foreshadowing in the book of II Samuel that correlates to Mary's visit to her cousin Elisabeth in Luke. 

And it was so, that when they had that bare the ark of the LORD had gone six paces, he sacrificed oxen and fatlings.  And David danced before the LORD with all his might; and David was girded with a linen ephod. ~ II Samuel 6:14

And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost: ~ Luke 1:41

So, David danced before the LORD in the Ark, and John the Baptist leaped before the LORD in Mary's womb.  It goes on:

And David was afraid of the LORD that day, and said, How shall the ark of the LORD come to me? ~ II Samuel 6:9

And whence is this to me, that the mother of my LORD should come to me? ~ Luke 1:43

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And the ark of the LORD continued in the house of Obed-edom the Gittite three months: and the LORD blessed Obed-edom and all his household. ~ II Samuel 6:11

And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house. ~ Luke 1:56

There are more verses that parallell each other in these passages, but these are just three of them that stand out.  (Steve Ray makes an excellent comparison between them on Catholic Answers which you can read here)

I'll end this entry with a quote from Gregory Thaumaturgus, c. 260 from his Homily on the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary:

"Let us chant the melody that has been taught us by the inspired harp of David, and say, 'Arise, O LORD, into thy rest; thou, and the ark of thy sanctuary.' For the Holy Virgin is in truth an ark, wrought with gold both within and without, that has received the whole treasury of the sanctuary."

Pax Christi,

~the Catholic apologist

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