And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it: And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about. And he cast for it four rings of gold, to be set by the four corners of it; even two rings upon the one side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it. And he made staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold. And he put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. Exodus 37:1-5 (KJV)

Under the first covenant, the ark was the place where God’s presence dwelt. It was designed so that when the Israelites moved their camp, they would slide staves, or poles, through rings on the side of the ark and it would be carried by the levitical priests. Why was it designed in such a way? Why not just move it by using animals or other means? If you read in II Samuel 6 you’ll see that David and other men attempted to move it by use of oxen pulling it on a cart. This didn’t work out too well.

The Old Testament is filled with types, shadows and symbols of things to come under the New Covenant. The reason the ark was to carried by men was because it painted a clear picture that only mankind has been designed and chosen to carry the presence of God. God created the plants, animals, the earth and cosmos, but only mankind was made to carry the presence of the Most High God. Allowing the ark of the covenant to be carried by animals was a clear contradiction to God’s intention that man be the only part of creation to bear His image and carry His presence.

When we receive Jesus as Lord and Savior, He comes to live in us. We literally carry the presence of God inside us. And we can take His presence to others. So, like the Levites, we are to be carriers; carriers of the presence and power of God.