(3) Design and Form. We now come to consider the design and form of the ark, on which it appears to us that clear and unex pected light has been thrown by the discov eries which have of late years been made in Egypt, and which have unfolded to us the rites and mysteries of the old Egyptians. One of the most important ceremonies was the "pro cession of shrines," which is mentioned in the Rosetta stone, and frequently occurs on the walls of the temples. The shrines were of two kinds, the one a sort of canopy, the other an ark or sacred boat, which may be termed the great shrine. This was carried with grand pomp by the priests, a certain number being selected for that duty, who supported it on their shoulders by means of long staves, passing through metal rings at the side of the sledge on which it stood, and brought it into the temple. where it was deposited upon a stand or table, in order that the prescribed :eremonies might be discharged before it. The stand was also carried in procession by another set of priests. following the shrine, by means of similar staves; a method usually adopted for carrying large statues and sacred emblems, too heavy or too important to be borne by one per son. The same is stated to have been the custom of the Jews in some of their religious processions (Comp. t Chron. xv:2, 15; 2 Sam. xv:24, and Josh. iii:12), as in carrying the ark to its place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy (2) The boat or 'ark.' (3) The 'canopy.' This last is not, as the extract would suggest, an alter native for the second ; but is most generally seen with and in the boat. This is shown in the first cut, which exhibits all the parts together, and at rest.
The points of resemblance to the Jewish ark are many and conspicuous, as in the 'stand,' which, in some of its forms, and leaving out the figures represented on the sides, bears so close a resemblance to the written description of the He brew ark that it may safely be taken as an authen tic illustration of its form. Then the cherubim of the Hebrew ark find manifest representatives in the figures facing each other, with wings spread inwards and meeting each other, which we find within a canopy or shrine which sometimes rests immediately upon this 'stand,' but more generally in the boat, which itself rests thereon. We direct place, when the Temple was built by Solomon (1 Kings yid :6). Some of the arks or boats con tained the emblems of life and stability, which. when the veil was drawn aside, were partially seen; and others presented the sacred beetle to the sun, overshadowed by the wings of two figures of the goddess Thenei. or Truth, which
call to mind the cherubim of the Jews (Anc. Egyptians. by J G. Wilkinson).
(4) Points of Egyptian Resemblance. fallowing points of resemblance will strike the Biblical student. and will attract his close atten tion to the subject. In the above description three objects are distinguished : (t) The 'stand.' attention also to the hovering wings above, which are very conspicuous in all Egyptian representa tions. (See CHERUBIM.) Other analogies occur in the persons who bear the shrine—the priests: and in the mode of carrying it, by means of poles inserted in rings; and it is observable that, as in the Hebrew ark, these poles were not with drawn, hut remained in their place when the shrine was at rest in the temple. Such are the principal resemblances.
That the Israelites during the latter part of their sojourn in Egypt followed the rites and re ligion of the country, and were (at least many of them) gross idolate-s, is distinctly affirmed in Scripture (Josh. xxiv:14; Ezek. xxiii:3, 8, 19), and is shown by their ready lapse into the wor ship of the 'golden calf,' and by the striking fact that they actually carried about with them one of these Egyptian shrines or tabernacles in the wilderness (Amos v :26). From their conduct and the whole tone of their sentiments and char acter it appears that this stiff-necked and rebel lious people were incapable (as a nation) of ad hering to that simple form of worship and service which is most pleasing to God.
ARM (Arm). (I lob. usually This word in frequently used in Scripture in a metaphorical sense to denote power. Hence, to 'break the arm' is to diminish or destroy the power (Ps. x:15; Ezek. xxx :21 Jer.
It is also employed to denote the infinite power of God (Ps. lxxxix:13: xlviii:2; Is. John xii:38). In a few places the metaphor is, with great force, extended to the action of the arm, as—'I will redeem you with a stretched-out arm' (Exod. vi:5) : that is, with a power fully exerted The figure is here taken from the attitude o' ancient warriors baring and outstretching the arm for fight. Titus, in Is. Id :to. 'Jehovah Math made bare his holy arm in the sight of all the nations' Bishop Lowth has Shown, from the Sept. and other versions, that in Is. ix :20, 'they shall cat every one the flesh of his own arm,' should be `the flesh of his neighbor ;' similar to Jer. meaning that they should harass and destroy one another.