He overlaid it with pure gold, both inside and out, and made a gold molding around it. – Exodus 37:2

Today's Scripture Reading (December 7, 2024): Exodus 37

I have a friend who, a few years ago, had the perfect office set up. Actually, he had two offices. The outer office was where he would meet with people. It was neat and ordered; every bit of dust had been removed. This office was perfect in every way. It had a desk, but it was only for show; my friend never worked there. In front of the desk were a couple of comfortable chairs and a couch. But this was a place of meeting. 

A door leading into a second office was at the back of the office. Maybe the outer office could be called the Pastor's office, but the Pastor's study was on the other side of the door. This was where sermons were written and administrative duties were fulfilled. And this office was the opposite of the first. The desk was cluttered with books and a computer. A coffee cup sat in one corner of the desk, and a pile of papers that needed to be waded through sat on another corner. There were no comfortable chairs for visitors, although an old wooden chair sat on the other side of the desk just in case someone wandered in and wanted to sit down. But this was obviously a "working office" that no one saw. 

Another door led out of this study, and it led to the Pastor's library, where all of the Pastor's books were arranged in a way that they were reasonably easy to find. A few piles of books were scattered on a wooden table that needed to be returned to their place in a spare moment in the future, but for now, they waited until that time had come.

The first time I wandered through my friend's office, it was the library that I coveted (and yes, I know that is a sin). I have never had an office that could comfortably display all of my books. I admit to being a bit of a book addict. But as time passed, I also began to covet his working office. My office is a bit of everything. I have some of my books in bookcases and a reasonably large desk. I try to keep the front part of my desk clean, but the side portion tends to be a bit of a mess. A recent visitor pointed to the sideboard of my desk when she was trying to describe the state of her son's room. I got the point. 

The plan for the Ark of the Covenant was that it was to be plated with gold, both inside and out. The gold was a sign of the purity and holiness of God. Gold was rare, which increased the significance of the metal used on the cover of the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark would have been a beautiful piece of work, making excellent use of the experts who had been chosen to build it. It was something that deserved to be displayed. Instead, it would be hidden away in what amounted to the inner office of the Tabernacle, a place where no one was allowed to go except for the high priest, and he would only go there once a year. This inner office would be called the Holy of Holies, and it held what was most important to the fledgling nation of Israel.

Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: Exodus 38