In Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, the Ark of the Covenant is revealed to be a frightening artefact hunted by Nazis for the power it can offer to those who hold it. The Ark is said to be lethal to any who touch it who are not believers, and so it is that the evil doers are annihilated when the Ark is opened in greed. 

While Hollywood’s interpretation of this sacred item is predictably sensationalized, the story of the Ark as it is discussed in the Old Testament, is no less dramatic.

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In numerous books of the Old Testament, we read of the building and transportation of the Ark, which is a repository for the broken stone tablets upon which were written the Ten Commandments, smashed in fury by Moses. In the Book of Exodus, we’re told that the Ark also contains Aaron’s rod — wielded by Moses’ brother to effect supernatural acts, such as the parting of the Red Sea — and a jar of manna. The Ark was carried by the Israelites on their journey in the wilderness, brought into battles against the Philistines and during the conquest of Jericho. It was kept in Solomon’s Temple in the Holy of Holies, a symbol of God’s presence and omnipotence.

When the Ark is brought to the City of David we are told that Michal, daughter of Saul, watched as David leapt in excitement before it: “As the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal … looked out the window and saw King David leaping and dancing, and she despised him in her heart” (2 Samuel 6:14). Her contempt for David’s unseemly behaviour is punished such that she remains barren for the rest of her days.

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These details, as recorded in Samuel and Chronicles, present an interesting parallel to the story of the Annunciation in the New Testament. When Mary, often described as the New Ark of the Covenant, travels to tell her sister Elizabeth about her encounter with the Angel Gabriel, Elizabeth’s unborn child leaps in her womb. The child, of course, is John the Baptist, and he becomes the first, in that moment, to celebrate the divinity of Christ. Elizabeth, for her part, proclaims, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb” (Luke 1: 42), a phrase that has become part of one the most powerful Christian prayers: the Hail Mary.

Mary’s response is similarly remarkable, known as the Magnificat: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour, for He has looked with favour on the lowly state of His servant” (Luke 1: 46-48). 

Mary’s Song has been called a prayer of justice, one could say of social justice, in which God’s blessings on the meek and vulnerable are asserted, and His grace acclaimed. While every event captured in the Mysteries of the Rosary is remarkable, the power of the Visitation is easy to under-estimate. It seems a simple scene, of a sister sharing a moment of wonder with her sibling, and yet the visitation is a theological event of extraordinary significance and beauty.

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What has always struck me about this narrative in Luke’s Gospel is how it parallels the story of the Ark in the Old Testament. Both David and John the Baptist “leap” for joy at the presence of God’s manifestation. David asking, “How can the Lord’s ark come to me?” mirrors Elizabeth’s similar question: “Why is this granted to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Where the Old Ark contains the word of God and the bread (manna) sent from Heaven, the New Ark carries the living God who is proclaimed as the Bread of Life. Even the Magnificat has a parallel in Hannah’s song, in 1 Samuel, which celebrates the humble as instruments of God’s redemptive mission. “He raises up the poor from the dust; he lifts the needy from the ash heap to make them sit with princes and inherit a seat of honour’” (1 Samuel 2: 7-8). 

The story of the Arks is but one of many that shows the interconnectedness of the Old and New Testaments. These accounts in particular manifest the wonders of the Bible writ large where nothing is insignificant or incidental. Indeed, everything is complex in the most important ways — a remarkable story arc if ever there was one.