The ark of the covenant would be quite heavy. It would be a wooden box, 4½ feet long by 1½ feet by 1½ feet: a hefty chest, all by itself (Exodus 37:1). But then the wooden chest would be plated with gold inside and out, strengthened with a gold molding (37:2), and then covered with a lid of pure solid gold (37:6): that would add a lot of weight.

Plus there were two gold statues of angels with wings, one at each end, with their wings spread upward to meet across the middle of the cover (37:7-9). These could not be overly large, or the weight would surely have been too much for transport; yet to be to scale with the rest of the ark, these could not be just small statuettes, either. Even at midsize, they would add considerably to the weight that needed to be carried. The carrying shafts would have to be quite stout, to support all this weight; and then those shafts were themselves plated with gold (37:4), adding even more heft to the whole assembly.

Once fully put together, the ark would be carried by four Levites, but even with four it would not be an easy burden. Could four strong men carry that weight on their shoulders for as much as an hour of each day’s march before they had to trade off with others to continue the journey?

The text does not give us details as to how the roster was organized, to carry the ark from one day’s camp to the next: but surely it would have taken many men on transport duty. When we tell the story of the Exodus, everyone knows about Moses, Aaron, and Miriam; and perhaps we will also take notice of skilled craftworkers like Bezalel and Oholiab, who get the credit as the chief builders in charge of all the furnishings of the tabernacle (36:1). But there were a lot of ordinary men whose names were not recorded, and they were the ones who did the heavy lifting involved from day to day as the people moved toward the promised land.

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… when you give to the needy, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may be praised by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you (Matthew 6:2-4).

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So much of your purpose gets accomplished by everyday people, Lord: hard workers, putting in the steady labor and scarcely getting recognized for it. Help us to do the job you have assigned to us, content that you see our steadfastness, even if nobody else notices.

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