ark

ark in the Bible. 1 Boat of Noah , which he built at God's command to preserve his family and certain creatures from the Deluge . 2 Ark of the Covenant, the sacred wooden chest of the Hebrews, representative of God or identified with Him. It was overlaid with gold inside and out and was always heavily veiled; the high priest alone could look upon its uncovered surface. Especially guarded, it was carried about by staves thrust through rings on its side, for to touch it was a profanation punished by death. Uzza, while escorting the Ark, inadvertently broke this law and so lost his life. As its presence implied victory, it accompanied the warriors into battle, where once it was captured by the Philistines. Restored after many years, the Ark found a resting place in Solomon's Temple.

ark.
1. Receptacle for storing the scrolls in a synagogue. See echal.

2. Type of cupboard for hanging priests' vestments in a church.

ark a chest or coffer, especially (more fully the Ark of the Covenant) the wooden chest which contained the tablets of the laws of the ancient Israelites. Carried by the Israelites on their wanderings in the wilderness, it was cherished by them in the Promised Land; its temporary loss to the Philistines (1 Samuel 4) caused Eli's daughter-in-law to name her son Ichabod. The Ark was later placed by Solomon in the Temple at Jerusalem, but was lost when Nebuchadnezzar's forces destroyed the Temple in 586 bc. The phrases lay hands on the ark, touch the ark, mean treat irreverently what is held to be sacred.

In the Bible, the ark is the floating covered vessel built by Noah to save his family and two of every kind of animal from the Flood (see also Noah's ark). The informal phrase have come out of the ark means be very antiquated.