Consider the woman crowned with twelve stars. There is a difficulty with assuming that the woman directly represents the Church: the crown of stars (the twelve tribes or Apostles) is outside of the woman (who represents the Church) and separate from the woman. Catholics consider Mary the saint par excellence ("humanity's solitary boast") so taken together, the image of the woman (Mary, Mother of God) and the crown of twelve stars (the twelve Apostles) better represents the Church than the woman considered separately. As the Catholic Encyclopedia says, "Mary is both a figure of the Church, and its most prominent member."
At least part of the verses refer to the mother whose son is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron; according to Psalm 2:9, this is the Son of God, Jesus Christ, Whose mother is Mary.
* It was Mary's son that "was taken up to God, and to his throne" at the time of His Ascension into heaven.
* The dragon, or the devil of the earthly paradise (cf. Apocalypse 12:9; 20:2), endeavoured to devour Mary's Son from the first moments of His birth, by stirring up the jealousy of Herod and, later on, the enmities of the Jews.
* Owing to her unspeakable privileges, Mary may well be described as "clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars".
* It is true that commentators generally understand the whole passage as applying literally to the Church, and that part of the verses is better suited to the Church than to Mary. But it must be kept in mind that Mary is both a figure of the Church, and its most prominent member. What is said of the Church, is in its own way true of Mary. Hence the passage of the Apocalypse (12:5-6) does not refer to Mary merely by way of accommodation [108], but applies to her in a truly literal sense which appears to be partly limited to her, and partly extended to the whole Church. Mary's relation to the Church is well summed up in the expression "collum corporis mystici" applied to Our Lady by St. Bernardin of Siena. [109]
So then is the ark Israel...the Church and Mary?
In a sense Israel was the Ark of the Ark of the Covenant since the Ark was entrusted to Israel's care. Can the Church be the Ark of the New Covenant? In the sense that Mary (the Ark of the New Covenant) was entrusted to the care of the Church (Jesus entrusts Mary to John at Calvary), the Church can be considered the Ark of the Ark of the New Covenant.
But the type principally applies to Mary.
Confusingly, Noah's Ark was the type for the Church which is the New Ark.
Becky
That my friend is gobbly gook...first you say Ahhh Mary is the ark...then yea well so is Israel...and ahh so is the Chuch...can Jessie be the ark too? I am sure we can make him "fit"
The main attraction in the second room was the Ark of the Covenant, because this is where God sent His presence to talk to Moses. What was the ark? The word ark means chest. It was a box of wood that was covered with pure gold.
Inside the box, Moses was commanded to place the Tables of Law, the actual stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were engraved. As time went by, other items were placed in the ark, including the pot of manna and Aaron's rod that budded.
Again, God was revealing more and more about His nature and how much He loves us with each item used in the worship services. The law meant that we had to be obedient to God. Jesus came to fulfill the Law, not to destroy it. The manna reminded the people that we are to depend on God daily for our life. It was a constant reminder that God provides for us. The rod that budded showed that God chooses who He desires to serve Him. Aaron was chosen to be a priest before God. God loves each of us and shows favor to some to become priests. The rod was a symbol of authority and all authority rests with God. Finally, the mercy seat sat on top of the ark. The cherubim or angels on each end faced each other and covered the ark with their wings. How appropriate that it was called the mercy seat, because this was where God met with his people and forgave them of their sins.
Jesus was the ark:>)