The liturgical readings and hymns for the feast of the Dormition of Theotokos make it clear that the Church sees the Ark of the Covenant as the type of Mary the Theotokos who is herself the type or icon of the Church. As we shall see, this typology is solidly scriptural and it was clearly understood by the holy fathers:
Athanasius of Alexandria: “O noble Virgin, truly you are greater than any other greatness. For who is your equal in greatness, O dwelling place of God the Word? To whom among all creatures shall I compare you, O Virgin? You are greater than them all O [Ark of the] Covenant, clothed with purity instead of gold! You are the ark in which is found the golden vessel containing the true manna, that is, the flesh in which divinity resides.” (Homily of the Papyrus of Turin)
Gregory the Wonder Worker: “Let us chant the melody that has been taught us by the inspired harp of David and say, 'Arise, O Lord, into your rest; you and the ark of your sanctuary.' For the Holy Virgin is in truth an ark, wrought with gold both within and without, that has received the whole treasury of the sanctuary.” (Homily on the Annunciation to the Holy Virgin Mary)
The Septuagint is especially significant if one considers the parallel between Exodus and Luke: At the Annunciation, Gabriel declared: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee” (Lk 1.35). Here, the word translated “overshadow” [ἐπισκιάσει] is used nowhere else in the New Testament. It occurs only once more in the Greek Scriptures (LXX and NT), specifically in Exodus 40:34-35 (EOB): The cloud covered the tabernacle of witness and the tabernacle was filled with the glory of the Lord. Moses was not able to enter into the tabernacle of testimony, because the cloud overshadowed it and the tabernacle was filled with the glory of the Lord.
In the LXX, the word often translated as “settled down upon” (“the cloud had settled on it”) is the same as Luke's word “overshadow.” Clearly, Luke is making a correspondence between the power and glory of God overshadowing Mary just as it overshadowed the Ark of the Covenant in the tent. The rest of Luke’s account makes this typology very obvious:
| The Ark of the Old Covenant | Mary: The Ark of the New Covenant |
| The Ark traveled to the house of Obed-Edom inthe hill country of Judea (2Sm 6.1-11) | Mary traveled to the house of Elizabeth and Zechariah in the hill country of Judea (Lk 1.39) |
| Dressed as a priest, David danced and leapt in front of the Ark (2Sm 6.14) | John the Baptist—of priestly lineage—leapt in his mother's womb at the approach of Mary (Lk 1.41) |
| David asks, “How can the Ark of the Lord come to me?” (2Sm 6.9) | Elizabeth asks, “Why is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” (Lk 1.43) |
| David shouts in the presence of the Ark (2Sm 6.15) | Elizabeth “exclaimed with a loud cry” in the presence of the Mary (Lk 1.42) |
| The Ark remained in the house of Obed-Edom for three months (2Sm 6.11) | Mary remained in the house of Elizabeth for three months (Lk 1.56) |
| The house of Obed-Edom was blessed by the presence of the Ark (2Sm 6.11) | The word blessed is used three times (Lk 1.39-45) |
| The Ark returns home and later on goes Jerusalem to be placed in the temple (2Sm 6.12; 1Kg 8.9-11) | Mary returns home and later on goes Jerusalem, where she presents the incarnate Word of God in the temple (Lk 1.56, 2.21-22). |
Other similarities between the Ark and the Theotokos are presented below:
| Inside the Ark of the Old Covenant | Inside Mary, Ark of the New Covenant |
| The stone tablets of the law = the word of God engraved in stone | The body of Jesus Christ = the Word of God made Flesh |
| The jar filled with manna from the wilderness which was a miraculous bread from heaven | Jesus, the bread of life from heaven (Jn 6.41) |
| The rod of Aaron that budded to establish his status as true high priest | The actual and eternal Great High Priest of the God Most High |
| Vision of the Ark | Vision of the Woman |
| "And the temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in his temple the ark of his testament: and there were lightnings, and voices, and thunderings, and an earthquake, and great hail." (Rev 11.19) | "And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars." (Rev 12:1) |
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