In Hebrew, the word “ark” is the word tebah (תבה) (pronounced tay-baw). There are two tebahs in the Torah. Can you guess what both of them are?
If you said Noah’s ark, yes, Noah’s ark is one such tebah. Can you guess what the other one is?
If you said the ark of the covenant, no, actually the ark of the covenant is not called a tebah. The word “ark” in this context is a different Hebrew word, the word aron. So the question remains, where is the Torah’s other tebah?
Yes! The ark that Jochebed constructed for her baby Moses, the one she placed him in before she floated him down the Nile River. Like Noah’s ark, Jochebed’s ark is also called a tebah!
These are the only two stories in which the word tebah is used. Having this in common, God is calling our attention to a connection He is making. So let’s put these stories side by side and see what we can learn. To get started, here is the story of Jochebed’s ark as told in Exodus 2. (Note: we learn later in Exodus 6:20 that her name is Jochebed.)
Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a [tebah] made of papyrus reeds and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank. And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the [tebah] among the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, “This is one of the Hebrews’ children.” Then his sister said to Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?” And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Go.” So the girl went and called the child’s mother. And Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, “Because,” she said, “I drew him out of the water.” (Exodus 2:1-10 ESV)
Assuming you already know the story of Noah’s ark, let’s jump in and compare the two narratives. Keep in mind, we’re looking for not just the similarities but also the opposites. We do this according to the principle of the menorah, God’s pattern for giving light. The corresponding branches of a menorah are both the same and the opposite (as explained in detail here). It’s by bringing the two together that balance is made and a full amount of light is experienced.
Again, the word tebah is used only in these two stories. This is no accident; obviously God is up to something. He orchestrated events in such a way that the stories would align to form this menorah pattern. But what is the central truth? What larger picture is this menorah illuminating?
The central truth is one of salvation, and the larger picture is the story of your life and mine, as we come to grasp that salvation. If you think about it, our Christian life unfolds in two sort of stages. Each tebah represents Christ working in our life during each particular stage. When brought together, the two arks help us see what it means to live in Christ. Permit me to elaborate.
When you first come to God, you come to Him in a desperate state. You’re tired of the sinful world you live in, and you’re willing to do anything it takes to be saved from the destruction and judgement you see coming.
Noah’s ark is the first part of your Christian journey. The tebah is Christ. In Christ, you escape the just judgment of God. Maybe in the interest of self-preservation, you leave behind the corruption of the flesh. You ask: what must I do to be saved? And then you respond to the direction you are given. And when things start happening, it is an internal experience––seen from the inside. You feel elevated in spirit. From a low, you are brought high. You know that everything––your whole life––has been saved. And God extends to you righteousness on account of your faith, as you find grace in the eyes of the Lord. Suffice to say, this describes your initial conversion. Hopefully you see how it parallels that which we noted about the story of Noah’s ark. It is a picture of when you finally get onboard and experience the Lord’s all-encompassing salvation.
But there’s another facet of your Christian journey that comes afterward. This part is pictured by the story of Jochebed’s ark. Again, the tebah is Christ, He who carries me from here to there. But this time around, you don’t place your whole life in the ark. Instead, you give the ark a certain piece of your life that is very near and dear to your heart. With complete surrender to God, you let it go. You yield it to God. You see, this ark is less about righteousness and more about holiness. An example will help to clarify what I mean.
Take an example from my life, a conviction of mine. I’ve been a Christian for a number of years now. I am a “saved” person. God has seen me through the “Noah’s ark” experience, so to speak. But Jochebed’s ark is a reoccurring event in my life. I am thinking of a certain aspect that doesn’t live up to the holiness that God has called me to. In this area, I cling to selfishness. It is His request for a few minutes of prayer time first thing in the morning. He wants me to surrender to Him the first fruits of my day. He wants me to put that time into the tebah, then wait and watch what He can do with it. He asks for only a few minutes of my morning; this is a small thing, I know. But it’s funny. If you saw the stubbornness with which I respond, you would think I was giving up a baby!
“But God!” I protest. “Those moments of the day are the only moments I get to myself! You know I have a full time job and a wife and a two year old! You know that that time in the early morning is very near and dear to me! That is MY time! And with MY time, I want to check the headlines and peruse Facebook. So what!” And then, from somewhere in my spirit, He politely whispers, “I wish you would trust Me. You should see what I can do with that small amount of time. A change so great it will be seen by others from the outside.” Yet so often, I ignore the kind whisper and turn the other way. Having checked the headlines and perused Facebook, I drive to work at the start of another day. Along the way, I can’t help but picture an empty tebah floating down the Nile to a place of royalty. I imagine the Royal eagerly peering inside, but again finding nothing precious there. It’s just another empty tebah, and another lost opportunity at holiness and blessing. No doubt, I need to take a lesson from Jochebed.
Jochebed placed in the tebah one small thing: her baby Moses. Of course doing this was by no means easy! It was likely the hardest thing she ever had to do! Nevertheless, she trusted God; she let go of something that was very valuable to her. She realized that by clinging to him, she would lose him––lose him to the enemy, pharaoh. So she gave him up . . . and guess what happened? She got him back! And not only did she get him back, she started getting paid for him! There was added, unforeseen blessing involved. However! It is important to note that the baby wasn’t hers anymore. Because again, she had given him away. But you know what? I don’t think it mattered to her, because she saw that God was accomplishing something great with what she had given away. And she was getting everything she ever wanted in the meantime.
There are times when we, too, must surrender what is ours. We do this as we pursue the holiness that God has called us to. Holiness is about being a people set apart from the world. To be set apart, we must separate ourselves from certain things we may cling to, things which may be very near and dear to our heart. But if God asks for it, He asks for it, and we need to be ready to put it in the tebah and let it go. Although it may not be easy, at least we have Jochebed’s story from which to draw inspiration. In light of her story, holiness is not about living a life of withouts. The holy life God wants for us is a rich and full life, a life with great unforeseen blessing, a life in which we get everything we ever wanted, in a way we didn’t expect. This is what Jochebed experienced; it can be our experience as well. It comes only by way of surrender, though.
Thankfully God is gracious. He doesn’t ask us to give up everything all at once. Instead, He asks for one small thing at a time. He says to us, “I saved you with a big ark, so trust Me with this little ark. Put it in the tebah and see what happens. You will be grateful that you did.”
