The day that the light bulb goes on is unforgettable. Once you begin to see and understand the true meaning and purpose of Freemasonry, everything begins to make sense. The mystery surrounding an organization that, at times, claims to have secrets, but never reveals those secrets to any of the members is frustrating at best. For centuries, the Masons have been accused of everything under the sun, but the real purpose has remained elusive, until now. At its most basic level, the heart and soul of Freemasonry is about one thing, protecting the Ark of God, or The Ark of the Covenant.

The Ark of The covenant is first described in Exodus 25; 10-22, when God tells Moses how to build it.

10 And they shall make an Arke of Shittim wood: two cubites and a halfe shalbe the length thereof, and a cubite and an halfe the breadth thereof, and a cubite & a halfe the height thereof.

11 And thou shalt ouerlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou ouerlay it: and shalt make vpon it a crowne of gold round about.

12 And thou shalt cast foure rings of gold for it, and put them in the foure corners thereof, and two rings shal be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.

13 And thou shalt make staues of Shittim wood, and ouerlay them with gold.

14 And thou shalt put the staues into the rings, by the sides of the Arke, that the Arke may be borne with them.

15 The staues shall be in the rings of the Arke: they shal not be taken from it.

16 And thou shalt put into the Arke the Testimonie which I shall giue thee.

17 And thou shalt make a Mercieseat of pure gold: two cubites and a halfe shalbe the length thereof, and a cubite and a halfe the breadth thereof.

18 And thou shalt make two Cherubims of gold: of beaten worke shalt thou make them, in the two endes of the Mercie-seat.

19 And make one Cherub on the one end, and the other Cherub on the other end: euen of the Mercie-seat shall yee make the Cherubims, on the two ends thereof.

20 And the Cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, couering the Mercie-seat with their wings, and their faces shall looke one to another: toward the Mercie-seat shall the faces of the Cherubims be.

21 And thou shalt put the Mercie-seat aboue vpon the Arke, and in the Arke thou shalt put the Testimonie that I shall giue thee.

22 And there I wil meet with thee, and I will commune with thee, from aboue the Mercie-seat, from betweene the two Cherubims which are vpon the Arke of the Testimonie, of all things which I will giue thee in commaundement vnto the children of Israel.

Following the instructions given to Moses, one of Freemasonry’s most basic symbols can be recreated.

The 3-4-5 Triangle

The first step is to lay out the dimensions of the Ark. Looking from the top down, in Figure 1, the Length of the Ark is 2.5 cubits and the Width is 1.5 cubits, per Exodus 25:10. To aid in creating the 3-4-5 triangle, the dimensions of the Ark are subdivided into quarter-cubits, resulting in 10 divisions over the length and 6 over the width.

igure 1 – Dimensions of The Ark of The Covenant Viewed

Exodus 25:11 instructs the creation of a crown of gold “round about”. The phrase “round about” implies that a circle should be drawn on the Ark. The center of the circle is easy to find as the center of the Ark. However, the radius of the circle is a little more tricky. Both “round” and “about” contain 5 letters. Since the diameter of a circle is twice the radius, these two words imply that the radius of the circle or crown should be 5 units, as shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2 – The Crown of Gold

Note that the circle intersects the sides of the Ark at 4 units horizontally from the center point. This forms the 3-4-5 Triangle, as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3 – The 3-4-5 Triangle

A total of eight 3-4-5 Triangles can be drawn inside the Ark, the blue lines in Figure 4, leaving six unused quarter-cubit squares on each end of the Ark.

Figure 4 – The Eight 3-4-5 Triangles in The Ark

The Point inside a Circle

The next verse in the construction of the Ark is Exodus 25:12. The verse instructs the creation of four rings, two on each side of the Ark. The rings are the points where the crown intersects the sides of the Ark shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5 – The Four Rings, Two Per Side

in Exodus 25:13, God instructs Moses to create two wooden staves that are then to be inserted through the rings on each side of the Ark. Figure 6 shows the staves passing through the rings. The staves must be longer than the Ark because they will be used to carry it, as the verse states.

Figure 7 – The Staves in The Rings

Verse 16 contains a clue about the importance of the number 666, as it relates to The Ark of the Covenant.

• “And thou shalt put into the Arke the Testimonie which I shall giue thee.” = 680
• There are a total of 14 words in verse 16
• 680 – 14 = 666

The Testimonie refers to both the tablets that God gave to Moses with the 10 Commandments and to the number 666. A Testimonie is a statement of fact and the point here is that 666 is an important number related to the Ark.

Verses 17 and 21 relate to something called the Mercy Seat. Verse 17 instructs that the Mercy Seat is to be 1.5 cubits wide and 2.5 cubits long, the same dimensions as the Ark itself. Verse 21 instructs that the Mercy Seat is to be placed on top of the Ark.

Verses 18 through 20 refer to something called Cherubims. There are many interpretations concerning the description of a Cherubim, but they are generally considered to be Angels or Angel-like beings that have wings.

Verses 18 and 19 instruct the creation of two Cherubim, one at each end of the Ark. It also says that the Cherubims extend to the edges (even) of the mercy Seat. Using the crown circle created earlier and the and the edges of the Mercy Seat, two wing like objects can be formed on each end of the Ark, as shown in Figure 7.

Figure 6 – The Cherubims at The Ends of The Mercy Seat

Verse 20 instructs that the wings of the Cherubim shall be extended to completely cover the Mercy Seat with faces of the Cherubim looking toward each other. Extend the wings until the tips touch at the center of the Ark. by maintaining the circular shape of the wings, a smaller circle in inscribed between the sides of the Ark, as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 9 – The Cherubims with Extended Wings Covering The Mercy Seat

Dropping everything but the staves, the circle, and the center point, the well known Masonic symbol of a circle with a point and two parallel lines is formed, as shown in Figure 10. Sometimes the symbol is shown with the Bible or VSL above the circle.

Figure 10 – The Masonic Symbol Derived from The Ark of the Covenant

This symbol is easily derived from the instructions for building the Ark of The Covenant and it can be found all over Masonic literature and ritual regalia. It is the symbol used to convey a certain knowledge about Freemasonry that is not spoken of or taught to any normal Mason. The true meaning of this symbol is probably never taught until an individual has proven absolute devotion to the order. It then allows the individuals who know the secret to communicate with each other in the open without anyone knowing what they are talking about. The symbol has two meanings. One that is taught to all Masons, and one that is taught only to a select few.