the Angel Gabriel had announced the glad tidings. Being a perpetual virgin,
no one could, or did, touch her.
At the end of chapter 11 of Revelation we read the following verse:
“Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was
seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, rumblings,
peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail” (v. 19).
Immediately following this verse appears the “woman” crowned with
twelve stars in chapter 12. This juxtaposition of the “ark of his covenant”
and the “woman” becomes more significant when we remember that St.
John did not record Revelation with chapter and verse divisions. Why
Christ revealed the two together is only understandable when we see the
former as the shadow-type of the latter and greater reality. Modern Catholic
apologists also draw strong support for the Virgin Mary as the Ark of the
New Covenant by comparing 2 Samuel 6 with St. Luke 1:
“In St. Luke’s account of the Visitation (Lk. 1:39-56), it is clear that
Mary is the new ark of the covenant. Mary, like David, heads to the
hill country of Judah. As Mary, bearing Christ in her womb,
approaches the home of Elizabeth, St. John ‘leaps’ in Elizabeth’s
womb as she exclaims with a ‘loud cry,’ reminding us of David’s
leaping before the ark of the covenant and the shouts of the people of
Israel. Elizabeth greets Mary with words similar to those of David,
‘[W]hy is this granted me, that the mother of my Lord [who is the
new ark of the covenant] should come to me? (v. 43).”
8
The following is an outline of 2 Samuel 6 and St. Luke 1, matching the
corresponding verses:
2 Samuel 6
St. Luke 1
“David rose and returned to “Mary rose and journeyed
Judah” (v. 2). to the hill country of Judah”
(v. 39).
8
Quote from Timothy Gray, Catholic for a Reason, Ch. IX (Scripture’s Revelation
of Mary), Emmaus Road Publications, 1997, p. 201.
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