There was nothing in the ark except the two stone tablets Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a promise to the Israelites after they left Egypt.
In the tent of meeting outside the canopy where the words of my promise are, Aaron and his descendants must keep the lamps lit in the Lord’s presence from evening until morning. This is a permanent law among the Israelites for generations to come.”
Grind some of it into a fine powder, and put it in front of ⌞the ark containing⌟ the words of my promise in the tent of meeting, where I will meet with you. You must treat it as most holy.
Put the altar in front of the canopy which ⌞hangs⌟ over the ark containing the words of my promise. I will meet with you there in front of the throne of mercy that is on the ark.
This is the amount of material that was used for the tent (the tent of the words of God’s promise). An inventory was ordered by Moses and carried out by the Levites under the direction of Ithamar, son of the priest Aaron.
Put the Levites in charge of the tent of God’s words, including the equipment for the tent and everything else having to do with the tent. The Levites will carry the tent and all its equipment. They will take care of the tent and camp around it.
The Levites will camp all around the tent of God’s words. In this way ⌞the Lord⌟ won’t be angry with the community of Israel. So the Levites will be in charge of the tent of God’s words.”
The Lord said to Moses, “Put Aaron’s staff back in front of the words of my promise, and keep it there as a sign to warn any other rebels. Then you will stop their complaints about me, and they won’t die.”