By Fr. Kevin Drew, Catholic Exchange - The Ark of the Covenant was a wood box about four-feet long and two-and-a-half feet wide. The word “ark” comes from the Hebrew word “aron” which means chest or coffer... The Ark was no ordinary chest... The Lord gave Moses detailed instructions on how to build the Ark, for it was to house the holiest thing the Jews owned—the Law, the Ten Commandments. The Ark also contained a jar of manna, the miraculous bread that God sent the Israelites so they could survive in the wilderness.