A Lexicon of Freemasonry - The Masonic Trowel

44 ARI-ARK
Each of these orders, as well as the other terms of Archilccture,
so far as they are connected with Freemasonry, will be foun i
under their appropriate heads throughout this work .
ARITHMETIC . That science which is engaged in considering
the properties and powers of numbers, and which, from its
manifest necessity in all the operations of weighing, numbering,
and measuring, must have had its origin in the remotest ages of
the world .
In the lecture of the degree of "Grand Master Architect,"
the application of this science to Freemasonry is made to consist
in its reminding the Mason that he is continually to add to his
knowledge, never to substract any thing from the character of his
neighbour, to multiply his benevolence to his fellow-creatures,
and to divide his means with a suffering brother .
ARK . The Ark of the Covenant or of the Testimony was a
chest originally constructed by Moses at God's command, (Exod .
xxv . 16,) in which were kept the two tables of stone, on which
were engraved the ten commandments . It contained, likewise,
a golden pot filled with manna, Aaron's rod, and the tables of the
covenant. It was at first deposited in the most sacred place of
the tabernacle, and afterward placed by Solomon in the Sanctum
Sanctorum of the Temple, and was lost upon the destruction of
that building by the Chaldeans . The masonic traditions on the
subject of its future history are exceedingly interesting to Royal
Arch Masons .
The ark was made of shittim wood, overlaid, within and without,
with pure gold . It was about three feet nine inches long,
two feet three inches wide, and of the same extent in depth . It
had on the side two rings of gold, through which were placed
staves of shittim . wood, by which, when necessary, it was borne
by the Levites . Its covering was of pure gold, over which were
placed two figures called Cherubim, with expanded wings . The
covering of the ark was called kaphiret, from kaphar, to forgive