The appointed OT lesson for today are verses from Exodus 32 with the description of the building of the Ark of the Covenant with this important detail, the emphasis is my own:
12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. 13 You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 14 And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark by them. 15 The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it.
Why were the poles to remain and not taken out? They were designed to be taken out! My guess is that in the desert pilgrimage to the Promised Land, the Ark was always ready to be moved, at a moment’s notice. It was quite practical, always at the ready. Surely, when the Ark of the Covenant would be one day brought into the Temple, then they would be taken out. Right?
After Solomon’s Temple was completed, the Ark of the Covenant was placed in the Holy of Holies, We are told in 1 Kings 8: 8,
“And the poles were so long that the ends of the poles were seen from the Holy Place before the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside”.
But now, in the Temple itself, could they not have been taken out as the Ark was in its right place? The poles were of course still there in the rings per the Lord’s command in Exodus 25. To make matters more puzzling: Since the poles did not fit in the Holy of Holies as they stuck out, then was this an accident in planning? Hardly, after all this was the Temple of the LORD. It was on purpose. Why? As if the Ark were ready to be moved again, from the Temple? But the Temple was permanent? Guess not, as it is not there today in Jerusalem on the Temple Mount.
Generally speaking, we see temples and churches as permanent structures, but they are not permanent, that is, forever (see Hebrews 13:14) . Maybe that was the point: The Ark could be removed from the Temple.
And she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. 1 Samuel 4:21
The glory of the Ark could depart. The Temple would be destroyed by the Babylonians because of God’s judgment on His peoples’ idolatry and immorality. Can God’s glory depart a church because of the same idolatry and immorality? Answer: Yes. The Lord always offers the hope of repentance but if repentance and confession of sin is consistently refused, there is the point of no return.
The Temple would be rebuilt and destroyed again. Were the obvious poles an obvious reminder to faithful Israel alone, not those on the outside, that the Lord moved with His people and could so again?
Would you build me a house to dwell in? 6 I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent for my dwelling, 2 Samuel 7
The Lord had been moving about in the tent for a long time. Much later, in the time of prophets, the Lord spoke through Hosea that this time of the exodus was as betrothal of steadfast love for Israel as He moved with them. The Lord did not want a temple because the Lord had bigger plans. The Lord promised David more than a temple, He promised Him a Son, a house that would stand forever as no physical Temple ever could and it was fulfilled:
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
There is another very unique Greek word in this verse for “dwelt among us”. ἐσκήνωσεν, eskanosen, the root word being “skin”, as in animal skins used for tent material, as the Tabernacle in Exodus! Literally, the Word tabernacled in the flesh amongst us, and as the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle and inside, the Ark of the Covenant, but now His glory is in His perfect Son Jesus Christ, who is the Temple not made with human hands (see St. John 2: 13-22; 4: 21-26), now and forever and unto the ages of ages. For our justification, forgiveness, the poles are the feet of Jesus Christ: Christ is risen! He moves with His faithful Church, His Body!
Hymnody
We deserve but grief and shame,
Yet His words, rich grace revealing,
Pardon, peace, and life proclaim;
Here our ills have perfect healing.
Firmly in these words believe:
Jesus sinners doth receive.
—Jesus Sinners Doth Receive(LSB 609:2)
Prayer of the Day
O Lord, absolve Your people from their offenses that from the bonds of our sins, which by reason of our frailty we have brought upon ourselves, we may be delivered by Your bountiful goodness; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.
Concordia and Koinonia 
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