Inquiry:
Who made the ark of the covenant? Was it Moses (Deuteronomy 10:1-3) or Bezaleel (Exodus 37:1)? Is there a contradiction?
Response:
I am curious if the ark spoken of in Deuteronomy 10 is the ark of covenant or not. The word ark is not used exclusive to the ark of covenant. The same word is used to speak of the ark which Noah built, and the vessel in which baby Moses was placed.
It is noteworthy that the ark of Deuteronomy 10 has no dimensions listed, nor any instruction about how it is to be constructed. It is possible that the ark of Deuteronomy 10 is a box in which the tablets of stone were placed, and that smaller box was then put in the ark of covenant. In Deuteronomy 10:5, he says that he came down the mountain and put the tablets into the ark which he had made.
In Exodus, Moses received the second set of tablets in Exodus 34, and the ark was built in Exodus 37. If the tablets were put into the ark right away, then it was not the ark of covenant.
Of course, Deuteronomy is a summary perspective of the events in Exodus. Deuteronomy 10:8 speaks of the Levites bearing the ark of covenant. That being the case, despite the lack of details, the aforementioned ark may be the ark of covenant.
Even if that is so, there is no problem with the texts. The command to build the tabernacle, its furnishings, and the utensils was given to Moses. However, he was not the builder of all. If a contractor says that he built a house, we realize that he did not hammer every nail, install every pipe, paint every wall, etc.. Moses was over the project, but he did not build everything. Bezaleel worked on the ark.
There is no contradiction.
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