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| Dr. Marvin Shepard Hall Jr. (left), 84, and Charles Kime, 68, joke with each other in front of a half-scale replica of the Ark of the Covenant that they built together. The Ark is on display at First Presbyterian of Lake City. JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter |
Retired local dentist builds Ark of the Covenant model.
By JEFF M. HARDISON
jhardison@lakecityreporter.com
An 84-year-old retired dentist didn’t exactly receive a commandment to built a half-scale model of the Ark of the Covenant, but he does enjoy woodworking.
The model is currently on display at First Presbyterian of Lake City.
Marvin Shepard Hall Jr.
constructed the model of the religious artifact for two reasons: He wanted to help his church and he needed another project.
Hall also had some help. Charles Kime carved the angels on top of the replica.
The project came to fruition after a conversation at Sunday school, Hall said. He had
mentioned to his teacher that he is not happy unless he is working in his shop. He retired from dentistry in 1985.
Sometimes, that work involves repairing broken antiques. At other times, Hall
creates replicas of classic antiques. He repaired and built furniture and other woodcrafts for 20 years after retirement, he said.
“I ran out of business. That’s all. I ran out of business and so I was just complaining to James Montgomery, my teacher,” Hall said. “So, James said, ‘Why don’t you make a copy of the Ark of the Covenant? There’s a description in the Bible.’”
The Ark of the Covenant held tablets of stone with the word of God recorded on them, like the 10 Commandments, Hall said.
“Stone tablets must have been heavy as the dickens,” he said. “It took four men to carry it. They used long Acacia poles that they ran through rings made of solid gold that were put in the feet of the cabinet.”
According to the Bible, the Ark of the Covenant was built at the command of God in accord with Moses’ prophetic vision on Mount Sinai.
Hall’s model has wood covered with gold-colored paint. Using solid gold for the model would have made it too expensive. The cherubim, or angels, are also wood and painted gold, rather than being constructed from gold.
Hall built the model out of a 12-inch wide by 16-foot long piece of wood. He does not know the name of the wood. The name of the wood was in Spanish or Portuguese, he said, and probably came from South America.
“It is very hard wood,” Hall said. “It’s a pretty wood. Nothing spectacular, but there’s nothing wrong with it.”
The cabinet he built to hold the model is built from the same wood. He used clear lacquer on the cabinet, and he stained the wood used on the model.
The description in the Bible uses “cubit” as a unit of measure. Hall said Webster’s Dictionary describes that measurement as being between 15 and 20 inches, depending on the man, because it is the length of a man’s forearm from his elbow to the tip of his outstretched middle finger.
The model is an effort to help the church, he said. It took about two months to build the model of the Ark of the Covenant in his spare time.
“I did it for the church,” he said, “to get some interest in the church. It is something people are interested in. There are movies made about it. I thought it would help the church to have something like that.”
Hall has always worked with wood to make “something like that.”
“It seems like as long as I can remember, we’ve always had a shop,” he said. “Dad was working with wood. So I was, too. We built furniture. There are mahogany trees in South Florida that are as hard as rock. We used them to make furniture.”
The projects he enjoys most are the construction of new furniture pieces that look like classic antiques.
“I’ve made end tables like that, which were copied from someone who was famous,” he said. “I’ve built a secretary that was like one from a castle in Scotland.”
“That’s what I like to do,” he said. “I just finished repairing a broken leg on a wing chair that was in my dentist’s office. I haven’t even finished yet. I’ve got to spray the leg.”
The model is currently on display at First Presbyterian of Lake City.
Marvin Shepard Hall Jr.
constructed the model of the religious artifact for two reasons: He wanted to help his church and he needed another project.
Hall also had some help. Charles Kime carved the angels on top of the replica.
The project came to fruition after a conversation at Sunday school, Hall said. He had
mentioned to his teacher that he is not happy unless he is working in his shop. He retired from dentistry in 1985.
Sometimes, that work involves repairing broken antiques. At other times, Hall
creates replicas of classic antiques. He repaired and built furniture and other woodcrafts for 20 years after retirement, he said.
“I ran out of business. That’s all. I ran out of business and so I was just complaining to James Montgomery, my teacher,” Hall said. “So, James said, ‘Why don’t you make a copy of the Ark of the Covenant? There’s a description in the Bible.’”
The Ark of the Covenant held tablets of stone with the word of God recorded on them, like the 10 Commandments, Hall said.
“Stone tablets must have been heavy as the dickens,” he said. “It took four men to carry it. They used long Acacia poles that they ran through rings made of solid gold that were put in the feet of the cabinet.”
According to the Bible, the Ark of the Covenant was built at the command of God in accord with Moses’ prophetic vision on Mount Sinai.
Hall’s model has wood covered with gold-colored paint. Using solid gold for the model would have made it too expensive. The cherubim, or angels, are also wood and painted gold, rather than being constructed from gold.
Hall built the model out of a 12-inch wide by 16-foot long piece of wood. He does not know the name of the wood. The name of the wood was in Spanish or Portuguese, he said, and probably came from South America.
“It is very hard wood,” Hall said. “It’s a pretty wood. Nothing spectacular, but there’s nothing wrong with it.”
The cabinet he built to hold the model is built from the same wood. He used clear lacquer on the cabinet, and he stained the wood used on the model.
The description in the Bible uses “cubit” as a unit of measure. Hall said Webster’s Dictionary describes that measurement as being between 15 and 20 inches, depending on the man, because it is the length of a man’s forearm from his elbow to the tip of his outstretched middle finger.
The model is an effort to help the church, he said. It took about two months to build the model of the Ark of the Covenant in his spare time.
“I did it for the church,” he said, “to get some interest in the church. It is something people are interested in. There are movies made about it. I thought it would help the church to have something like that.”
Hall has always worked with wood to make “something like that.”
“It seems like as long as I can remember, we’ve always had a shop,” he said. “Dad was working with wood. So I was, too. We built furniture. There are mahogany trees in South Florida that are as hard as rock. We used them to make furniture.”
The projects he enjoys most are the construction of new furniture pieces that look like classic antiques.
“I’ve made end tables like that, which were copied from someone who was famous,” he said. “I’ve built a secretary that was like one from a castle in Scotland.”
“That’s what I like to do,” he said. “I just finished repairing a broken leg on a wing chair that was in my dentist’s office. I haven’t even finished yet. I’ve got to spray the leg.”
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