And thou shall make staves of shittim wood,.... Of the same, wood the ark was made of, see Exo 25:5 and overlay them with gold; cover them with plates of gold, so that they appeared to be all of gold, the wood being not to be seen. and overlay them with gold; cover them with plates of gold, so that they appeared to be all of gold, the wood being not to be seen. Exodus 25:14 exo 25:14 exo 25:14 exo 25:14And thou shall put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark,.... This shows for what use the rings were; namely, to put the staves into them and the use of the staves thus put was: that the ark might be borne with them; which staves overlaid with gold, and put into golden rings, figured the ministers of Christ, enriched with the gifts and graces of his Spirit, and possessed of the truths of the Gospel, more precious than gold and silver; who bear the name of Christ, and carry his Gospel into the several parts of the world.