And thou shall put therein the ark of the testimony,.... The ark or chest where the law was, a testimony of the divine will, and which was to be put into the most holy place of the tabernacle: and cover the ark with the vail; not with the propitiatory or mercy seat, as the Targum of Jonathan; for though that was a covering or lid to the ark, yet not a vail; this was the vail that divided between the holy place and the most holy, and so covered or hid the ark from the sight even of the priests that went into the holy place.