1 Samuel 5:1-3 (KJV)1 And the Philistines took the ark of God, and brought it from Ebenezer unto Ashdod.
2 When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon, and set it by Dagon.
3 And when they of Ashdod arose early on the morrow, behold, Dagon was fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. And they took Dagon, and set him in his place again.
He is Lord of all:
The ark was the most important piece of furniture in the tabernacle Israel made in the wilderness then moved into the Promised Land. It was a box made of acacia wood overlaid with gold with a pure golden lid. Above it stood the cherubim stretching their wings over the lid – called the Mercy Seat. Upon this Mercy Seay the blood of innocent animals was sprinkled every year for the remission of the nation’s sin, as well as those of the high priest. It was covered with skins when moved from place to place and always abode within the holiest while the tabernacle was standing. Later when a temple was made it remained within the holiest until its disappearance sometime after Israel was in the Promised Land.
The ark represented the presence of God as He said He would meet with them above the cherubim (Ex 25:22). The presence of God was an awesome manifestation and the high priests could not enter the holiest without blood. God told Moses, “No man hath seen God and lived” (Ex 33:20), thus to desecrate or defile the ark of God would mean judgment as well.
The ark captured:
Israel sinned which caused them to be defeated in battle, however, they supposed that simply the presence of the ark in their army would bring them victory. But their sin caused them to be defeated and the Philistines captured the ark and placed it in their temple to Dagon. The first day Dagon fell before the ark; the next he fell and was broken and the third day a plague fell upon the Philistines, so they sent it away. When it came back to Israel some looked into the ark and were slain (1 Sam 6:19). However, it was a blessing to others who honored it (2 Sam 6:11). As there was power in the ark which was representation of the presence of God, so Jesus (God in the flesh) exhibited power in His presence (Jn 18:6).
Also, Dagon was representative of the devil as he had seduced the Philistines into false worship of him as a god and Dagon could not keep the ark any longer than three days, so death could not keep Jesus more than three days.
The presence of Christ:
Christ’s presence brought blessing to man while He walked this earth for He is the Head of all principalities and powers (Col 2:10) and we are complete in Him. As he was a blessing to many, Jesus was also a problem to others (Lu 8:37), likewise we as followers of Christ and being in Him are either a blessing or a curse to others (2 Cor 2:15-16).