Charles Ellicott Commentary Exodus 25:12

"And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four feet thereof; and two rings shall be on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it." — Exodus 25:12 (ASV)

Four rings of gold. — Although the ark was not to be carried in procession, like Egyptian arks, it would still have to be carried when the Israelites resumed their journeys. The four rings were made to receive the two “staves” or poles by which the ark was to be carried at such times on the shoulders of the priests (Exodus 25:13–14).

In its four corners. — Literally, at its four feet. The rings were to be attached, not at the four upper corners of the chest, but at the four bottom corners, so that the ark, when carried on men’s shoulders, might be elevated above them, and so be in no danger of coming into contact with the bearers. The arrangement might seem to endanger the equilibrium of the ark when carried; but as Kalisch observes, “the smallness of the dimensions of the ark rendered its safe transportation, even with the rings at its feet, not impossible.”