When traveling, the Kohanim covered the vessels with a blue cloth, and then with a tachash-skin. The Aron however, was first covered by the peroches, only then the blue cloth and Tachash. Why?
Perhaps the peroches was like a nuclear radiation barrier, that allowed the Aron to reside amongst the Jewish people and not harm them by the energy it excluded. In fact, the Torah talks about the Peroches in sefer Shmos in precisely these terms. Even when travelling, the Aron needed to be protected by this barrier.
Another suggestion was that the Aron was so holy that it ought to be never seen. So instead of covering it directly, they just threw the peroches over it. This way it was covered without being handled at all.
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