Today I read Exodus 25. Moses is still on the mountain and God begins giving him specific instructions for the tabernacle and its furnishings, including the the Ark of the Covenant, a table (and accompaniments) for the Bread of the Presence, and a lampstand.
“Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it. They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Two cubits and a half shall be its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside shall you overlay it, and you shall make on it a molding of gold around it. You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you about all that I will give you in commandment for the people of Israel.” (v9-11,17a,18-19a,20-22)
God gives Moses very precise and specific designs, leaving little room for imagination. We will see this same thing later on with Solomon’s construction of the temple in Jerusalem. He is a holy and righteous God, so unless He designs, sanctifies and approves of a “dwelling place” built with human hands, He will not be able to dwell there because it will be tainted by the world (sin) – that’s why it has to be God’s design, inspiration, and spirit-led process or it will fall short of His glory. We find out more around this theme later.
The design of the Ark is curious – why is the lid called a “mercy seat” and why is that significant? The “mercy seat”, also called the “seat of atonement” plays an integral role. We find out later that on a holy holiday called “the Day of Atonement” or “Yom Kippur” (in Hebrew) a priest would sprinkle a portion of the sin offering’s blood onto the mercy seat.
Let’s explore the implications. In Hebrew, the word for mercy seat is “kappuret/kapporeth”, a derivative of “kippur”, which means atonement. Later, the Greek translation of the OT (called the Septuagint) replaces “kippur” with the word “hilasterion” which is the same word used in the NT translated into “propitiation”.
The mercy seat of the Ark has one very important function – “There I will meet with you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you…” (v22 abr) The presence of God is above the seat of atonement, on which some of the sin offering blood is sprinkled. What’s the significance? Well, what’s on the other side of the mercy seat, just inside the Ark? “The testimony that I shall give you” (v21) – ie. the commandments/covenant/law.
This is important, because God already knew that we the people could not uphold the covenant flawlessly on our own. So, since He knew we would break the covenant, He put safeguards in place to prevent Himself from destroying us in righteous and just anger – He placed mercy and atonement between Himself and the law, creating the opportunity for forgiveness and grace, rather than vengeance and justice.
Now the significance and symbolism continues (and concludes) through Jesus – “But now the righteousness of God has been manifested apart from the law, although the Law and the Prophets bear witness to it – the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Rom 3:21-26)
Did you catch the big word – propitiation? Both the blood on the seat of atonement, and Jesus’ blood shed for us play similar roles as the propitiation (atonement price) for our sin. Just like blood on the mercy seat, Jesus created the way for mercy and grace between God and the law – the key difference is this time it was permanent (“Yom Kippur” had to be repeated, Jesus only had to die once for all sin, including the sins God ‘in his divine forbearance he had passed over…’ “).
I know this is getting a little long, but let’s throw in one last tidbit – the Ark’s mercy seat had two cherubim [angels] on it, one at each end, facing the place of sacrifice in the middle. Do you recall what happened when Jesus rose from the dead? “But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet.” (Jn 20:11-12) Two angels, one at each end of the place of sacrifice…. coincidence, right? 😉
Jesus, thank you for being the blood sacrifice who took His place on the seat of atonement for us. We confess that we could not uphold our end of the covenant, for we are imperfectly incomplete without you. We sinned and fell short of Your glory, and we could not pay the price for our sin. Praise, glory and honor be to You, Jesus Christ, our blessed redeemer and savior, who paid the ransom price for the sin of the world.
~ Conqueror in Training