Exodus 25 – June 20

The latter chapters of Exodus contain an abundance of instructions that the Lord gave to Moses concerning the specifications of the tabernacle and all of its furniture and design. Why was the LORD so particular about such small details like the color of the woven fibers or the exact length of the table? If one does not understand God’s purpose behind these designs, one could easily conclude that God was functioning as a fastidious interior designer. That is certainly not the case. The LORD gave instructions down to the most minute detail precisely because every last aspect of the tabernacle and its accouterments were designed to point to Jesus Christ and the ministry that He would have toward His people. Today we are going to look at just one such item, the most powerfully significant of all of the tabernacle furnishings: the ark.

Indiana Jones depicted a common misconception regarding the ark of the covenant in the highly celebrated and theologically ridiculous film ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark.’ The misunderstanding that many people hold, and that was displayed in the film, is that the presence of God was somehow stored or contained in the box. To coopt the famous saying and repurpose it, “God cannot be put into a box.” Consider carefully the instructions regarding the construction of two metal angels that were to be placed on the lid of the ark. The LORD referred to this location as the “mercy seat.” God was never contained within the ark. “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.” (vs. 21-22)

Let’s dig a little deeper on the language for a moment. When you think about the tabernacle and the temple, and all of the restrictions that accompanied the ritualistic worship that the LORD commanded to take place within, what comes to your mind? How is it different than the corporate worship that we enjoy with the saints at church gatherings? One of the most notable contrasts is the ever-present nature of separation. There were barriers upon barriers that would only permit the most exclusive audiences to enter into the presence of the Lord. For most of its existence, the ark of the covenant was placed at the very center of the holy of holies, behind a thick veil. After Moses and Joshua, the mercy seat would only be observed once a year by the high priest, and even when he entered the LORD’s presence was likely not observable in any material way on the seat of mercy. Consider how amazing it is that God’s mercy towards us is accessible without any barrier.

Also, consider the imagery of the two angels. Angels rarely work in pairs in the Bible – only two occasions in fact. First, we have the two angels that led Lot out of Sodom and Gomorrah before it was destroyed. That was long before the Lord instructed Moses to design this seat, but we do see the mercy of God as the angels led Lot away from destruction. However, I think that the next and only other occasion of two angels appearing together is likely the connection that we are supposed to make to the mercy seat. John 20:11-14 tells us that, “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. They said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.’ Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus.” Where were the people able to meet with the LORD? At the mercy seat between the two angels. Mary seems to have had an encounter with the resurrected Jesus in just such circumstances.

But, there is something even greater to glean from the mercy seat. The Hebrew word for mercy seat is כַפֹּ֖רֶת (kippuret). If you know your Jewish holidays, that may sound a little bit familiar. It shares the same root with Yom Kippur (the day of atonement). The name of the mercy seat basically means ‘merciful covering.’ The Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Old Testament) translated the word for mercy seat in to the Greek word ἱλαστήριον (hillastarion), which translates into English as propitiation. The mercy seat is the seat of propitiation. It is not the place where God swept our sins under the rug or the place where He simply chose to forget about them. It is the place where God dealt with them with the blood of another. Just like the lamb was slaughtered and the blood was sprinkled on the mercy seat, so the blood of THE LAMB was shed so that our mercy could be achieved. “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. 

Jesus was the Lamb who offered His blood. Jesus was the one put forward to propitiate our sins. Jesus is the one place we can go to find mercy.