Propitiation and the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant
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The subject of Exodus chapter 25 is the tabernacle, which symbolized God’s dwelling among His people (25:8; 29:45) and it was the place where the Lord met the leaders of the Israelites (29:42) as well as its citizens (29:43).
The glory of the Lord was on display in the tabernacle and was the center of worship in Israel.
The tabernacle prefigured the Lord Jesus Christ, who John 1:14 says “tabernacled” among His people.
The tabernacle was the place where the Yahweh, the pre-incarnate Christ met with Moses and the children of Israel.
The tabernacle itself and its furniture portray the different aspects of Christology and Soteriology and it was designed to teach the Israelites about the Lord and how they as sinners could have a relationship and fellowship with Him.
The tabernacle was patterned after the heavenly tabernacle, which is located in the third heaven and was created before the foundation of the world and was built by Moses and the Exodus generation and was constructed after the pattern shown to Moses by Yahweh on Mount Sinai (Exodus 25:9; 26:30).
The only piece of furniture contained in the Holy of Holies was the Ark of the Covenant.
The entrances to the court and to the structure were from the east.
First was the altar of burnt offering in the court, then the laver; inside the Tabernacle, farthest west, stood the holy of holies, or the most holy place, hidden by a veil or curtain, and which housed the ark of the covenant.
The twelve tribes of Israel surrounded the Tabernacle with three tribes on each side of the structure: (1) Asher (northern) (2) Dan (northern) (3) Naphtali (northern) (4) Manasseh (western) (5) Ephraim (western) (6) Benjamin (western) (7) Gad (southern) (8) Reuben (southern) (9) Simeon (southern) (10) Issachar (eastern) (11) Judah (eastern) (12) Zebulon (eastern).
The Levitical priests conducted the sacrifices in the Tabernacle and the High Priest conducted the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement in the Holy of Holies.
In Exodus 19:1-23:33, we saw the Lord presenting the stipulations which must be agreed upon and practice by the Israelites in order to enter into a covenant agreement with Him.
These stipulations would include the Ten Commandments and various ordinances, which were to govern the conduct of the nation and these commandments and ordinances would serve as the nation’s constitution.
It bestowed upon the Israelites the wonderful privilege of worshipping and serving God as well as representing Him by reflecting His perfect, holy standards before the Gentile world.
Now, in Exodus 24, we saw the people ratifying the covenant by agreeing to do all that God required of them and immediately upon this ratification by the Israelites, we see the Lord requiring the Israelites to worship Him in the manner prescribed by Him.
He instructs them where they should worship Him, how they were to do so and by whom and with whom they were to worship Him.
Exodus 25:10 “They shall construct an ark of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, and one and a half cubits wide, and one and a half cubits high. 11 You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and you shall make a gold molding around it. 12 You shall cast four gold rings for it and fasten them on its four feet, and two rings shall be on one side of it and two rings on the other side of it. 13 You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold. 14 You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark with them. 15 The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it. 16 You shall put into the ark the testimony which I shall give you. 17 You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide. 18 You shall make two cherubim of gold, make them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 Make one cherub at one end and one cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends. 20 The cherubim shall have their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings and facing one another; the faces of the cherubim are to be turned toward the mercy seat. 21 You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. 22 There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.” (NASB95)
“Ark” is the noun ʾǎrôn (אֲרֹון) (aw-rone´), which was a chest or ornate box containing sacred artifacts of worship and was the only piece of furniture within the Holy of Holies.
It was called the “Ark of the Covenant” (Hebrew: ‘aron berit, Num. 10:33), or “Ark of the Testimony” (Hebrew: ‘aron ha`edut, Ex. 25:22), from the law that was kept therein.
It was made of acacia wood two and a half cubits long, one and a half cubits broad, and one and a half cubits high (external dimensions) and was plated inside and out with pure gold.
Running around each side was a gold border extending above the top of the Ark, so as to keep the lid from moving.
This lid was called the “mercy seat” (Ex. 25:20, 22, Hebrew: kapporet, a “covering”), and was the same size as the Ark itself, and was made of acacia wood covered with gold.
Upon the lid, or mercy seat, or at the ends of the ark, as in the temple, were placed the cherubim, probably figures beaten out of gold, as was the lampstand.
In shape they were probably human, with the exception of their wings, though some authorities think they were of the same complex form as the cherubim mentioned in Ezekiel (Ezekiel 1:5-14).
They were no doubt the normal or full height of a man and are always spoken of as maintaining an upright position (2 Chronicles 3:13) and they stood facing each other, looking down upon the mercy seat, with their wings forward in a brooding attitude (Ex. 25:20; cf. Deut. 32:11).
The golden censer, with which the high priest once a year entered the Most Holy Place, was doubtless set upon this lid.
The ark contained the two tables of stone on which Yahweh wrote the Ten Commandments, or rather those prepared by Moses from the original, broken by him when he heard of Israel’s idolatry (Ex. 31:18-34:29; Deut. 9:10-10:4); and the copy of the law, written by Moses (31:26), presumed by some to be the Pentateuch in full, and thought to be the same as was afterward discovered in the time of Josiah (2 Kings 22:8).
The law must, in the meanwhile, have been removed, together with all the contents, because in the days of Solomon the ark contained the two tablets only (1 Kings 8:9).
The ark also contained a golden jar of miraculously preserved manna (Ex. 16:33-34) and “Aaron’s rod which budded” (Heb. 9:4; cf. Num. 17:10).
The materials, contents and employment of the ark of the covenant (Ex. 25:10-22) were significant.
In its materials, acacia wood and gold, the ark was a type of the humanity and deity of Christ.
The ark portrays the Lord Jesus Christ in hypostatic union as the God-Man, in other words, undiminished deity and true humanity in one person forever.
Acacia wood grew in the desert and fittingly portrayed Christ’s humanity as a “root out of parched ground” (Isaiah 53:2).
The fact that the Ark was overlaid with pure gold (Ex. 25:11) suggested deity in manifestation and the employment of the ark, particularly the mercy seat, typified the divine throne.
It was transformed from a throne of judgment to a throne of grace as far as the sinner in Israel was concerned by the blood of the atonement that was sprinkled upon it.
The blood sprinkled on the mercy seat on the Day of Atonement typified the substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths of Jesus Christ on the cross, which propitiated the holy demands of the Father.
The cherubim with outstretched wings guarded the integrity or holiness of the mercy seat and one cherubim typified the righteousness of God and the other cherubim typified the justice of God.
Therefore, the cherubims typified the integrity of God which cannot compromise with sin but has been perfectly dealt with and satisfied by the voluntary substitutionary spiritual and physical deaths of Jesus Christ on the cross, which were typified itself by the blood of the animal.
“Testimony” is the noun ʿē∙ḏûṯ (עֵדוּת) (ay-dooth´), which is the Decalogue or Ten Commandments according to Exodus 24:12; 31:18 and Deuteronomy 4:13; 9:9 as well as 1 Kings 8:9.
This word identifies the Ten Commandments as the witness or affirmation of God’s commandments belonging to His covenant with Israel and it also expressed God’s will and the duty of the Israelites. In other cultures important documents were put at the feet of the gods in the temples.[1]
“Mercy seat” is the noun kǎp∙pō∙rěṯ (כַּפֹּרֶת) (kap-po´-reth), which means “covering” and was a lid on top of the Ark of the Testimony and was the place where sins were forgiven.
It was the same size as the Ark itself and was made of acacia wood covered with gold.
The Greek equivalent of kǎp∙pō∙rěṯ is hilasterion, which is used by the apostle Paul in Romans 3:25 to describe Jesus Christ as a propitiatory gift and thus, in Romans 3:25 Paul teaches that the mercy seat portrays Jesus Christ as a propitiatory gift.
[1] Biblical Studies Press. (2006; 2006). The NET Bible First Edition Notes (Ex 25:12–16). Biblical Studies Press.