Lesson two on the Tabernacle part one The Ark and the Mercy Seat
Scripture text Hebrews 9:4 and Exodus 25:10-22 (Amplified Bible)
Hebrews 9:4 (Amplified Bible) 4It had the golden altar of incense and the ark (chest) of the covenant, covered over with wrought gold. This [ark] contained a golden jar which held the manna and the rod of Aaron that sprouted and the [two stone] slabs of the covenant [bearing the Ten Commandments. We see here three different things within the ark.
10They shall make an ark of acacia wood: two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. (A CUBIT is app 18”) So that would make the ark 45” x 27” x 27”)
11You shall overlay the ark with pure gold, inside and out, and make a gold crown, a rim or border, around its top.
12You shall cast four gold rings and attach them to the four lower corners of it, two rings on either side.
13You shall make poles of acacia wood and overlay them with gold,
14And put the poles through the rings on the ark's sides, by which to carry it.
15The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be removed from it [that the ark be not touched]. 16And you shall put inside the ark the Testimony [the Ten Commandments] which I will give you.
17And you shall make a mercy seat (a covering) of pure gold, two cubits and a half long and a cubit and a half wide.
18And you shall make two cherubim (winged angelic figures) of [solid] hammered gold on the two ends of the mercy seat.
19Make one cherub on each end, making the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat, on the two ends of it.
20And the cherubim shall spread out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, facing each other and looking down toward the mercy seat.
21You shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony [the Ten Commandments] that I will give you.
22There I will meet with you and, from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are upon the ark of the Testimony, I will speak intimately with you of all which I will give you in commandment to the Israelites. The Ark of the Covenant. What a representation this piece of the furnishings is. Normally I am given to understand by teachers and their writings that the study of the Tabernacle begins with the outer court and proceeds inward until it ends at the Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat but the text that I am using starts with the Ark and the Mercy Seat and proceeds outward. And the reasoning behind this is that we will study God’s approach to man first rather than the other way around and I’m referring to man’s approach to God.
John 1:1 says “In the beginning was the WORD AND THE Word was with God and the Word was God.”
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God” And Hebrews 1:1,2 says, “ God who at sundry times and in divers places spoke in times spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets , has in these last days spoken UNTO US by His Son,…..
These three scripture references point out the fact to me that God came to us, not the other way round. He came to me. I was lost and Jesus found me. I was the sheep going astray. I was the prodigal who came to himself in a pigpen. And it was the call of home and heaven and the father that made him come to himself. I was the backslider that the Spirit convicted and drew back unto Himself. IT is always God coming to us. The initiative has always been on God’s part…not ours. Some folks from their hearts say “I found God” but in reality it is because He found me first. The gospel of Luke records the story of that one lost sheep that the shepherd risked the ninety and nine for, to go out and find it and bring it back home and Jesus said that there is more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner that repents than over ninety nine just persons that need no repentance. The initiative is always His. Amen?
And so it is that we study this portion of scripture which we will refer to as the “Pattern” from the inside out; that is we will begin in the Holy of Holies with the furnishings and work outward. God came to us. (To this point tonight ….just a little review.) With this principle in mind (that God came to us first) we will start with the furnishings because that is what God did when He gave Moses the Pattern in Exodus ch. 25 The Ark of the Covenant of course represents the very Presence of God. His Presence dwelt above the Mercy Seat between the cherubim and that is where He met with Moses and He talked with him and gave him instructions to govern and care for the children of Israel. What an awesome place that must have been. But that is getting a little bit ahead of where we want to be right now.
Before we go on tonight, I want to refer you to our text verse found in Hebrews 8:5 which is a reference to Exodus 25:9,where it says “See that you make all things according to the pattern shown you on the mountain.” The NRSV reads, “In accordance with all that I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle and all of its furniture, so shall you make it.” And then God says in the very next statement, “they shall make an ark of acacia wood.”
I hope you see the reason behind this seemingly reversal of the order of teaching this subject; starting with the furnishings…God came to us. Jesus said in the book of Revelation, ch. 1 vs. 8 “I AM Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending…….which is, which was and is to come, the All Mighty. So we will start with God and we will end with GOD. Instead of starting with man’s approach to God we will start with God’s approach to man. (part two of lesson two tomorrow.)