By illustrators of the 1890 Holman Bible [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
THE HOLY OF HOLIES
“And they shall make an ark of
acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its
width, and a cubit and a half its height.” Exodus 25:10 (NKJV)
Thus far we
have looked at the various names of the tabernacle of meeting, the free will
offerings, and we also studied about the silver paid for the atonement. There
is so much more to be studied and absorbed just in those topics, yet we need to
continue forward as there are more wonderful things to be discovered.
Our God is
such an awesome and holy God that He set in place how His tabernacle was to be
constructed and in the order it was to be made. One of the wonderful things
about Him that stood out to me during this study is how He readies our heart
for His dwelling place. Have you ever stopped and realized how tenderly God
woos us and waits for us to open our hearts to His sweet love? His first
concern is our heart condition. Here is where He beings the work because it is
our heart, our spirit that becomes His dwelling place.
The same
thing takes place with His tabernacle in the wilderness. He gives Moses
instruction on how to build the tabernacle starting with the inside. Remember,
this tabernacle was to be made according to the pattern that is in heaven. It
is also the pattern, if you will, that is evident in our own relationship with
the Living God. God began with the inside because that is how He deals with us.
He is the one who cleanses our heart and prepares us for His indwelling.
So let us
begin with the inner part of the tabernacle as well, the Holy of Holies, at the
Ark of the Covenant.
There are
many names for the Ark of the Covenant or the Ark
of the Testimony just to name another one. Here are some of the other names:
1. The
Ark of acacia wood (Exodus 25:10)
2.
The Ark
of the Testimony (Exodus 25:22)
3.
The Ark of the Covenant of the Lord (Numbers 10:33)
4.
The Ark of the Covenant (Joshua 3:6)
5.
The Ark
of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth (Joshua 3:13)
6.
The Ark
of the Lord (Joshua 4:11)
7.
The Ark of the Covenant of God (Judges 20:27)
8.
The Ark
of God (1 Samuel 3:3)
9.
The Ark of the covenant of the Lord of hosts (1
Samuel 4:3)
10. The
Ark of the God of Israel
(1 Samuel 5:7)
11. The
Ark of the Lord God (1 Kings 2:26)
12. The
Ark of our God (1 Chronicles
13:3)
13. The
Holy Ark (2 Chronicles 35:3)
14. The
Ark of Your strength (Psalm 132:8)
Now I don’t know about you, but I
have a hard time trying to figure out what a cubit is so I did a little research and for my benefit a cubit equals
approximately 18.20 inches.
So from this point we are going to use that measuring in place of cubits, just
to make it easier for our western minds.
That means the Ark
was 3 ¾ feet long by 2 ¼ feet wide and 2 ¼ feet high. Pay attention to these
dimensions because we are going to see that these numbers are going to be
repeated in other things; sometimes doubled, but still the same numbers.
We are going to pause here and take
a look at some more verses in Exodus about the Ark
of the Testimony.
Beginning with Exodus 25:10 –
“And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall
be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height.
“And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay
it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around.
“You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four
corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side.
“And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.
“You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that
the ark may be carried by them.
“The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken
from it.
“And you shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you.
“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and half cubits shall be
its length and a cubit and a half its width.
“And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall
make them at the two ends of the mercy seat.
“Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you
shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat.
“And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the
mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the
cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat.
“You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you
shall put the Testimony that I will give you.
“And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above
the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the
Testimony, about everything which I will give you in commandment to the
children of Israel.” (Exodus 25:10-22 NKJV)
Please take the time to read these
other passages: Exodus 37:1-9 and Hebrews 9:4.
I hope you paid attention to the
detail God laid out in regards to the Ark of Testimony. It is that very detail
we are going to delve into. This is so exciting! The Lord left nothing to
chance. He not only told Moses how it was to be constructed but repeated
Himself so Moses couldn’t get it wrong. I don’t know about you, but I need to
hear from the Lord many times to get things right and yet, I still can make a
mess out of things. Thank you Lord for Your mercy and grace. Amen.
In this particular passage (Exodus
25:10-22) we learn the Ark was to
be covered inside and out with pure gold. Pure gold: in thinking about what it
takes to make pure gold visions of smelting pots and lots of fire come to mind.
The gold that was used to cover the Ark
and poles had been refined to its purest content. There was not one bit of
impurity left. It was absolutely pure. In Revelation 21 we read about the New
Jerusalem that will be made of pure gold, so pure is will be like clear glass.
For anything to be made pure it has
to be refined by fire, the dross or impurities have to be skimmed off, and into
the fire it goes again. This is process is repeated over and over until it is
completely pure. This application is also applied to our hearts, our lives, our
worship, our prayer life and it only ends in this life when we are no longer
here but with the Lord forever. Thus the reason Paul tells us in Philippians
2:12,13 – “Therefore, my beloved, as you
have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my
absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who
works in you both to will and do for His great pleasure.” (NKJV) Praise
God, He will even give us new bodies that are not corrupted but will be
incorruptible. (1 Corinthians 15:35-58)
Now, back to our study of the Ark
of the Testimony.
The Ark
was made out of acacia wood. Now remember, acacia wood was and is impervious to
wood-eating insects and didn’t decay as other woods do. So this was a perfect
choice of wood. Then it was to be thoroughly covered inside and out with pure
gold. There are some awesome things to see here.
The first thing we see is this is a
perfect symbol of the Lord Jesus in His deity and humanity. His deity is
represented by the pure gold and His humanity is represented by the wood. So
what we have is not just a wooden chest but also a gold chest. It’s not just a
gold chest but a wooden chest. Notice there is no mingling of the two products.
There is no blending. It is equally God (gold) and equally man (wood).
Therefore the Ark is a type of
Christ “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).
We have here a picture of the Triune Godhead with the Ark.
The gold on the outside represents God the Father. Gold on the inside is the
Holy Spirit, and the Ark of Testimony made from the acacia wood and overlaid
with gold – God the Son. How incredibly awesome is that? Oh Lord, open our eyes
so we may see how You continue to reveal Yourself.
God required both gold and wood to
maintain the symbolism pointing us to Christ as the God-man. In the bible there
is no other symbol as simple as the ark that describes the union of God and man
in one body. (Colossians 1:19; 2:19; John 14:1, 9; Colossians 1:15) Jesus is
both God and man. What He did was either perfectly human or perfectly divine.
On the outside of the Ark
we saw there was to be a molding of gold all around it, this was a crown of
gold. There was also four gold rings to be attached to the four corners so
there would be two on each side; and the two poles of acacia wood covered in
gold were to be placed in the rings and left there always. Witness Lee said:
“…the ark and the table required
four men to carry them. This points to the coordination of the Body of Christ…
Second Samuel 6 and 1 Chronicles 13 record how David brought the ark to Jerusalem,
not borne by men but upon a mule cart. That displeased the Lord, and His anger
was kindled (2 Samuel 6:7). From this, David learned a lesson. The next time
the ark was moved, David realized that the divine way to carry the ark was not by
a cart, but upon the shoulders of the Levites (1Cronicles 15:2, 13-15) for the
testimony of the Body.” [1]
Hebrews 9:4 tells us what was
inside of the Ark: the golden pot
that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant.
Looking at these three things we see how they all pointed to Jesus Christ.
The golden pot of manna speaks of
Christ, the Bread of Life (John 6:48);
Christ as the Life-giver (John 6:32,
35) and Christ as a prophet (John 1:1).
Aaron’s rod that budded speaks of
Christ in resurrection (Numbers 17:8, 10); Christ as Priest, because the
priesthood was established with Aaron’s budding rod (Numbers 17:8, 10); and
Christ as Prophet who spoke for God before man (John 14:6).
Jesus speaks for God. He is Logos,
the Word of God (John 1:1). He is the Alpha and Omega (Revelation 1:8; 22:13), God’s final message to man.
The tablets of the covenant speak
of the life Jesus lived on earth fulfilling the Law in all points and
fulfilling the prophecies spoken of Him throughout the Old Testament. They
speak of the kingship of Christ. He was born a King, lived a King and died a
King, rose from the dead a King and He is returning a King.
Thus the Ark
envisions Christ as having God’s law in His heart, Christ in resurrection and
Christ as life sustainer. It also speaks of Christ as Prophet, Priest and King.
(Revelation 11:19; John 1:14, John 1:1-2).
We have covered the Ark
of the Testimony in some detail but we have yet to really turn our attention to
the Mercy Seat. It is here where things get real exciting.
“You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall
be its length and a cubit and a half its width. (Exodus 25:27 NKJV)
The first thing we see here is that
is was a separate piece from the Ark,
yet we shall see that it was a vital piece for man. The second thing we see is
that it was the exact same width and length as the Ark;
and like the Ark, it too was made
of pure gold. The mercy seat was a lid or covering for the Ark.
Take moment with me and look at
verses 21 and 22 of Exodus 25.
“You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you
shall put the Testimony that I will give you. And there I will meet with you,
and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two
cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony, about everything which I will
give you in commandment to the children of Israel. (NKJV)
The Ark of the Covenant is a divine
throne. It is God’s earthly throne. The mercy seat transforms that throne from
a throne of judgment (law – the commandments He gave to Moses) into a throne of
grace by the atoning blood that is sprinkled on it. (Leviticus 16:14) God’s
mercy rests on God’s death (Jesus Christ dying for us). If there had been no
plan for His death there would have been no possibility for mercy. Christ’s
blood which is more precious than silver or gold – presented in heaven makes
God’s throne the Mercy Seat. Therefore the mercy seat equals propitiation
(Romans 3:25).
The meaning of propitiation is the
appeasement of divine wrath by a sacrificial offering. At the heart of the
gospel is the fact that if Christ did not bear the wrath of God that we
deserved, then that wrath is still stored up for us. (Romans 2:8; 3:5; 5:9; 9:22; Ephesians 5:6; Revelation 6:16-17)
The cherubim were made of hammered
gold and fused to the mercy seat to make a single piece of metal. They faced
each other – looking down on the mercy seat, looking down on the blood of
Christ Jesus, with their wings stretched over the mercy. (1Kings 8:7; I Chronicles
28:18)
They represented guardianship of
the holiness of God’s throne, above which was enthroned the Shekinah glory
presence of the Lord. They protected the throne of God. (Hebrews 9:5; Psalm
80:1; Genesis 3:24; Psalm 99:1; Isaiah 6:1-3; Isaiah 37:16)
Because of the shed blood of Christ
Jesus, He being our propitiation, we may boldly approach the throne of grace.
(Hebrews 4:16)
We are not under the law, which is
covered by the mercy seat (Romans 6:14),
we are under grace, which is displayed by the cherubim’s outstretched wings.
Here we are invited to come under the shadow of them. (Psalm 36:7; 17:8; 57:1;
91:4) And lest we forget, remember the two angels at Jesus’ tomb, “And she saw two angels in white sitting,
one at the head and the other at the feet, where the body of Jesus had
lain.” (John 20:12) NKJV (Emphasis is mine.) Mary Magdalene, the first to
see Jesus after He had risen from the grave, first saw the mercy seat.
It is at the mercy seat where we
meet with God. The mercy seat covered by the blood of our Christ, overshadowed
by with outstretched wings of the cherubim.
Though this tabernacle and all it
contains is but a shadow of what is in heaven, we can be assured that the Ark
of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat are there, for Jesus Christ is the Ark of
the Covenant and our Mercy Seat.
“whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to
demonstrate His righteousness, because in His forbearance God had passed over
the sins that were previously committed.
“To demonstrate at the present time His righteousness, that He might be
just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.” (Romans 3:25-26
NKJV)
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent
His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.” (1 John 4:10 NKJV)
[1] Lee,
Witness, Spiritual Applications of the
Tabernacle, Published by Living Stream Ministry, Anaheim, CA 92804 USA,
©1987 Witness Lee (Pages 70-71)
