Teaching the Old Testament. Revealing Christ.
Teaching the Old Testament. Revealing Christ.
Home › The Tabernacle › Most Holy Place
The lid of the Ark, made of pure gold, with two cherubim facing each other. Here God met with Moses.
Location
On top of the Ark
Size
2½ × 1½ cubits
Material
Pure gold
Cherubim
Two, of beaten gold
A closer look
What the Bible says
King James Version
And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.
And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; towards the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.
And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.
Exodus 25:17–22; cf. Exodus 37:6–9
Pointing to Christ
On the Day of Atonement the high priest sprinkled blood on the mercy seat (Leviticus 16:14). Paul calls Christ our propitiation using hilastērion, the same Greek word used for the mercy seat.
“Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood.” Romans 3:25
Where it stood
Mercy Seat · Most Holy Place
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