I. Measurements
A. 3 ft. 9 in. long
B. 2 ft. 3 in. wide
C. 2 ft. 3 in. high
D. Shaped like a small chest
II. Materials
A. Shittim, or acacia wood
1. Said never to rot or decay
2. Produces sharp thorns
B. Gold
1. Everything was covered with gold
2. Inside and outside
3. Mercy seat was solid gold
4. Cherebim were of solid beaten gold
C. Contents
1. 10 Commandments (Deuteronomy 31:34)
2. Pot of Manna-1 omer (Exodus 16:33-34; Hebrews 9:4)
3. Aaron’s rod that budded (Numbers 17:10)
III. Meaning
A. Place of atonement
1. John 1:29, “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”
2. Revelation 5:6, “And I looked, and behold, in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb as though it had been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent out into all the earth.”
3. OT term ‘mercy seat’ is NT word ‘propitiation’
4. 1 John 2:2, “And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”
5. 1 Peter 1:11-12 suggests that Christ’s suffering was something that angels desired to ‘look into’ as the cherubim depict facing the mercy seat and looking down.
B. Presence of God
1. He dwelt ‘between the cherubim’ (Exodus 25:22)
2. Exodus 40:34, “Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle”
