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Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - Exodus 25:10 - 25:22
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The Ark of the Tabernacle
v. 10. And they shall make an ark of shittim wood, a chest made of acacia wood; two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof (a cubit being between 18 and 21 inches), and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
v. 11. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about, evidently an ornamental molding at the top.
v. 12. And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof, on the four ornamental feet on which the cheat stood; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it, firmly fastened, in order to bear a strain.
v. 13. And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, long poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.
v. 14. And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them, lifted up and carried along readily.
v. 15. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it, for the bearers of the ark were not to touch the chest itself, Num_4:15.
v. 16. And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee, the tables of stone on which God intended to write the Ten Commandments, as the words through which He would permanently testify to His people.
v. 17. And thou shalt make a mercy-seat, a lid, or covering, of the ark, of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. This mercy seat, or lid of expiation, received its name from the fact that the guilt of the people, by virtue of the blood sprinkled against it on the great Day of Atonement, was expiated, their sin was covered.
v. 18. And thou shalt make two cherubim of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, enchased and rounded with a hammer, the figures thus being not massive. but hollow, in the two ends of the mercy seat.
v. 19. 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 cherubim on the two ends thereof, fastened to the solid gold of the ark's lid in such a manner as to form a structural unit.
v. 20. And the cherubim shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy-seat with their wings, their wings overshadowing the entire lid, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy-seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. The figures, probably formed like those of men, with the wings added, and standing upright on the cover, were to face each other with outstretched wings, but with their eyes directed to the lid on which they stood.
v. 21. And thou shalt put the mercy-seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony, the two tables of stone with their engraving, that I shall give thee.
v. 22. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the Ark of the Testimony, of all things which I give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. According to this statement the mercy-seat became the throne of God in the midst of His people, the footstool of the Most High, the place where He not only bore witness to His people, but where He also dispensed His mercy, by virtue of the greater expiation by blood which was foreshadowed in the rites connected with the lid of expiation. For the covering of the ark was a type of Christ, who is the true Mercy-seat, Rom_3:25; Heb_4:16. Through His own blood Christ has wrought a perfect expiation and redemption for us, and He now stands as our Mediator between God, whose throne is above the cherubim, and sinful men. It is our privilege, by faith in Him, to come boldly unto the Throne of Grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need, Heb_4:16.