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 25:22
The Mercy Seat was on top of the Ark of the Covenant
I do not understand all there is to know about the mercy seat.
I’ve thought about it many times and wondered.
Without knowing God’s mercy, can we know God?
I don’t think so.
God thought Mercy was so important,
He had a Mercy Seat surrounded by Cherubims
where He would have heart-to-hearts with those He allowed to be close.
There I will meet with thee;
there I will be in a special and gracious manner present with thee.
-Matthew Poole
The Ark of the Covenant was where Moses,
who was not officially the high priest,
was honored by God to commune with Him.
Moses was to receive instructions for God’s people at the mercy seat.
Now, Jesus is our advocate, our ultimate high priest forever.
Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace,
that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:16
God gave specific, detailed instructions of how to build the Ark of the Covenant,
which housed those things God wanted inside.
And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of all;
Which had the golden censer,
and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold,
wherein was the golden pot that had manna,
and Aaron’s rod that budded,
and the tables of the covenant;
And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat;
of which we cannot now speak particularly. Hebrews 9:3-5
Nobody knows where the Ark of the Covenant is now.
Some say Ethiopia, some say God took it.
I know that if someone took it and God didn’t want them to have it,
He would make it so they didn’t have it
like when Uzzah touched it, trying to keep it from falling.
Wasn’t he just helping?
And the anger of the Lord was kindled against Uzzah;
and God smote him there for his error;
and there he died by the ark of God. 2 Samuel 6:7
God always looks on the heart.
My suspicion is that God took it here at this moment, when Jesus died:
And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain
from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;
And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose,
And came out of the graves after His resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many. Matthew 27:51-53
I suppose it’s also possible that it will be a part of the Third Temple.
Who can know for sure how it’s going to play out?
It all sort of fits together.
Much food for thought.
Sacrifice and atonement and communing with God
by His grace and with His mercy present.
I, for one, am very glad there is a Mercy Seat.
I’d like God to judge me while He sits on His Mercy Seat.
Jesus, help me always remember:
Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7