Exodus 37:1-9 - Testimony for Mercy

Exodus 37:1-9

Making the Ark of the Testimony (Exodus 25:10–22)

1 Then Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits was its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. 2 He overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold all around it. 3 And he cast for it four rings of gold to be set in its four corners: two rings on one side, and two rings on the other side of it. 4 He made poles of acacia wood, and overlaid them with gold. 5 And he put the poles into the rings at the sides of the ark, to bear the ark. 

6 He also made the mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits was its length and a cubit and a half its width. 7 He made two cherubim of beaten gold; he made them of one piece at the two ends of the mercy seat: 8 one cherub at one end on this side, and the other cherub at the other end on that side. He made the cherubim at the two ends of one piece with the mercy seat. 9 The cherubim spread out their wings above, and covered the mercy seat with their wings. They faced one another; the faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.

The Ark held the Testimony of God’s covenant promise to His people as a reminder of His laws to be put in their hearts one day (Jeremiah 31:33,  2 Corinthians 3:3) as they had been so far only written on stone tablets (Exodus 25:16, 31:18, 32:15-16, Deuteronomy 4:13, 10:2) and placed in the Ark.  this Testimony of Grace and mercy was held in the Ark as a physical reminder of His promises to them in this holy container covered by the seat of His mercy (Exodus 25:22) where the high priest would enter the most holy place behind the veil where Moses heard God’s word of that testimony proclaimed and explained to him to later write about for we His people of promise.  This Ark was covered with mercy as the seat of God’s grace to us to find help in time of need, which now we all as His priests can approach (Hebrews 4:16) to know that grace and mercy without the added mediator of a man as Moses once acted.  We now can approach Jesus Christ as the one Mediator between man and God (Galatians 3:20, 1 Timothy 2:5-6, Hebrews 9:15, Romans 3:23-24, 25-26) as the cherubim watch from heaven over the new covenant testimony of the mercy seat of God’s own Son interceding for us and rejoice (Luke 15:10) in seeing the salvation of our Lord who ministers to us in mercy from His throne, seated (Ephesians 1:20, Hebrews 8:1-2, 6) in the heavens and forever mediating for us to our Father there.  We see then the shadow of the heavenly realm patterned in the tabernacle and its contents such as the Ark of God’s Testimony of mercy and grace to come in His Son who ever lives and intercedes (Hebrews 7:24-25) for us from behind the veil in the most holy place in Heaven above as we are reminded by His living words now written on our hearts.