The Ark of His Testament.
THE ark in the heavenly sanctuary is not empty. It contains the testament of God. We cannot be ignorant of the relation of the ark to the atonement which the high priest makes. The earthly sanctuary makes this matter perfectly plain. The priest offers blood upon the mercy-seat which covers the ark, because the law which condemns the sinner is beneath it in the ark. Such is unquestionably the relation of the ark in the heavenly temple to the work of Christ our High Priest. The work of the Son of God as High Priest is to present the merit of his blood for sinful man. Then it is certain that the sinner is condemned and cannot be justified by that which the ark contains. So there is a law in the gospel dispensation that is the very thing which renders atonement necessary for sinful man, for the very reason that it cannot justify, but must condemn the sinner. The Priest, standing with blood before this ark, is a living testimony to the fact, that there is something within the ark that is itself exactly right, but that does not and cannot justify sinful man. A system to justify the repentant sinner, is therefore, not only consistent with the existence of a law that cannot justify him, but a sure proof that such law exists.