The ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy seat,
The verse names three finished furnishings brought to Moses for inspection, the gold-covered chest made to hold God's law, the poles for carrying it, and its lid crowned with a cherub at each end. The chest is called the ark of the testimony because the testimony is the Ten Commandments on stone, a name passing from the law to the tables to the ark and even to the tabernacle that housed it. It rested as the center of the most holy place with the law inside and the mercy seat above, where God manifested His presence between the cherubim and communed with His people, and where atoning blood was sprinkled and favor shown to the penitent. Made exactly after the pattern shown in the mount, it is a correct figure of the heavenly sanctuary, pointing to the ark of God's testament in heaven and the law beneath its mercy seat. The sanctuary thus formed a great object-lesson of God's way and of Christ's priestly work in the heavenly sanctuary, setting forth in forms and rites the plan of salvation for a people just redeemed from bondage.
Setting and Furnishings
The verse stands in the minute description of the sanctuary in Exodus 25-40, with the last six chapters, Exodus 35-40, recording the preparation, making and fitting of the Tabernacle. Those chapters carry out explicitly the directions of Exodus 25-31 given to Moses in the mount, following the events of Exodus 19-32 and the building and setting up recorded in Exodus 33-40. The work was completed when the Tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year after the departure from Egypt.
The sanctuary was to be made exactly according to the pattern shown in the mount, and its pattern was divine. It was composed of two apartments separated by a veil, the first called the holy place, twenty cubits long, ten cubits wide and ten cubits high, and the second called the most holy place, ten cubits in each of its dimensions and thus just half as large as the holy place. Its sides and rear west end were acacia boards overlaid with gold, secured below by tenons fitting into silver sockets weighing a talent each and held above by bars through rings attached to the boards. It was built from free-will offerings of the children of Israel that God might dwell among them, by workmen specially endowed by God for the work.
The verse lists the ark of the testimony, its carrying poles, and the mercy seat among the completed sanctuary furnishings submitted to Moses for inspection, made according to God's command. The ark was a gold-covered chest made to contain God's testament, the Ten Commandments, and the mercy seat was its top, with a cherub at each end. The mention of the staves identifies the poles used to carry the ark.
The ark is called the ark of the testimony because it held the testimony, which is the Ten Commandments written on tables of stone. The name passes from the law written on the tables to the tables themselves, to the ark in which the tables were placed, and by extension to the tabernacle itself, especially its second apartment which received the ark. The ark rested in the most holy place as the center in the holy of holies, crowned with the mercy seat above it with God's law inside, around which Israel's worship revolved. God manifested His presence above the ark, over the mercy seat between the cherubim, and communicated with His people there, and the mercy seat was the place where atoning blood was sprinkled and favor extended to the penitent.
Pattern and Worship
The tabernacle erected by Moses after inspection of the heavenly one shown to him in the mount was declared a correct pattern, model, and figure of the heavenly sanctuary, which has corresponding holy places and vessels. The earthly sanctuary and its vessels, including the ark of the testimony with its carrying poles and the mercy seat among the completed furnishings, were made according to that pattern shown in the mount. The earthly ark therefore points to the ark of God's testament in heaven and to the law beneath its mercy seat, with the ark containing the Ten Commandments and belonging in the most holy place as the dwelling place of God. Because that earthly tabernacle consisted of two holy places, the heavenly original from which it was copied must also consist of two holy places, for otherwise there would be perfect dissimilarity instead of likeness.
The sanctuary was a great, multiple object-lesson of God's way and of Christ's priestly work in the heavenly sanctuary, comprehending in its various forms and rites the great plan of salvation. It was given after God redeemed Israel from Egyptian bondage with a mighty hand, because hundreds of years of slavery had unfitted them to comprehend God's great salvation and the character He required. God instructed Moses to ask free-will offerings of the children of Israel for all that would be used in building, to make Him a sanctuary that He might dwell among them, and the workmen who built it were specially endowed by God for the work according to a divine pattern given in the mount. The laws given through Moses include more than the Ten Commandments, for they also include statutes and judgments, ceremonial laws, and laws revealing sacrifices, offerings, and types, and these preserve the shadows from which the substance of the new dispensation can be traced.
After the tabernacle was finished and erected with all its furnishings, including the ark of the testimony, its staves, and the mercy seat, it was anointed with oil to prepare for the appointed priestly service. That service was carried forward from day to day by the priests throughout the year in the court and in the first apartment of the sanctuary, with one year allotted to this ministration always closing on the tenth day of the seventh month with a special service. When the building was completed with all its furniture and equipment just as God directed and the ark with its poles and mercy seat was placed as the center in the holy of holies containing God's holy law written on tables of stone, wonderful blessing and glory came down upon the congregation and the building and filled the sanctuary at its setting up and consecration. That manifestation of God's glory and filling with His presence showed His acceptance of the people and of their repentance.
The verse names three finished furnishings brought to Moses for inspection, the gold-covered chest made to hold God's law, the poles for carrying it, and its lid crowned with a cherub at each end. The chest is called the ark of the testimony because the testimony is the Ten Commandments on stone, a name passing from the law to the tables to the ark and even to the tabernacle that housed it. It rested as the center of the most holy place with the law inside and the mercy seat above, where God manifested His presence between the cherubim and communed with His people, and where atoning blood was sprinkled and favor shown to the penitent. Made exactly after the pattern shown in the mount, it is a correct figure of the heavenly sanctuary, pointing to the ark of God's testament in heaven and the law beneath its mercy seat. The sanctuary thus formed a great object-lesson of God's way and of Christ's priestly work in the heavenly sanctuary, setting forth in forms and rites the plan of salvation for a people just redeemed from bondage.
Setting and Furnishings
The verse stands in the minute description of the sanctuary in Exodus 25-40, with the last six chapters, Exodus 35-40, recording the preparation, making and fitting of the Tabernacle. Those chapters carry out explicitly the directions of Exodus 25-31 given to Moses in the mount, following the events of Exodus 19-32 and the building and setting up recorded in Exodus 33-40. The work was completed when the Tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year after the departure from Egypt.
The sanctuary was to be made exactly according to the pattern shown in the mount, and its pattern was divine. It was composed of two apartments separated by a veil, the first called the holy place, twenty cubits long, ten cubits wide and ten cubits high, and the second called the most holy place, ten cubits in each of its dimensions and thus just half as large as the holy place. Its sides and rear west end were acacia boards overlaid with gold, secured below by tenons fitting into silver sockets weighing a talent each and held above by bars through rings attached to the boards. It was built from free-will offerings of the children of Israel that God might dwell among them, by workmen specially endowed by God for the work.
The verse lists the ark of the testimony, its carrying poles, and the mercy seat among the completed sanctuary furnishings submitted to Moses for inspection, made according to God's command. The ark was a gold-covered chest made to contain God's testament, the Ten Commandments, and the mercy seat was its top, with a cherub at each end. The mention of the staves identifies the poles used to carry the ark.
The ark is called the ark of the testimony because it held the testimony, which is the Ten Commandments written on tables of stone. The name passes from the law written on the tables to the tables themselves, to the ark in which the tables were placed, and by extension to the tabernacle itself, especially its second apartment which received the ark. The ark rested in the most holy place as the center in the holy of holies, crowned with the mercy seat above it with God's law inside, around which Israel's worship revolved. God manifested His presence above the ark, over the mercy seat between the cherubim, and communicated with His people there, and the mercy seat was the place where atoning blood was sprinkled and favor extended to the penitent.
Pattern and Worship
The tabernacle erected by Moses after inspection of the heavenly one shown to him in the mount was declared a correct pattern, model, and figure of the heavenly sanctuary, which has corresponding holy places and vessels. The earthly sanctuary and its vessels, including the ark of the testimony with its carrying poles and the mercy seat among the completed furnishings, were made according to that pattern shown in the mount. The earthly ark therefore points to the ark of God's testament in heaven and to the law beneath its mercy seat, with the ark containing the Ten Commandments and belonging in the most holy place as the dwelling place of God. Because that earthly tabernacle consisted of two holy places, the heavenly original from which it was copied must also consist of two holy places, for otherwise there would be perfect dissimilarity instead of likeness.
The sanctuary was a great, multiple object-lesson of God's way and of Christ's priestly work in the heavenly sanctuary, comprehending in its various forms and rites the great plan of salvation. It was given after God redeemed Israel from Egyptian bondage with a mighty hand, because hundreds of years of slavery had unfitted them to comprehend God's great salvation and the character He required. God instructed Moses to ask free-will offerings of the children of Israel for all that would be used in building, to make Him a sanctuary that He might dwell among them, and the workmen who built it were specially endowed by God for the work according to a divine pattern given in the mount. The laws given through Moses include more than the Ten Commandments, for they also include statutes and judgments, ceremonial laws, and laws revealing sacrifices, offerings, and types, and these preserve the shadows from which the substance of the new dispensation can be traced.
After the tabernacle was finished and erected with all its furnishings, including the ark of the testimony, its staves, and the mercy seat, it was anointed with oil to prepare for the appointed priestly service. That service was carried forward from day to day by the priests throughout the year in the court and in the first apartment of the sanctuary, with one year allotted to this ministration always closing on the tenth day of the seventh month with a special service. When the building was completed with all its furniture and equipment just as God directed and the ark with its poles and mercy seat was placed as the center in the holy of holies containing God's holy law written on tables of stone, wonderful blessing and glory came down upon the congregation and the building and filled the sanctuary at its setting up and consecration. That manifestation of God's glory and filling with His presence showed His acceptance of the people and of their repentance.