And Bezaleel made the ark of acacia-wood; two cubits and a half the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.
Exodus 37 moves from the plans to the work itself. The first object built is the ark, the one that stood deepest inside the tabernacle, and the verse names only one maker: Bezalel.
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God described the ark first when He gave Moses the plans, and it is built first here. One writer ties that order to the single name in this verse.
The ark (Ex. 25:10) was mentioned first in the Lord's instructions about the sanctuary. And to give Israel a strong sense of its importance, Bezaleel alone made it. The ark, like the golden table and the golden altar, was made of acacia wood overlaid with gold, and pictured Christ in the presence of the Lord.
Another writer gives the reason the orders were followed to the letter.
The word of the Lord is carried out to the letter, because the Holy Spirit was in the workmen... Notice that the ark is mentioned especially as the work of Bezaleel.
Bezalel was filled with the Spirit of God for this task. One writer explains why mere craftsmanship would not have been enough, using a comparison from art:
There is said to be this difference between a photograph and a portrait drawn by an artist. The photograph will produce the exact features, so that it may be very like. But an artist can put a living look into the picture by his own genius and spirit. So we say, "It is a speaking likeness." The tabernacle and its vessels were to be a living, "speaking" representation of the things in the heavens, and the mind of God was to be reflected in them. For that, a man filled with the Spirit of God was needed to construct and fashion them with divine wisdom and knowledge.
Another writer turns that lesson on anyone who serves God now.
It is clear that to do God's work mere natural ability is not enough. Bezaleel may have had a natural aptitude for such work; if so, it was not enough. He had to be filled with the Spirit of God to do it. If that was true of work on material things, how much more is it true when the service of God concerns spiritual things, and the welfare of the souls of men.
The verse names two materials, wood and gold. One writer reads each as a picture of Christ.
The acacia is the wood of the desert, the only timber tree there. It speaks of Him as the "root out of dry ground" that grew up before God (Isa. 53:2), precious and lasting, the type of victory over surrounding circumstances — of life conquering death. Such was Christ in His humanity. The gold that covered the wood shows His divine glory, yet the gold was distinct from the wood, as His deity was distinct from His humanity. The rings are of gold, and the poles were to stay in them always; for divine love makes Him ever a pilgrim with His pilgrim people.
The order of the work teaches something too. God starts where a builder would finish.
Man builds differently. Man lays a foundation first, builds the walls, works from the outside to the inside. God begins within. The ark with the mercy seat is where the Lord dwelt, "between the cherubim." It is, therefore, a type of Christ.
The ark held the tablets of the law, and the mercy seat covered it. Together they show what kind of throne God set up.
The ark as a whole is the throne of God in Israel. It is a throne of righteousness, yet of mercy, through the blood of sacrifice. Christ is shown in it as the only One through whom such a throne can be set up among men. He is indeed God's righteous mercy seat. The testimony, the tablets of the law, was to be put inside the ark. That must remind us of Him who said, "I delight to do your will, O my God; your law is within my heart" (Ps. 40:8).
One writer draws a warning from the phrase that runs through this chapter: "as the Lord commanded Moses."
It is not enough to want to glorify God by splendid gifts meant to adorn His house or to beautify His service. The Israelites might have done that, and yet only have created another splendid idolatry. All was done "as the Lord commanded Moses," therefore everything expressed the mind of the Lord, and not the mere taste and art of man.
- Called — Bezalel is named alone for the ark, marking it out as the most important object in the sanctuary.
- Filled — his skill came from the Spirit of God. Natural ability alone could not make a "speaking likeness" of heavenly things.
- Wood — acacia, the desert tree, pictures the humanity of Christ growing up as a root out of dry ground.
- Gold — the gold covering was distinct from the wood, as His deity was distinct from His humanity. The rings and poles keep Him a pilgrim with a pilgrim people.
- Commanded — the ark became God's throne of righteousness and mercy because Bezalel built it as God said, not as he preferred.
And he overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a border of gold upon it round about.
Exodus 37 moves from God's instructions to the work itself, and Bezalel, the chief craftsman, now builds the ark. Why gold on the hidden surfaces as well as the visible ones, and why a border round the top?
The ESV calls the rim "a molding of gold." Older translations call it "a crown of gold," and the writers below use that older word.
The ark was not gold alone. Gold covered wood, and writers read the two materials as a picture of the two natures of Christ.
The Ark was made of acacia wood, covered with pure gold inside and out, with a crown, or ledge of gold, placed around it. Here we have beautifully pictured the Deity and Manhood of our Lord Jesus Christ. The acacia wood, the wood of the desert, sets forth the Humanity of our blessed Lord; the pure gold, His Deity. The crown, or ledge of gold round about, taught how God jealously guards these great truths of the Deity and Manhood of our Lord.
The acacia came from the desert, and the gold never absorbed it.
The acacia is the wood of the desert, the only timber tree there. It speaks of Him as the "root out of dry ground" who grew up before God (Isa. 53:2), precious and durable, the type of victory over surrounding circumstances — of life conquering death. Such was Christ in His humanity. The gold that covered the wood points to His divine glory. Yet the gold stayed distinct from the wood, just as His deity was distinct from His humanity.
Commentators differ over what the gold stands for. One ties it to divine righteousness, and sets the gold inside the tent against the bronze outside.
"Gold" is the symbol of divine righteousness, or the divine nature in "the man Christ Jesus." "Bronze" is the symbol of righteousness demanding judgement of sin, as in the bronze altar. It can also stand for the judgement of uncleanness, as in the bronze basin. This is why inside the tent of the tabernacle, all was gold — the ark, the mercy-seat, the table, the candlestick, the altar of incense. All these were the symbols of the divine nature — the inherent personal excellence of the Lord Jesus Christ. Outside the tent, on the other hand, all was bronze — the bronze altar and its vessels, the basin and its base.
Another writer thinks that definition is too tight for so much gold, and reaches for a wider word.
I cannot think of the gold simply as "divine righteousness." Who can imagine all the display of it in the tabernacle furniture speaking of nothing else but that? … If the acacia wood also represents the humanity of the Lord, the gold must surely represent His divine nature. Only by that could He show God in full reality. It would be too narrow to limit this to "righteousness," while of course that is contained in it. It is rather "glory," as the apostle calls the golden cherubim of the mercy-seat "the cherubim of glory." (Heb. 9:5.)
No one would ever see the inner surface of the ark. It was gold anyway — and plain gold, with no decoration added.
In Paul's address to the Athenians he said, "We ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man" (Acts 17:29). In keeping with this, the ark had no human art or design on it at all. It was just pure gold without ornamentation, but with a "crown," or "border" round its top, and there was as much gold inside it as outside. What our Lord was on the outside, where people could watch Him, He was on the inside, where no one could see. There was no inconsistency.
One writer sets our behaviour against His.
How often we act for show, and then drop all restraint in private. Not so with the Lord. He is always the same, whether preaching in public, or with His disciples in private, or, still more, when alone with God. His perfect manhood never took the slightest thing away from what was essentially divine. The gold covered the acacia wood completely.
The rim of gold was both beautiful and useful.
Upon the top of the ark, as we have seen, was a crown of gold. It seems to have served a two-fold purpose: beauty for the ark, and holding the mercy-seat firmly in its place. This crown of gold fittingly represents our Lord now glorified. "We see Jesus … crowned with glory and honor" (Heb. 2:9). … In it God declares that He has accepted the work of redemption, which our Lord took up in grace and finished perfectly.
The chapter names the maker, and the skill was itself a gift.
To Christians it may seem strange to think of men filled with the Spirit in order to give craftsmanship and skill, but so it was. … The artistic ability was given by God. We recognise that the Holy Spirit gives spiritual power, altering our lives and enabling us to offer spiritual sacrifices, but in Exodus the things produced were tangible. Yet, though made with hands, Divine power was needed. This should not really surprise us, because all the things Bezaleel made were types of Christ.
- Wood — the desert acacia under the gold pictures the humanity of Christ: "a root out of dry ground," precious and durable.
- Gold — it covered the wood but stayed distinct from it, and it pictures His deity. Commentators differ: some call it divine righteousness, others divine glory.
- Within — the unseen surface was gold too: what He was in public, He was in private.
- Crown — the rim beautified the ark and held the mercy-seat in place. It speaks of the One now crowned with glory and honor.
And he cast for it four rings of gold, for its four corners two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it.
The ark is the first thing built in this chapter, and verse 3 pauses over four small gold rings cast for its feet. God had already commanded them, so why record such a small fitting twice — and what were the rings for?
The chapters after the instructions tell the same story again, now as history. One writer notes that the record follows the building as closely as the plan:
Exodus 36 shows us the chosen workmen busy at their assigned tasks. They even begged Moses to stop the people's gifts, which were more than enough. The work is told in as much detail in the doing as in the plan, right through Exodus 36-39. At the end, Moses inspected everything, saw that they had done it as the Lord commanded, and blessed them.
Another writer draws a lesson from how often these items are listed:
These things are mentioned so often. That shows how deeply important they are to our God and Father, so they call for our attention and meditation.
The rings matter because of what they carried. The ark itself was made of two materials, and each one carries meaning:
The ark was now made according to God's instructions. Acacia wood is a picture of the humanity of the Lord Jesus. The gold that covered it stands for His deity. The ark pictures Christ as the Sustainer of the throne of God, because the mercy seat rested on it — God's throne, from which He sees fit to give mercy.
The verse places the rings low down, at the four feet; writers also describe the same four rings as set at the corners. One writer links that low placement with the poles the rings held:
The staves were to be put into the rings on the two sides (or feet) of the ark, to carry it through the desert. Weight has been placed on the word "feet." It suggests that the ark, carried on the shoulders of the priests, would be above their heads — a striking object for the people to see. Clearly the staves in the rings remind us that our Lord always travels with His people. If they are pilgrims, He will be a pilgrim too, and keep His own word, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Heb. 13:5).
The poles stayed in the rings, and one writer gives the reason:
The rings are of gold, and the staves were to stay in them at all times. This is because divine love makes Him always a pilgrim with His pilgrim people.
The poles did come out one day — but not in the desert, and not in this book. Another writer reads that end point as a message about where believers stand now:
There were four rings of gold, one at each corner of the ark. Poles of acacia wood covered with gold went through these rings, so the ark could be carried from place to place. The poles were not to be withdrawn until the ark found its final resting place in the temple in the land. In this way God would teach us that we are still in the wilderness.
The rings and poles fixed how the ark would travel, and who would carry it:
Two rings were put on each side of the ark. The carrying poles (also of acacia wood covered with gold) went through them. Priests were to carry the ark; it was not to travel on a vehicle. Today all believers are priests. They are expected to bear the Lord Jesus in testimony before the world.
Replacing that method with another is no small thing:
Only the priests were allowed to carry the ark. This shows that only true believers have right thoughts of Christ. Sadly, man makes his own new cart of human theology. The Uzzahs of Higher Criticism try to steady what looks to them about to fall — though it is not — and it destroys them.
- Repeated — the building is told in as much detail as the plan. That repetition marks how much these things matter to God.
- Gold and wood — the ark itself pictures Christ: acacia wood for His humanity, gold for His deity. It bore the throne from which God gives mercy.
- Cast low — the rings sat at the feet, so the ark rode above the shoulders of those carrying it, in full view of the people.
- Left in — the poles stayed in the rings because divine love keeps Him a pilgrim with His pilgrim people. They came out only at the temple, so the wilderness is not over.
- Carried, not wheeled — priests carried the ark on their shoulders. Believers today carry Christ in testimony, instead of loading Him onto a cart of their own making.
And he made staves of acacia-wood and overlaid them with gold.
Exodus 25 gave the command. Bezalel now carries it out: poles of acacia wood, covered with gold, slid through the rings so the ark can travel. Every detail matters: the materials, the poles, and the rule that the poles stay in the rings. Each one says something about the God who travelled with His people.
Two materials go into the ark and its poles. Commentators see in them a picture of two natures joined in one Person.
In the acacia wood and gold we have the mystery of the person of Christ pictured — acacia wood standing for His humanity, pure gold for His deity. So we get the twofold nature of the Lord Jesus presented in type — truly God and truly man, yet one Person.
The wood itself was no accident.
Acacia wood is incorruptible wood; there was no way into that faultless life of purity. No rot could fasten on the acacia wood. It was proof against the attacks of insects. In that sense it was a beautiful figure of the spotless life of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The poles exist for one reason: the ark had to travel with a people on the move.
The ark of the covenant was to go with the people in all their wanderings. It never rested while they were a travelling or a fighting host. It moved from place to place in the wilderness. It went before them into the middle of the Jordan; it was their great rallying point in all the wars of Canaan. Wherever it went, it was the sure and certain pledge of power. No power of the enemy could stand before this well-known expression of God's presence and power... The ark was to be Israel's companion in travel, in the desert. "The poles" and "the rings" were the fitting expression of its travelling character.
For us, the poles speak of a Lord who shares His people's road.
They were commanded to make poles to carry the ark by. These were symbols of travel. They express to us the way our Lord goes with His people in all their wanderings through the wilderness: "I will never leave you nor forsake you."
Exodus 25 added one rule: the poles must never come out of the rings. They stayed in place for generations, until the ark reached the temple Solomon built. That delay carries meaning.
The poles were not to be withdrawn until the ark found its final resting place in the temple in the land. So God would teach us that we are still in the wilderness.
One writer ties the removal of the poles to God's own rest.
God cannot enter into His rest until He brings His people into it too. So everything waits until the conflict with sin is over forever — all settled by God, settled for eternity. Only then will the poles be withdrawn. Our Lord's travelling with His blood-bought people through the wilderness will be over: "So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God." Even then the "poles" will be visible, in memory of the past. They will be the cause of fresh and eternal outbursts of praise.
The poles also settle who may move the ark.
Two rings were put on each side of the ark. The carrying poles went through them — also acacia wood covered with gold. Priests were to carry the ark, not a vehicle. Today all believers are priests, and are to bear the Lord Jesus in testimony before the world.
The same writer warns against every human substitute:
Only the priests were allowed to carry the ark, showing that only true believers have right thoughts of Christ. Sadly, man makes his own new cart out of human theology. The Uzzahs of Higher Criticism try to steady what looks to them ready to fall. It never was, and they only destroy themselves.
Because the priests carried the ark, it could lead. And it did.
The people were never to march without the ark. It was to go before them and mark out the way. When Moses seemed to forget this, he asked Hobab to come with them and be their eyes. God's answer seems to hold a rebuke as well as a gracious response. The ark went before them in the three days' journey after leaving Horeb, to search out a resting place for them. So Christ, in the power of resurrection, always leads His loved ones through the trackless waste. What need have we of "eyes," when such a One leads us on?
- Person — Gold over acacia wood, on ark and poles alike, pictures deity and undecaying humanity in one Person.
- Pilgrim — Rings and poles mark the ark as a travelling chest. Christ moves with His people; He does not wait at a fixed address.
- Permanent — The poles stayed in until the temple was built. The journey is not over, and God's own rest waits for His people to share it.
- Priests — No cart, no substitute. Priests carried the ark, and believers carry that testimony today.
- Precedence — A carried ark can go first. It led the march and searched out the resting place, so the Lord leads where there is no path.
And he put the staves into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry the ark.
Exodus 37 goes back over the tabernacle furniture. Chapter 25 gave the instructions; here the workmen carry them out. Verse 5 is the moment the carrying poles slide into the rings on the ark. That one detail settles how the ark would travel, and who would carry it.
One writer explains why the building matches the command so closely, and names the craftsman credited with the ark.
The LORD's word is carried out to the letter, because the Holy Spirit was in the workmen. Notice how the text singles out the ark as the work of Bezalel.
Others make the same point about the whole structure: obedience left no room for improvement.
Nothing was left to man's imagination or will. Everything, big and little, had to come from God's direction. That covered the ark itself, the most sacred symbol of all, and the smallest dish used in the sanctuary. All of it had to match the pattern God gave.
The poles and the ark were made of the same two materials — acacia wood overlaid with gold. One writer reads those two materials as a picture of Christ.
The acacia boards gave the ark its shape and size, but what you saw was all gold. No wood showed. In the same way, our Lord's humanity gives Him the form He had and still has. He is light from light, the Creator and Sustainer of all things. Yet He became a Man, and He was and is for ever "the Man Christ Jesus." See how God guards us from a single low thought about this most lowly One. The gold covers everything.
The ark was not furniture for a fixed building. Its fittings suited a people on the move, and that shaped its whole history.
The ark of the covenant was to go with the people everywhere they wandered. It never rested while they were still travelling or still fighting. It moved from place to place in the wilderness. It went ahead of them into the Jordan. It was their great rallying point in all the wars of Canaan. Wherever it went, it was the sure and certain pledge of power. No enemy power could stand before it, for it was the well-known expression of God's presence and power. The ark was to be Israel's companion in travel, in the desert, and the poles and the rings were the fitting expression of its travelling character.
God's command kept the poles in the rings. One writer follows that order through to the day it ended.
The rings and the poles also have something to say. Their purpose was "to carry the ark." This shows that God's people were travellers in the wilderness, on their way to the place God had prepared for them. But a day would come when they would take possession of the inheritance, and would build the temple, splendid enough to match the glory of Israel's king. In the desert no one was to take the poles out of the rings of the ark. At the temple they would be pulled out (2 Chronicles 5:9), because the journey was over, and the ark, with the people, had entered its rest (Psalm 132:8). So the poles in the rings speak of Christ with His travelling people, Himself among them in wilderness conditions.
Poles in rings also decided who would carry the ark, and how.
The ark stands for God's sovereign authority. The duty of bearing witness to that authority does not rest on oxen and a cart. It rests on the shoulders of the Levites, the sons of Kohath (Numbers 3:27-32). Today every believer carries what those men carried: the responsibility to bear Christ on his shoulders as the One who upholds the throne of God's glory. They did not touch the ark; they carried it by its poles. We must not leave this witness to any organization that man invents, a new cart with its impersonal "oxen" to drive it.
The same writer ties the poles to the believer's calling today.
Two rings went on each side of the ark, and the carrying poles, also acacia wood covered with gold, slid through them. Priests were to carry the ark, not a vehicle. Today all believers are priests, and they are to bear the Lord Jesus in testimony before the world.
- Pattern — The poles go where God said. Nothing here, large or small, came from human preference.
- Person — Wood covered with gold, in ark and poles alike, pictures Christ: a real man, with the gold of His deity over all.
- Pilgrimage — Rings and poles exist for one reason: to be carried. The ark moved while the people moved, and its fittings said so.
- Permanence — The poles stayed in until the temple. Travelling gear comes off only when the journey ends in rest.
- Priesthood — The ark travels on shoulders, never on a cart of man's making. Carrying Christ in testimony is personal, not institutional.
-- And he made a mercy-seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
Exodus 37 has already described the chest; this verse turns to its lid — a slab of solid gold with no wood inside, matching the ark's length and width. Why gold alone, why those measurements, and why call a lid a seat of mercy?
The ark below was wood overlaid with gold. Its lid was different, and commentators link that difference to one question: who must be satisfied here?
The mercy seat formed the lid of the ark, and it was of pure gold without wood. When we reach Leviticus 16, we learn that once a year the blood of atonement was sprinkled on the mercy seat. That is how propitiation was brought about. Now while it is man who needs to be justified, redeemed, reconciled, it is God who must be propitiated. The claims of His righteousness and holiness must be met. That, we believe, is why nothing but pure gold went into the mercy seat. The gold pictures God in holiness and righteousness.
The word "pure" is not decoration. It rules something out:
The word "pure" is there to show that there was no alloy in it. Nothing is mixed with what must meet the demands of divine glory. It reminds us that no human thoughts can intrude where "all this is from God" (2 Corinthians 5:18). His word, His will, His glory alone can prevail — though in His infinite patience it may seem otherwise for a time.
The English name has shaped how we read the object, but the Hebrew word points elsewhere — and the contrast with the ark itself is striking.
The word is not literally "mercy seat," but "covering." In the ark, you will remember, there was no mention of a covering. Our ever-blessed Lord needed none; all was open to His Father's eyes, and He delighted to have it so. Into the pure depths of that perfect heart Omniscience could look and see nothing but what answered to the divine will. Only such a One could be the basis of a divine "covering" for those who needed it.
Gold sat above; the law sat inside. Read together, they point to one person — and the New Testament names Him.
Gold is the emblem of what is divine — of divine righteousness. Put it together with the testimony inside the ark, and you have human and divine righteousness combined. The testimony points to the law — human righteousness — which was in the heart of Christ (Psalm 40). The gold points to God's righteousness, which is also displayed in Him. The mercy seat is therefore in a special way a picture of Christ. The apostle in fact applies the term directly to Him. He says we are "justified by His grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation" — a mercy seat, literally — "by His blood, to be received by faith."
(The verse quoted is Romans 3:24–25.)
Lid and ark share the same length and width. One writer reads that equality as a measure of grace.
What these two measures mean in themselves is not clear. But ark and mercy seat are alike in size, and that is full of importance. The grace of God flows out from His own eternal love. Yet it is founded in righteousness on Christ and His work, just as the mercy seat rests on the ark containing the law. But that grace is also the whole size of Christ; it is no partial blessing. It is a whole Christ, all that Christ is to God.
Two metals in the tabernacle stood for two sides of God's righteousness. Once a year, blood came onto the golden one.
Fine gold pictured the righteousness God is in Himself, as brass pictured the righteousness He shows as judge. So on the great day of atonement, the blood of the victim was sprinkled on the golden mercy seat. In picture form, that act declared that the claims of Jehovah's righteous nature were glorified by it. And the blood sprinkled seven times in front of the mercy seat showed that this laid a foundation for communion with Jehovah.
God's mercy cannot set His righteousness aside. So where could the two ever meet?
God's mercy could only rest on a pedestal of perfect righteousness. Grace must "reign through righteousness leading to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 5:21). The only proper meeting place between God and man is where grace and righteousness meet and agree perfectly. Nothing but perfect righteousness could suit God, and nothing but perfect grace could suit the sinner. But where could these attributes meet in one point? Only in the cross.
- Gold — no wood, no alloy: what covers must answer God's own holiness, because it is God who must be propitiated.
- Covering — the Hebrew name means covering; the ark needed none, and only One who needed none could become one for those who do.
- Measure — lid and ark match exactly, so the grace offered is the full size of Christ, not a partial blessing.
- Blood — once a year it touched that gold, met the claims of righteousness, and opened the way to communion.
- Meeting — at the cross righteousness and grace agree, and there God and the sinner can meet.
And he made two cherubim of gold; of beaten work did he make them, at the two ends of the mercy-seat;
Exodus 37 records the making of the tabernacle's furniture. Here two cherubim of hammered gold rise from the two ends of the cover that lies on the ark. The details are small: how they were made, what they are, where they look. Commentators find in each one something about how God can be both Judge and Saviour.
The phrase translated "hammered work" points to a method of making. One writer sets that method against the way idols were made.
Much in the tabernacle was to be made of beaten work, Exodus 25:18, 31, 36, in contrast to "molten," as idols were often made. The cherubim and the mercy seat were to be beaten out of one piece, Exodus 37:7; the lampstand also was beaten work of pure gold, Exodus 37:17, 22.
One writer draws meaning from the material itself:
The vessel was entirely of gold, no wood. So, while it gives us some view of Christ, it would be a divine view rather than a human one. It presents God in Christ, just as the pure gold mercy seat is the expression of divine grace in Christ, who is the true mercy seat now.
The verse names these figures but never explains them. One writer traces their role across the Old Testament:
The cherubim, throughout the Old Testament, wherever they act, are connected with the judicial power of God, or are the executors of the will of that power.
Standing on the ark, which held the tablets of the covenant, they take up that role in relation to Israel:
They are the activity of the thing they are connected with, the executive. Viewing the ark as God's throne in Israel, they are the executive of government in Israel, ready to bless the man who keeps the covenant, or curse the man who breaks it. In this picture they speak of divine activity in making good the mercy to those who need it.
Exodus 37 retells what Exodus 25 commanded. One writer notices a detail added in the retelling:
If you compare these chapters with the earlier ones, you may find small added details. One is that both the cherubim were of one piece with the mercy seat. This shows that where the blood of sacrifice is, the demands of righteousness and of mercy are satisfied together.
At first sight, figures of judgment look out of place on the seat of mercy. One writer treats that very oddity as the point:
It may be thought that the cherubim standing on the ends of the mercy seat creates a difficulty. But I think there is singular beauty in Judgment and Mercy being combined as the basis of God's dealing with sinners. Notice especially that the faces of the cherubim were to be turned down towards the mercy seat — not towards the sinful being. So they always saw the blood which the mercy seat provided as the sinner's atonement. Judgment looks upon what Mercy provides and maintains.
Scripture never describes what a cherub looks like. It is careful, instead, about where they stand and where they look.
The form of the cherubim is not hinted at. Their shape is not what should concern us. Scripture notes their position and attitude with care, and these are what should occupy us. Occupying the two ends of the mercy seat, they formed, as it were, the sides of the throne. They faced each other — they were in unison. Their faces looked down upon the mercy seat, not at man, not outward to the world, not upward to heaven... Inside the ark were the tablets of the law. But the gaze of those who carry out God's judgment read the work of God in atonement for man, not His commands of obedience from man.
The space between the two figures became the place where God spoke to Moses. One writer reads that as a picture of how God speaks now.
He received these divine messages in the immediate presence of God, within the veil, from the throne of God between the two cherubim. The voice of God gave him the instructions He wanted passed on to His people. Here again we have a beautiful picture of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom, as we read in Hebrews 1, the voice of God has reached us. Greater than Moses indeed, for through this wonderful Person God has spoken as Son.
- One piece. The cherubim were not attached to the cover. They were hammered from the same gold, so judgment and mercy cannot be pulled apart.
- One metal. Beaten gold, with no wood and nothing molten, sets this vessel apart from the way idols were made. It gives a divine view of Christ rather than a human one.
- One office. Wherever cherubim appear in the Old Testament, they carry out God's judicial power. They stand ready to bless the covenant-keeper or curse the covenant-breaker.
- One direction. Their faces look down at the cover, not out at the sinner — judgment studying the blood that mercy provided.
- One voice. From the space between them God spoke to Moses, a picture of God now speaking to us in His Son.
one cherub at the end of one side, and one cherub at the end of the other side; out of the mercy-seat he made the two cherubim at the two ends thereof.
Earlier in Exodus, God gave Moses the pattern for the ark and its golden lid. Exodus 37 reports the work being done, and here two golden figures stand at the ends of that lid — "of one piece" with it, not made separately and fastened on.
One writer points out that this second account is not plain repetition. It adds something.
Exodus 37. Compare these chapters with the earlier chapters and you may find small added details. One is that both the cherubim were of one piece with the mercy seat. This shows that where the blood of sacrifice is, there the demands of righteousness and of mercy are satisfied together.
These figures are not decoration. In the Old Testament they appear wherever God acts as judge.
Throughout the Old Testament, wherever the cherubim act, they are connected with the judicial power of God. Or they are the ones who carry out the will of that power.
Another writer sets them at the ark as God's throne, where two outcomes are possible.
They are the activity of whatever they are connected with — the ones who carry things out. Viewing the ark as God's throne in Israel, they carry out the government of Israel, ready to bless the man who keeps the covenant, or curse the man who breaks it.
There is no wood under the gold here. The cherubim and the lid they stand on are gold all the way through, and that points to where mercy comes from.
Two cherubim of beaten work — "rounded" is the literal sense — were made, one on each end of the mercy seat, of one piece with it, and of pure gold, their wings stretched out, their faces towards each other and towards the mercy seat... In the line of illustration we are following now, they speak of divine activity in making good the mercy to those who need it. God Himself (gold only, no wood) must be the power of His own love into a sinner's heart. Faith is His gift. But the cherubim and the mercy seat are inseparable. God does work rich blessing. The grace is His, its bestowal is His, and its duration is as its source.
The method matters too, not just the material. Hammered work stood in contrast to the casting used for idols.
Much in the tabernacle was to be made of beaten work, Ex. 25:18, 31, 36, in contrast to "molten," as idols were often made. The cherubim and the mercy-seat were to be beaten out of one piece, Ex. 37:7: the lampstand also was beaten work of pure gold.
The tables of the law lie under the lid. On top of it, once a year, is the blood of the sacrifice. Which one holds the cherubim's gaze?
There were two of these figures upon the mercy-seat, and this would suggest a competent witness to God's holiness, righteousness and goodness. It is as though they were gazing in wonder and worship upon the cover of the ark, the mercy-seat. This, as we have seen, covered the tables of the law; so it was not at these the cherubim were gazing... But it is the blood upon the mercy-seat that fixes the gaze of these ministers of justice and judgment. This is the blood of the sacrifice, sprinkled there on the great Day of Atonement (Lev. 16:14). The blood speaks of judgment already visited upon the Substitute, and it arrests the adoring gaze of these holy servants of God.
One piece of metal holds both judgment and mercy. That settles how a sinner may come near.
The cherubim formed part of the mercy-seat. They are symbols of the divine attributes, and so of judicial power. But God has been glorified by the blood on the mercy-seat. So all His attributes are in harmony, and all of them act on behalf of believers... The cherubim now favour the giving of mercy to all who approach trusting in the value of the blood. Blessed truth! All that God is, is against sin, and now all that God is, is for the believer. The blood upon the mercy-seat has wrought this mighty change.
- One piece. This chapter adds a detail: justice and mercy come out of a single block of gold. Where the blood of sacrifice is, "the demands of righteousness and of mercy are satisfied together."
- One source. Gold only, no wood. The grace is God's, the giving of it is His, and it lasts as long as its source does.
- One method. Beaten, not molten — shaped by hammer blows, unlike the cast idols of the nations.
- One direction. Both faces look down at the blood, not at the law underneath: judgment already fell on the Substitute.
- One result. All God's attributes are now in harmony. All that God is stands against sin, and all that God is now stands for the believer who trusts the blood.
And the cherubim spread out [their] wings over it, covering over with their wings the mercy-seat; and their faces were opposite to one another the faces of the cherubim were [turned] toward the mercy-seat.
The account of the ark ends with a posture, not a measurement: two gold figures, wings spread, faces turned in and down. What are these cherubim, and why does the record stress where they were looking?
They first appear at the gate of Eden. One writer traces them from there to the tabernacle, and reads the gold and the blood as a pair:
God placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden to guard the way to the tree of life when Adam and Eve were driven out. This suggests that they are the ones who carry out God's judgments. We find them in no other connection. In the tabernacle two cherubim of gold stood at the two ends of the mercy-seat. They looked inwards and downwards. Their gaze rested on the slab of pure gold, the mercy-seat stained with the blood of the sin-offering. The pure gold symbolized what righteousness demands; the blood on it showed that the demand had been met.
Scripture never describes what a cherub looks like. What it does record, twice in this one verse, is where the faces point:
The form of the cherubim is not hinted at. Their shape is not what we are to be concerned with. Scripture is careful to note their position and posture, and these are what we are to think about. Occupying the two ends of the mercy-seat, they formed, as it were, the sides of the throne. They faced each other — they were in unison. Their faces looked down on the mercy-seat, not at man, not outward at the world, not upward to heaven. The glory of the throne was what they gazed at. They looked down on the covering — the covering that once a year received the sprinkled blood of atonement. Inside the ark were the tablets of the law. But the gaze of those who carry out God's judgment rested on God's work of atonement for man, not on His commands of obedience from man.
Two figures of judgment standing on a seat of mercy could look like a contradiction:
It may be thought that the cherubim standing on the ends of the mercy seat creates a difficulty. Yet there is rare beauty in the way Judgment and Mercy are joined as the basis of God's dealing with sinners. Note especially that the faces of the cherubim were to be turned downwards towards the mercy seat — not towards the sinful being — so that they always saw the blood which the mercy seat provided as the sinner's atonement. Judgment looks upon what Mercy provides and maintains.
The two figures were not ornaments set on the lid; they belonged to it:
The cherubim formed part of the mercy-seat. These are symbols of the divine attributes, and so of judicial power. But the blood on the mercy-seat has glorified God, so all His attributes are in harmony, and all of them now act for believers... The cherubim therefore favour the showing of mercy to all who come trusting in the value of the blood. Blessed truth! All that God is, is against sin, and now all that God is, is for the believer.
Another writer hears an echo of this posture in the New Testament:
We see them here with their faces turned toward the mercy-seat, and their wings hovering over it. Their posture recalls 1 Peter 1:12, "things into which angels long to look." It is as though they were gazing in wonder and worship at the cover of the ark, the mercy-seat... But it is the blood upon the mercy-seat that fixes the gaze of these ministers of justice and judgment — the blood of the sacrifice sprinkled there on the great Day of Atonement (Leviticus 16:14). The blood speaks of judgment already carried out on the Substitute, and it holds the adoring gaze of these holy servants of God.
The cherubim in Solomon's temple faced the other way. One writer reads the change of direction as a change of message:
When the ark was brought into the temple, the wings of the cherubim looked out toward the house. They did not look "inward" — that is a mistake in some translations — but really looked outward. In the tabernacle, by contrast, the cherubs looked at the blood on the mercy seat. That took up all their attention. The cherubim were the emblems of God's judicial authority... Righteousness now is so perfectly satisfied that it has no other task than to proclaim the greatness of the victory that Christ has won for us.
- Sword. The cherubim first guarded Eden as those who carry out God's judgments. That is the role they bring to the ark.
- Silence. At the ark their faces turn in and down: not to man, not outward to the world, not upward to heaven.
- Sprinkled. The blood on the golden lid holds their gaze. The gold shows what righteousness demands; the blood shows the demand met.
- Satisfied. That blood has glorified God, so His attributes are in harmony. All that God is stands against sin — and all that God is now stands for the believer.
- Seen. Angels long to look into this. In Solomon's temple the cherubim face outward: righteousness has nothing left to do but proclaim Christ's victory.