Exodus 25

Bible Passage:  Exodus 25

Today’s chapter talks in detail of God’s blue print for the construction of the Ark of the Covenant, the Table for the Showbread and the Golden lampstand. God’s instruction is exact and He expected Moses to follow accordingly. Perhaps the most important item to be constructed was the Ark of the Covenant. In this chapter, God only instructs Moses on how to construct this chest and He gave the exact dimensions, materials and patterns to be on this chest. The Ark of the Covenant is probably one of the most mysterious items in the OT and according to Jewish people possesses some ‘magical’ powers.

I have two impressions of this chapter. The first impression is that the Ark of the Covenant, like Noah’s Ark has to be built to the exact blueprint of God. Both Arks will save the people who come to it with a pure heart. Likewise, our church today is also the Ark of the last days and through this ark our sins are forgiven and through this ark we can be saved. The ark has to be constructed exactly to God’s specifications else it will not have the power to forgive sins neither will it have the power to save people. If Noah did not heed God’s instruction and using his own intelligence, decided to use other materials instead of gopher wood, will the ark survive the flood? If Moses did not construct the ark of the covenant using acacia wood and overlaid it with gold,  will God dwell in the ark? These are some questions we need to ask ourselves and we ought to strive to follow God’s instruction as accurately and completely as possible.

I thank God that through the mercy of God, I am today in the true ark of the last days for our church has truly and completely followed the blueprint Jesus gave us.

My second impression is on the Ark of the Covenant. Basing on just the description, it can be a bit hard to envisage how the ark looks like. Therefore, I have attached an artist impression of how the ark might look.

My impression is that the physical appearance of the ark is like the throne of God in heaven but a miniaturized version. We know that in the OT, many of the events, practices and artifacts are physical representations of the spiritual. (Ref Hebrews 9:23-24). Also referring to Revelation 5:11-14, it describes how the spiritual host in heavens and that of believers worship God. On the physical ark, the cherubim’s wings are high and their heads are bowed towards the mercy seat. It is as though the cherubim are praising, worshipping and showing reverence to God who appears between them and above the mercy seat. The artist impression goes further by showing that the cherubim are kneeling towards each other. The mercy seat is like the throne of God and the heavenly hosts are bowed down towards the Lord and praising Him in a majestic manner.

The high priest on the Day of Atonement, will enter the Holies of Holies and offer sacrifices to God. He, like the cherubim, will have to sanctify himself and show great reverence to God. He will offer sin offerings for himself and for the people of Israel and dip some of the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy seat. God appears in a cloud and speaks between the cherubim. From the Bible, Jesus Christ is the perpetual high priest that offered His body once and for all as the perpetual sacrifice.

Furthermore, the ten commandments, Aaron’s rod that budded and the manna was placed inside the ark. Spiritually it symbolizes the law and Jesus Christ being the spiritual bread from heaven and the first fruit of resurrection. What is interesting is that these items are placed in the ark and are hidden from view. Probably after being placed inside they were not taken out again. It could be that these items are very precious and that it has to be kept safely in the ark. However, I have the impression that these items could have been deliberately kept out of sight. The Word of God and His commandments are to be hidden and remembered in our hearts.

Isaiah 51

⁷ ” Listen to Me, you who know righteousness,
You people in whose heart is My law:

The manna and Aaron’s rod was kept hidden for generations and it symbolizes the great mystery of salvation through Jesus Christ.

Colossians 1

²⁶ the mystery which has been hidden from ages and from generations, but now has been revealed to His saints.

This mystery had been kept hidden till Jesus Christ came and fulfilled the death on the cross and resurrection. He became the sacrifice for sins and His body that was broken for us was the realization of the tabernacle that was made during Moses time.

Lastly, when we come before the Lord, we come before His throne of grace. The veil of the Holies of Holies have been torn by Jesus Christ and now we have direct access to God. It is through His great mercy and grace that today we who are unworthy are able to stand before Him. The Lord Jesus seats on this mercy seat, not judging us at the moment but rather showing His great compassion and mercy for us.

As a concluding verse,

Hebrews 4

¹⁴ Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. ¹⁵ For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. ¹⁶ Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.