Forever...

“10 They shall make an ark of acacia wood; it shall be two and a half cubits long, a cubit and a half wide, and a cubit and a half high. 11 You shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and outside you shall overlay it, and you shall make a moulding of gold upon it all round. 12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four feet, two rings on one side of it, and two rings on the other side. 13 You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 And you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, by which to carry the ark. 15 The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. 16 You shall put into the ark the covenant that I shall give you.

17 Then you shall make a mercy-seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its width. 18 You shall make two cherubim of gold; you shall make them of hammered work, at the two ends of the mercy-seat. 19 Make one cherub at one end, and one cherub at the other; of one piece with the mercy-seat you shall make the cherubim at its two ends. 20 The cherubim shall spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy-seat with their wings. They shall face each other; the faces of the cherubim shall be turned towards the mercy-seat. 21 You shall put the mercy-seat on the top of the ark; and in the ark you shall put the covenant that I shall give you. 22 There I will meet you, and from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the ark of the covenant, I will deliver to you all my commands for the Israelites” 

Exodus 25:10-22.

It is much less important, it seems to me, to spend a lot of time describing the design of the tabernacle and the furnishings that fit within it, as it is to give thought to the importance of the ark as the item that would symbolize God's presence among His people.

Today’s text reveals the two special purposes of the gilded chest known as the ark. First, this ornate portable box/chest would house the “Testimony,” the two tablets of the Ten Commandments written by God himself, one copy as his and one copy as Israel's, stored together as a symbol of their covenant agreement. Second, the lid of the ark would serve as the so-called “mercy seat” (v. 17), an elaborate pure gold sculpture that symbolized a place for God to stand as a contact point for the Lord of Glory and his earthly people and a location from which to continue to reveal divine truth to the Israelites (v. 22).

Once the tabernacle was set up and the ark properly placed within it and the tablets within it, the top of the ark would be where Moses would look. And, though seeing nothing, he would understand in faith that he was facing Yahweh, and as confirmation would certainly hear the voice of Yahweh from that direction. So the ark represented the eternal presence of God, and it was there that God would meet with the people of God — a symbol for the eternal meeting and living God wants for us all!

I feel today’s prayer is time for us to express prayerfully our desire to love God and living with God for eternity. So today, in your prayer, do that!

Lord Jesus Christ, Son of the Living God, have mercy on me a sinner.