22 And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

One of the possible reasons I gave yesterday for why the lid on top of the ark might be called the mercy seat was that perhaps it formed a throne from which God would commune with His High Priests. Today’s verse supports that notion, as God says He will speak “from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony.”

The space above the ark was going to be a highly sanctified place, one that could bear the presence of the Lord. So far, Moses had been required to ascend to the top of the mountain to commune with the Lord, but now the area inside of the tabernacle and above the ark would be an adequate domain for the Lord also.

There is a lesson here for all of us to find holy places, areas where the noise and voices and influence of the world cease, where there is enough purity and sincerity that His voice can “commune with thee from above” and “from between.” Obviously the Lord can force His presence suddenly and powerfully, such as when He dramatically appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus, but we aren’t meant to rely on such rare occurrences. We’re meant to foster an atmosphere of constant spiritual immersion, like the Israelites were going to create in the heart of the tabernacle, in the space above the mercy seat.