Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 25:26-28

26 And thou shalt make for it four rings of gold, and put the rings in the four corners that are on the four feet thereof.

27 Over against the border shall the rings be for places of the staves to bear the table.

28 And thou shalt make the staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold, that the table may be borne with them.

The similarities between the table and the ark continue in these verses, where we hear that the table was also to be borne by staves when transported. And as with the ark, those staves were to be made of shittim wood and overlaid with gold.

The place of attachment for those staves seems ambiguous at first. “On the four feet” seems to suggest that they were at the very bottom of the table, the entire thing teetering in the air above the heads of those who carried it. But also it is supposed to be “against the border,” which in the previous verses seemed to be at the top of the legs, around the board that made that surface of the table. An examination of the original Hebrew seems to clear up the confusion, though. The word used there is רָ֫גֶל (regel), which depending on the context is sometimes rendered “feet,” but other times rendered “legs.” And, indeed, other English translations of this verse render it as “the four legs,” not “the four feet,” which definitely seems more realistic and consistent.

Carrying the ark with staves seems quite practical to me, as that is perhaps the simplest way to convey it for people. Carrying the table, particularly given that it was a small table, seems less practical. If I were the carrier, I would sooner place a small table over my shoulder and carry it that way, but obviously that treatment would be far less respectful. Reverence, not practicality, is clearly the top priority here.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 25:23-25

23 Thou shalt also make a table of shittim wood: two cubits shall be the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

24 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, and make thereto a crown of gold round about.

25 And thou shalt make unto it a border of an hand breadth round about, and thou shalt make a golden crown to the border thereof round about.

We now shift from the Ark of the Covenant to the descriptions for a table. As with the ark, we start with the materials and dimension. The width is to be double the breadth, and the height will be halfway in between. I may be reading too much into this, but it occurs to me that each side could be used to measure the others. The breadth folded over the length should reach exactly halfway across. The breadth folded over the height should leave just enough that the remainder could be folded over exactly half of the height. The height folded over the length should leave just enough to cover exactly half of the breadth. Like the Godhead, three separate sides, but each able to measure and define one another.

Also, the height of the table, a cubit-and-a-half, is exactly the same height as the Ark of the Covenant, showing that they are a pair. The other dimensions of the table, however, the length and the breadth, are each smaller than the corresponding sides of the ark. It is not a very large table, and it will only be used for a specific purpose.

Just like the heights, the material and ornamentation of the table exactly matches that of the ark. Shittim wood to make the shape and body, with pure gold overlaid everywhere. There is also to be a border that hangs a little ways down from the top slab, and it is to be ornamented with a golden crown, just as with the ark.

Consistency of design immediately speaks to consistency of purpose. Not to say that both the ark and the table would perform the same function, obviously they wouldn’t, but ark that stores and the table that bears would be united in a common purpose of ultimate spiritual observation. One would only have to see them to know these two are organs of the same body.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 25:22

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.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 25:17-21

17 And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.

18 And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat.

19 And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof.

20 And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be.

21 And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.

We heard already of the body, the poles, and the interior of the ark, today we hear about the lid that will go on top of it all. It is to feature two golden statues of cherubs, with wings extended over the whole thing. Traditionally their wingtips are often depicted as having touched, though that requirement is not specifically called for in these verses.

I spent some time trying to research why the lid is being called “the mercy seat,” as it doesn’t seem to be describing a traditional sort of seat at all. From my study I found the following possible explanations (perhaps there are more):

  1. The ark as a whole was meant to be seen as the throne of God. Who knows, perhaps the angle of the cherubim’s wings even formed a seat and a back. Thus, approaching the ark was approaching God’s throne, and it would occur within the tabernacle, whose primary function was to facilitate the forgiveness and realignment of God’s people. Thus this was a throne, and one of mercy, not of punishment.
  2. It does not mean “seat” as something that you sit upon, but as the core or origin of something, like how we say that the government is “the seat of power” in the land. The ark of the covenant was the origin of mercy for God’s people, therefore the “seat of mercy,” or “mercy seat.”
  3. The name “mercy seat” is merely an artistic choice by the translators of the King James Bible, and not necessarily the most fitting for our modern vernacular.
    The original word here, כַּפֹּרֶת (kapporeth), really means “propitiation,” or “atonement,” which is the act of accounting for the sins of the people so that they can be restored to their God. The word has at its root כָּפַר (kaphar) and כֹּפֶר (kopher), which mean “to cover over, pacify,” and “the ransom for a life” respectively. Thus, there is a notion of atoning, covering, and ransoming. Many other translations utilize those words, calling it something like an “atonement cover” (NIV) instead of a “mercy seat.”

I can’t help but note the special pun that exists in the English translation. The top of the ark is functionally a lid, which can also be called a cover, but it is described symbolically as an atonement/ransom, which is to cover the sins of the people. Perhaps this isn’t a pun, but baked into the etymology of the word. I do not know enough to identify whether there is any common root in Hebrew that would apply to both a “lid” and an “atonement,” such as we have in the English word “cover,” but perhaps there is a connection which bled its way into our modern English. Perhaps it is deliberate that the top of the box is both a lid and a sign of atonement, because in both senses it covers.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 25:16

16 And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.

Yesterday we discussed the materials and design of the ark of the covenant, and I said that I saw in it a symbolism of structured order overlaid with natural, pure beauty. Today we learn that the words of God’s law, the testimony that He had been delivering to Moses, would be the first items to be housed within the ark. Eventually other spiritual relics would be kept there as well, such as Moses’s staff and a jar of manna.

Thus, the words and signs of God are the elements housed within His structure and His beauty. One could view this from the outside in: The order and beauty of God are protecting His inner word, or from the inside out: God’s word is the beating heart within the body of His order and beauty.

With the outer body and the inner word, we are almost finished with the description of the ark. There yet remains one part: the lid that sits on top of it all. We’ll examine that portion next time.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 25:10-15

10 And they shall make an ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof.

11 And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.

12 And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof; and two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it.

13 And thou shalt make staves of shittim wood, and overlay them with gold.

14 And thou shalt put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them.

15 The staves shall be in the rings of the ark: they shall not be taken from it.

The first thing the Lord details for the tabernacle is the Ark of the Covenant that will be housed there. He gives precise measurements for its dimensions and dictates the materials that it will be made of. The body of the box and the staves will be made of shittim wood, which will then be covered in a layer of gold. The rings and the crown of the box will also be fashioned of pure gold.

Shittim wood is described as being strong and sturdy, close-grained and dense. Gold is a precious metal that is also a single chemical element, not a compound of different materials. Thus, the ark will have a structure of strength and resilience, carved to precise specifications. And over that precise structure shall be a layer of pure, natural beauty. There can be seen in this a representation of order being the foundation upon which beauty may thrive. This is a truth we can see repeated many times throughout our societies. A stable law provides the security for an artistic culture to thrive, a well-governed home gives its children the courage to dare, and a strong moral code is the basis for beautiful acts of charity. Order and beauty in one.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 25:8-9

8 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.

9 According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

Now we see what the offering of riches and valuables is for: to make a tabernacle for the Lord “that he may dwell among them.” If the people were willing to consecrate their very best to God, if they would show great attention in following his building instructions exactly, if they would dedicate their time and labor to building the place, then they would be able to create a sacred place where He could reside. I believe that more important than the valuables, the attention, and the effort, is the sacrifice. What would make this place worthy of God would not be the minerals or man-hours, it would be the heart and will that had been poured into it, prioritizing this cause above all other alternatives. That was what would make this place an acceptable receptacle for the Lord’s presence.

Or, at least, it would make it acceptable for the Lord’s purifying spirit to come and sanctify the place, and then that purification would be what made the place an acceptable receptacle for the Lord’s presence. See Exodus 40:34.

It is the same with our hearts also. When we perform our acts of faith, it is the faith that matters far more than the act itself. It is not what we sacrifice, but that we sacrifice. And the offerings of time and effort that we make to the Lord do not make us worthy of His name, but it does invite His spirit to come and sanctify our hearts so that then we are worthy of His name.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 25:3-7

3 And this is the offering which ye shall take of them; gold, and silver, and brass,

4 And blue, and purple, and scarlet, and fine linen, and goats’ hair,

5 And rams’ skins dyed red, and badgers’ skins, and shittim wood,

6 Oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense,

7 Onyx stones, and stones to be set in the ephod, and in the breastplate.

God had just offered the Israelites the opportunity to make an optional offering, and today we learn it was to be an offering of all the valuables of the world. Precious metals, stones, cloths, animal skins, wood, oil, and spices. Some of these things are precious for symbolic reasons, such as gold which is a pure metal and does not mix with other alloys. Some are precious for aesthetic reasons, such as spices that pleased the senses. Some are precious for their rarity, such as purple cloth, which was a notoriously difficult color to get dye for.

The people are being asked to give that which is rare, functional, beautiful, and symbolic. Of course, in many cases the value of these things is arbitrary. Whatever man decides to assign his greatest value to, those are the same things that he must be willing to part with. Gold is not required because it has great value to God, but because it has great value to man.

And why must man be willing to part with the things of greatest value? Because that is how we show what our highest ideal is. If we don’t give the most to God, then He isn’t actually our highest ideal. If, for example, we retain the best for our own selves instead, then there is nothing more important to us than the self, which precludes any genuine worship of God. Sacrifice of our greatest riches is a necessity for us to engage in worship of the almighty, just as sacrifice of His own Beloved Son was a necessity for God to engage in condescension to us.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 25:1-2

1 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying,

2 Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring me an offering: of every man that giveth it willingly with his heart ye shall take my offering.

The Lord is now going to describe a different sort of offering. Sacrifices for purification and worship are mandatory for every faithful household, but the sacrifices being described here are entirely optional. The Israelite who makes this sacrifice is to give “it willingly with his heart.” And if the man can not offer it willingly, the Lord describes no punishment or penalty for him abstaining from the opportunity.

There is in our morality a basic set of laws that we are all expected to abide by. Fundamental things that we are all expected to do and not do. Thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not steal, help your neighbor, be kind to one another, etc. So long as we follow these rules we are “good citizens” and “decent people.” We are living the way that society expects of us. But there is also a higher level of elective good works. Things like making a serious sacrifice to help someone in need, being willing to die for the greater good, and speaking the truth even when it harms us. We don’t necessarily have to do these things to be “decent people,” but we are considered heroes when we elect to do them anyway.

Posted on by Abe Austin

Scriptural Analysis- Exodus 24:16-18

16 And the glory of the Lord abode upon mount Sinai, and the cloud covered it six days: and the seventh day he called unto Moses out of the midst of the cloud.

17 And the sight of the glory of the Lord was like devouring fire on the top of the mount in the eyes of the children of Israel.

18 And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.

The presence of the Lord descended upon the mountain, but Moses did not go up into it straightaway. He waited for the Lord to call him up, which did not occur until the seventh day. This immediately calls to mind the six days of creation, and the seventh day of rest. The reason for this parallel is not explained.

Perhaps that seventh day coincided with the Jewish sabbath, and the Lord was waiting for that sacred day to call Moses apart from the world. Perhaps the cloud on the mountain was purifying the place before the Lord’s arrival, recreating that part of the earth over six days just like it had taken six days to perform the original creation. Perhaps Moses required the six days to properly prepare his own soul for the meeting. Whatever the reason, we see a pattern of waiting a full measure for the time to be right.

This idea of sacred things taking a full measure to complete is also present in Moses then being up in the mountain for forty days and forty nights. If waiting seven days to ascend calls to mind the Genesis story of creation, then staying up in the mountain for forty days calls to mind Noah shut up in the ark while it rained for forty days and forty nights.

Both the initial conception of the earth and the flood are creation stories. Initial creation and recreation after the first had gone astray. They are symbols of beginning and resetting, of making everything new. Perhaps that was the Lord’s intent with these numbers, to suggest that His communion with Moses would usher forth a new beginning for Israel and all the world, a recreation of laws and principles that had been lost.