of every board and curtain of the tabernacle; for God's church and instituted religion are more precious to him and more considerable than all the rest of the world. And the scriptures were written, not to describe to us the works of nature, a general view of which is sufficient to lead us to the knowledge and service of the Creator, but to acquaint us with the methods of grace, and those things which are purely matters of divine revelation. The blessedness of the future state is more fully represented under the notion of a new Jerusalem than under the notion of new heavens and a new earth.
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. 16. And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony, which I shall give thee. 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. 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.
The first thing which is here ordered to be made, is, the ark with its appurtenances, the furniture of the most holy place, and the special token of God's presence; the tabernacle was erected to be the receptacle of that.
I. The ark itself was a chest or coffer, in which the two tables of the law, written with the finger of God, were to be honourably deposited, and carefully kept. The dimensions of it are exactly ordered; if the Jewish cubit was, as some learned men compute, three inches longer than our half-yard, (twenty-one inches in all,) the chest or cabinet was about fifty-two inches long, thirty-one broad, and thirty-one deep. It was overlaid within and without with thin plates of gold. It had a crown, or cornice, of gold, round it, with rings and staves to carry it with; and in it he must put the testimony, v. 10..16. The tables of the law are called the testimony, because God did in them testify his will: his giving them that law was a token of his favour to them; and their acceptance of it was in token of their subjection and obedience to him. This law was a testimony to them, to direct them in their duty, and would be a testimony against them, if they transgressed. The ark is palled the ark of the testimony, (ch. 30. 6.) and the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the testimony, (Numb. 10. 11.) or witness, Acts 7. 44. The gospel of Christ is also called a testimony or witness, Matth. 24. 14. It is observable, 1. That the tables of the law were carefully preserved in an ark for the purpose; to teach us to make much of the word of God, and to hide it in our hearts, in our innermost thoughts, as the ark was placed in the holy of holies. It intimates likewise the care which Divine Providence ever did, and ever will, take, to preserve the records of divine revelation in the church, so that even in the latter days there shall be seen in his temple the ark of his testament. See Rev. 11. 19. 2. That this ark was the chief token of God's presence; which teaches us that the first and great evidence and assurance of God's favour is, the putting of his law in the heart. God dwells where that rules, Heb. 8. 10. 3. That provision was made for the carrying of this ark about with them in all their removes; which intimates to us, that wherever we go, we should take our religion along with us, always bearing about with us the love of the Lord Jesus and his law.
II. The mercy-seat was the covering of the ark or chest, made of solid gold, exactly to fit the dimensions of the ark, v. 17, 21. This propitiatory covering, as it might well be translated, was a type of Christ, the great Propitiation, whose satisfaction fully answers the demands of the law, covers our transgressions, and comes between us and the curse we deserve. Thus he is the end of the law for righteousness.
III. The cherubims of gold were fixed to the mercy-seat, and of a piece with it, and spread their wings over it, v. 18. It is supposed that these cherubims were designed to represent the holy angels, who always attended the Shechinah, or Divine Majesty, particularly at the giving of the law; not by any effigies of an angel, but some emblem of the angelical nature; probably some one of those four faces spoken of, Ezek. 1. 10. Whatever the faces were, they looked one towards another, and both downward toward the ark, while their wings were stretched out so as to touch one another. The apostle calls them Cherubims of glory shadowing the mercy-seat, Heb. 9. 5. It denotes their attendance upon the Redeemer, to whom they were ministering spirits, their readiness to do his will, their special presence in the assemblies of saints, (Ps. 68. 17. 1 Cor. 11. 10,) and their desire to look into the mysteries of the gospel, which they diligently contemplate, 1. Pet. 1. 12. God is said to dwell, or sit, between the cherubims, on the mercy-seat, (Ps. 80. 1.) and from thence he here promises, for the future, to meet with Moses, and to commune with him, v. 22. There he would give
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