Passage: Exodus 25:17-22
The Big Idea
The mercy seat was the golden lid of the ark, overshadowed by cherubim, where the blood of the atonement was sprinkled and where God promised, “There I will meet with you.” The New Testament uses the same word for Jesus: He is our propitiation, the One who satisfied God’s wrath against sin. The devil works hard to convince us we’re not welcome in God’s presence. But the blood on the mercy seat says otherwise. Because of Jesus, we can come boldly to the throne of grace and find help whenever we need it.
Keeping Us Out
The devil does everything he can to convince us not to come into God’s presence, His throne of grace.
- He tries to distract us.
- He tries to destroy us.
- He tries to discourage us:
- “You’re not welcome.”
- “You’re not holy enough.”
- “You’re not worthy.”
- “You need to deal with your sins first.”
- “You’re not acceptable in God’s presence.”
- “This place is for special people only, the really talented or gifted.”
Here’s what we’ll learn: the mercy seat gives you the confidence you need to meet with God, really and consistently, and receive the grace you need to live for Him.
The Design (Exodus 25:17-22)
“Make an atonement cover (a mercy seat) of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half wide. Make two cherubim out of hammered gold at the ends of the cover, one at each end, of one piece with the cover. The cherubim are to have their wings spread upward, overshadowing the cover, facing each other, looking toward the cover. Place the cover on top of the ark and put in the ark the tablets of the covenant law I will give you. There, above the cover between the two cherubim over the ark of the covenant law, I will meet with you and give you all My commands for the Israelites.“
- The mercy seat with the cherubim pictured God’s throne, the place where He “sits” among His people (1 Samuel 4:4; Psalm 80:1).
- In heaven, angelic beings surround God, constantly praising Him (Isaiah 6:1-3; Revelation 4:8).
- But these golden cherubim faced down, gazing at the mercy seat.
- What was placed on the mercy seat? The blood of the sacrifice (Leviticus 16:14-15).
Propitiation
A more technical name for the mercy seat is the place of propitiation.
What is propitiation? The satisfying of God’s righteous wrath against sin.
- “He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world” (1 John 2:2).
- “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins” (1 John 4:10).
What does that have to do with the mercy seat?
Hebrews describes the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat (Hebrews 9:5). The Greek word there, hilastērion, is the same word Paul uses in Romans 3:25 for Jesus: “whom God set forth as a propitiation by His blood, through faith, to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His patience God had passed over the sins previously committed.”
So Jesus is both the propitiation (the sacrifice that satisfies) and the “mercy seat” (the place where that satisfaction is displayed before God).
- His blood paid the price, and it stands as a testimony of what was paid and what was bought.
- His blood was presented before God after it was offered on the altar.
- In heaven, John sees Him as a Lamb that looked as if it had been slain (Revelation 5:6).
God’s grace is engaged when the blood is seen.
- God can’t help but respond with grace and mercy when the blood of His beloved Son is before Him.
- When we come into His presence clothed in the blood of Jesus, there’s only one possible response: loving acceptance and grace.
- Our sins are washed away, and we’re received as if we had never sinned.
The Altar and the Mercy Seat
The mercy seat wasn’t where the sacrifice was made. It’s where its value was presented before God.
- At the altar: violent propitiation. The innocent animal was killed for the guilty. Wrath fell on sin.
- At the mercy seat: peaceful propitiation. The blood was laid before God, and on that basis people could dwell in God’s presence without fear or strain.
- It’s a place where every poor sinner can dive into the ocean of God’s grace. All His benefits are found here.
Jesus is both. He bore the full fury of God’s wrath against our sin, and He gives us perfectly peaceful, restful access to God’s throne of grace, where we find help in any time of need.
A Seat
There were no chairs in the tabernacle. The priests never sat down, because their work was never finished (Hebrews 10:11). But this was a seat, God’s own throne on earth.
A seat speaks of rest.
- The mercy seat teaches us that all the work required is finished, by the blood.
- That peace is the only basis on which God can meet with His people.
- God met with Moses there many times (Numbers 7:89).
- In Christ, we have that same privilege. Jesus “sat down” after offering Himself once for all (Hebrews 10:12).
Arthur Pink observed that many Christians never get beyond the precious truth that Christ’s death secured their life, and some don’t even rest in that. The reason, he said, is that we listen to our unbelieving hearts, which insist that self must contribute something to salvation: if not works, then feelings.
The devil wants us to fear God’s presence, to work for His approval, to put our confidence in anything except the blood of Jesus Christ.
- He’ll try to distract us.
- He’ll try to destroy us.
- He’ll try to discourage us.
Because he knows that the moment a poor sinner applies the blood of Jesus to himself by faith, he is free, cleansed, and has access to all the blessings of Christ.
Meeting God at the Mercy Seat
We sinners meet God at the mercy seat.
- We come with confidence and joy.
- We come with trembling awe at the incredible value of the Lamb’s blood, given freely to us.
Jesus’ propitiation allows us to be forgiven and welcomed into fellowship with God. And it allows God to remain perfectly holy and just, even while He welcomes sinners like us into His presence. He is “just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus” (Romans 3:26).
So What Do We Do?
“Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the holy places by the blood of Jesus… let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, with our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience” (Hebrews 10:19, 22).
“Let us then come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
Grace Takeaway
The enemy says you’re not welcome in God’s presence. The mercy seat says otherwise. The blood of Jesus has satisfied God’s justice and been presented before His throne, so the place where God sits is now a seat of mercy. “There I will meet with you.” Don’t stay away until you feel worthy. Come boldly, clothed in His blood, and receive the grace you need.