Grace is the principle of God giving us what we don’t deserve (like salvation and forgiveness!). Close to this is the principle of mercy, which is God NOT giving us what we DO deserve!

Many people have questions about the Old Testament sacrifices and practices, but all of them were designed to teach the people something about Jesus Christ. This is one example.

The description of the Ark of the Covenant is the first use of mercy in the Bible. This passage is talking about how to make the Ark.

Exodus 25:21-22

21 "You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you.

22 "There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel.

Both Leviticus 9 and Numbers 16 tell us that Jesus Christ, the second person of the trinity, was going to dwell above the mercy seat.

The nation of Israel had a very elaborate ceremony once a year on the Day of Atonement. (This is from Leviticus 23:27; 16:29; and Numbers 29:7) First, the High Priest would cleanse himself and put on white, then he would seek atonement for himself and his priests by sacrificing a bull, and sprinkling the blood on the mercy seat. (Number 29:8; Leviticus 16:12,14,15) The High Priest would then choose a goat and do the same for the people, sprinkling the blood of the innocent sacrifice on the mercy seat. (Leviticus 16:20-22).

All of this was a recognition of the fact that man could not atone for his own sins! I love the principle in verse 25 above that mercy is the place where God meets us, not giving us what we deserve for our sins.

Inside the Ark were three items representing the rebellion of the people. The urn of manna, from when the Israelites rejected the provision of God in the desert, Aaron’s rod that budded, a reminder of the rebellion against authority, and the stone with the ten commandments, a reminder of all the ones the people broke!

Here’s the great thing about how the Ark of the Covenant was set up – between our rebellion and sin and the judgment of God is MERCY through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.