Observing the Day of Atonement – The Mercy Seat

Observing the Day of Atonement – The Mercy Seat. (This post is in process and will be completed soon)

“And Yahweh instructed Moses, ‘You shall make a Mercy-Seat, a covering of pure gold… And you shall set the Mercy-Seat as a lid on top of the Ark of the Covenant, and there I will meet with you and from above the Mercy-Seat, from between the two cherubim that are on the Ark, I will speak intimately with you of all which I will give you in my orders to the people of Israel.” (Exodus 25:17-22).

ATONEMENT: Reconciliation between estranged parties; to ransom by mean of a substitute; to remove barriers of separation; to redeem by paying someone’s debt; to cleanse from sin and have the guilt removed; to cover the guilty by shielding from judgment; to purge sin by sacrifice.

If I were a biblical journalist who happened to be a Christ-follower, I might explain the Day of Atonement, Yom-Kippur, this way:

WHO – Aaron, Moses’ brother and the designated high priest, and the duty of every high priest thereafter;

WHEN – The Day of Atonement occurred just once a year on a special holy day designated by the Lord Yahweh;

WHERE – In the Holy of Holies, also called the Most Holy Place; which was the 15-foot-cube innermost room of the wilderness Tabernacle, the portable worship tent of the wandering Israelites; which is strategically placed in the center of the Israeli camp; which is in the middle of nowhere on the Sinai Peninsula. Later, the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem Temple was considered to be the center of the universe. In historical records the Holy of Holies was also called “the hall of the Mercy-Seat” or  “the room of the throne of mercy.” (1 Chronicles 28:11).

WHAT – The Mercy Seat is also called the Atonement Cover and the “Kapporet.” It was made of pure gold and was 45 inches long by 27 inches wide. The Mercy Seat was the sacred lid topped with two golden angel-figures, the cherubim, above which the almighty God chose to appear in a cloud to speak personally face-to-face with Moses. The Ark of the Covenant was the only piece of furniture in the Holy of Holies, and was a wooden chest overlaid with gold that contained Moses’ stone tablets displaying the Ten Commandments, as well as a small golden urn containing samples of manna, and the miraculous wooden staff of Aaron that budded almonds.

WHY – It is telling that God instructed Moses to make the gold lid on the Ark of the Covenant to be called the Mercy Seat. Yahweh demanded that the cloud and fire of His Presence be identified with His mercy. The weight of God’s glory rested on the Mercy Seat, where it always rests. The Mercy Seat was in the center of the Holiest Place, which was in the center of their camp, and so the Mercy Seat was literally the center of everything in the wilderness journey. The Mercy Seat was the center of everyone’s attention, and mercy was the very pinpoint of the center. When God revealed His mercy, whether through manna, quail, permanent clothing, or during the yearly Day of atonement, Yom-Kippur, it is like the king in all His glory. Directly above the Mercy Seat, God chose to present Himself, letting His voice be heard by Moses or the high priest. Yahweh identified Himself with mercy by His choice of resting place, sitting on His royal throne of Mercy. The kaporet was not an impressive royal throne of power. Yahweh’s power was exercised in His mercy. God’s mercy was what His power looked like, and His glory is reflected in His will of mercy. In so many ways, the Mercy Seat was a foreshadowing of the Cross, drenched in the blood of the sacrifice of Jesus to cover over, to conceal and purge, to atone for the sins of the people. On His Cross, we see Jesus on our Day of Atonement. The Mercy Seat and the Cross revealed a judgment of mercy. “Once a year on Yom-Kippur, in the Tabernacle’s most sacred place, the Holy of Holies, the high priest would enter and drench the Mercy Seat with the blood of the animal sacrificed to make atonement for the people. This is the physical place where Yahweh met the high priest and where He forgave the sins of the people of Israel. The Mercy Seat prefigures the eternal mercy, grace and hope that alone came through Jesus the Messiah, through His shed blood, making atonement once and for all, placing the weight of humanity’s sins on Him.” (notes from the Complete Jewish Bible, Dr. David Stern).

“Whoever dwells in the secret shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord Yahweh, ‘You alone are my refuge and my fortress! You alone are my God in Whom I trust!’ … He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge. His truth will be your protective shield; His faithful promises are your armor and sure defense.” (Ps. 91:1-4).

Under His Wings: Two Levels of Understanding. On the one hand, one of David’s favorite phrases in his psalms was to picture himself “under the wings” of the Lord, hiding “in the shadow of His wings,” like a fledgling bird resting within the refuge of God’s protective presence, as if God was a mother bird providing shelter. On the other hand, many scholars of the Hebrew Bible take this phrase in another direction, especially here in Psalm 91 and in Psalm 61, “You have been my refuge and shelter, a tower of strength where my enemies cannot reach me. Let me live forever in Your sacred tabernacle, safe beneath the shelter of Your wings.” (Psalm 61:4). This other rich meaning is revealed in a way that highlights God’s character of mercy. The “wings” in these Psalms could also be referring to the wings of the golden cherubim over the Mercy Seat on the Ark of the Covenant in the tabernacle’s Holy of Holies. The “secret shelter of the Most High” could be taken as a reference to that Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle that was always hidden from public view, the secret place reserved for conversations between Moses and Yahweh, and for the one day a year when the high priest would enter that sacred space.

In Other Words: It appears that the Lord wants us to weave together an identity of Him which combines His majesty and splendor with His compassion and grace. For His glory is brightest when His mercy is most evident, and His power is most real when His mercy is most clearly expressed. The Mercy Seat tells us that God’s glory IS His mercy. So we can rest assured in peace as we dwell over the Mercy Seat, between the wings of the Most High God. In the shadow of the Almighty and Merciful One, our sins have been forgiven, and we can find eternal shelter within God’s acceptance. We find a true spiritual refuge as we stand beneath the wings that overshadow the Mercy Seat. The wings of the cherubim remind us that the Cross is our fortress and shield against judgment. We can stand forgiven between the wings that keep us safe in His merciful care.