“The mercy seat was a slab of pure gold as wide and as long as the ark, and was laid on top of the ark, fitting down inside the crown as a sort of lid. On the ends of it, and of one piece of gold with it, were fashioned two angelic winged figures, called cherubim. These faced each other, looking down upon the mercy seat and stretching their wings out above and before them until the tips of the wings of the one touched the other’s, making a sort of covering or canopy over this symbolic throne of the invisible God. “There,” above the mercy seat, overshadowed by the wings of the cherubim, said the Lord, “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.” (Exod. 25:22). There shone the Shekinah, the glory of the Lord, according to Jewish tradition. There is some ground for this tradition in the pillar of fire that led Israel through the wilderness journey and in the glory of the Lord that at different times filled or was seen on the tabernacle. There on the mercy seat, on the great day of atonement, the atoning blood was sprinkled in the very presence of God. For only there in the presence of this blood could the holy God consistently commune with sinful men. “Russell Byrum,1922
It is doubtless here we get the beautiful expression, “throne of grace.” (Heb. 4:16). It was a place of mercy. Located beneath the mercy seat was the Ark of the Covenant itself. This special container held reminders of God’s relationship with His people. Because of man’s inconsistancies and lack of diligence the contents of the ark were lost. Jesus came to restore and complete all that God had promised in His first covenant. Under Jesus the New Covenant is established on better grounds with better promises.