|
"They shall make an ark of acacia wood; two cubits and a half shall be
its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its
height. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, within and without shall
you overlay it, and you shall make upon it a molding of gold round about.
And you shall cast four rings of gold for it and put them on its four
feet, two rings on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of
it. You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. And
you shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry
the ark by them. The poles shall remain in the rings of the ark; they
shall not be taken from it. And you shall put into the ark the testimony
which I shall give you. Then you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two
cubits and a half shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth.
And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work shall you make
them, on the two ends of the mercy seat. Make one cherub on the one end,
and one cherub on the other end; of one piece with the mercy seat shall
you make the cherubim on its two ends. The cherubim shall spread out their
wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, their faces
one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be.
21And you shall put the mercy seat on the top of the ark; and in the ark
you shall put the testimony that I shall give you. There I will meet with
you, and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim that are
upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak with you of all that I will
give you in commandment for the people of Israel."
(Exodus 25:10-22
RSV)
|
 
|
The Ark and Mercy Seat
(Exodus 25:10-22; 26:34; 37:1-9;
40:20-21)
(Ark: Heb. aw-rone’ , a box or
gathering place from verb aw-rah’ , to gather or pluck; Mercy Seat: Heb.
kap-po’-reth , only used of the top of the Holy Ark,from the primary root
verb kaw-far’ to cover with (originally a maritime word for covering a
boat with bitumen), used in a figurative sense to appease or
pacify.)
- Made of acacia wood overlaid with gold inside and outside of
cabinet.
- Size: 2-1/2 cubits long, 1-1/2 cubit wide on surface, 1-1/2 cubits
high.
- A crown made of gold adorned the top.
- Gold cast rings were placed on the four corners to affix staves
(overlaid with gold) that were not to be removed.
- The tablets of testimony were put inside.
- A separate top piece, the Mercy Seat, was made of beaten gold. The
size covered the whole top of the ark (2-1/2 cubits by 1-1/2 cubits),
and displayed two cherubim, one on each end, facing each other. Their
heads were tilted downward toward the Mercy Seat. Their wings
stretched toward each other.
- The Ark was placed in the Most Holy Place and hidden by the veil.
.::top::. |
|
|