Egypt to Canaan (6): The Tabernacle — Norman Crawford

The one who died in our stead at Calvary, who bore sin's judgment on the tree, the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. We thank thee, Lord, for that moment when, first of all, we were able to take in the truth of thy word and rest upon it in all simplicity.

We remember the Lord Jesus said, except ye be converted and become his little children, ye shall never, never enter into the kingdom of heaven. We thank thee, Lord, there was a time when we were brought in the simple faith of a child to rest upon the word of God.

And we thank thee, Lord, for giving us the joy last night of seeing a precious soul rest on Christ upon his word. Lord, we pray that thou would be pleased to bless further for thy glory. We thank thee for blessing in the gospel last night, and we pray, Lord, that thou would continue to work and that there might be others who will be reached and saved for the glory of God.

We thank thee, Lord, for thy precious word, for all its fullness. Lord, we're often lost in the wonder of it. We thank thee for every Old Testament type, for every shadow of the coming Savior. We thank thee tonight for thy precious word that we will read.

God grant that it might be blessed to us even in the reading of it, and that thou will give a tent of ears and hearts to thy word and give simplicity in speaking it, and bring glory to thy son, and give us warm hearts to appreciate Christ, and give us, Lord, that response of praise and adoration to thee.

And God grant tonight that the branches may run over the wall, and there might even be a word to those who are not saved. So, Lord, help us tonight. We're cast upon thee for the meeting. We pray to remember those who are suffering tonight.

Remember those who are bereaved among the people of God. Remember those who are passing through particular times of trial and testing. Draw near to them and sustain them. Bless the gospel preached, Marian, and remember the gospel that is expected to be preached at stout.

Lord, make it a time of visitation from on high. We look to thee for this. Thou art God. Thou art a God of salvation. Thou art the God who loves to save souls and bless thy word. So, we look to thee for thy blessing.

In the name of the Lord Jesus, amen. We're reading tonight in the book of Exodus chapter 25. Exodus 25 and verse 1. Read about 22 verses at the beginning of this chapter, and confine our reading just to this section, and try to speak on the tabernacle, the time today in the tavern.

To better spend the day, I can give you at least something of what I've been enjoying today from the word of God. Exodus chapter 25 and verse 1. The Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel that they bring me an offering, that's a free will offering, of every man.

And this is the offering which he shall take of them, gold and silver and brass and blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen and goat's hair and ram's skins dyed red and badger skins and shittum wood, that's acacia wood, oil for the light, spices for anointing oil, and for sweet incense.

Onyx stones and stones to be set in the ephod and in the breastplate, and let them make me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.

And they shall make an ark of shittum wood. Two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shalt make upon it a crown of gold round about.

And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof. Two rings shall be in the one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. And thou shalt make staves of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.

And thou shalt put the staves in the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be borne with them. The staves shall be in the rings of the ark, they shall not be taken from it. And thou shalt put into the ark the testament, or the testimony which I shall give thee, that's the two tables of stone.

And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold, two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold of beaten work, shalt thou make them in the two ends of the mercy seat.

Make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end. Even of the mercy seat shall you make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another toward the mercy seat.

Now this is a very important statement. Toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubim be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark, and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.

And there, this is a familiar statement to everyone who knows the word of God. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim, which are upon the ark of the testimony of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel.

The Tabernacle as God’s Way to His People

And we're going to be at Mount Sinai tonight still, and tomorrow night as well, if the Lord will. We're not going to get away from the mount, and perhaps after that we'll be able to move on, if the Lord will.

But tomorrow night I expect to be speaking about the consecration of Aaron's sons, the priests, and the consecration of the Levites, the consecration of the Nazarite. And tonight I'm going to try to speak about the tabernacle.

Exodus chapter 19 to 24 that we've been looking at is Israel's law, that is the will of God revealed to his people. And that's what happened here at Sinai. God gave them the law. He revealed to them his will.

Israel's law was given at Sinai. But of course Israel's life was shown at Sinai too. And in Exodus 25, from which we began to read tonight, to the close of this book of Exodus, you have the way to God appointed for the people.

Now the law had to do with the will of God. The tabernacle had to do with the way to God. In the book of Numbers, the first 10 chapters that deal with events that happened here at the foot of this mount, in Numbers chapter 1 to Numbers chapter 10, you have the liberty of God's people.

So you have the law given at Sinai. You have the life of God's people described at Sinai. And you have the liberty of God's people proclaimed at Sinai. And of course, it was the worship of God that's described for us.

That was God's people's liberty to be able to worship God, something they could never do when they were in bondage back here in the land of Egypt. They could never worship God as a redeemed people, for they were in bondage and had never known redemption.

But as a redeemed people in the wilderness, now they're able to worship God. It's only those who have known redemption by blood that can be worshippers. And it is the highest privilege and honor that ever has been given to man to be a worshipper of God.

In every other service, I'm serving toward men. When I become a worshipper, my service is directed toward God. And it should be the first thing and the highest thing and the most important thing in the life of a believer.

Christ Foreshadowed in Every Part of the Tabernacle

Now tonight, if I were to try to speak on the tabernacle, I would only drown myself. There are waters to swim in. And I would certainly not get to the other side. I would certainly drown in the waters.

So I'm not going to try to speak on the tabernacle. I believe that there are truths in this tabernacle that should fill. And today, as I've been looking at it, my heart has been occupied with Christ. For every widow, that tabernacle, uttered the glory of Christ.

It would take a good three weeks, perhaps, to cover the tabernacle. So it would be rather ridiculous to attempt to cover it in one meeting. And beside, it would overburden you with a great deal of details without being able to give their application.

And that's not the purpose of ministry. So I've, uh, an exercise to speak only of one of the pieces of furniture that were in the tabernacle. It's the most important of all. It's called the Ark of the Testimony, the Ark of the Covenant.

And whenever God was given directions about the building of the tabernacle, he began with himself. Sunday morning, we were speaking about the Levitical offerings. God began with a burnt offering. He began with himself and went out toward the people.

And so when God gave the directions about the building of this tabernacle, of which this is a very poor picture, I wish we had a large picture that showed some of the furniture and showed some of the vessels.

We don't have it, so we have to do without it. But when God gave directions for the building of that tabernacle, he began, of course, with the Ark of the Covenant, the Ark of the Testimony, and it was the most important furnishing in all that tabernacle.

Now, the tabernacle is called the dwelling of God because, of course, God dwelt among them. It's called the Tent of Meeting because God met with his people. It's called the Tabernacle of Testimony because it contained the law.

But that tabernacle is typical to us of the assembly. There are teachings connected with the tabernacle that are beautifully illustrative of a company of God's people gathered around Christ. For after all, this was the dwelling place of God with his people, and the evidence of it was the cloud that overshadowed the mercy seat and rose above the tabernacle.

And, of course, it was the indication of God's presence in the midst of his people there in the wilderness. And the assembly today is the dwelling place of God by the Spirit. The Lord himself has pleased, has deigned to dwell in the midst of his gathered people.

But, of course, we would find that's a subject all in itself. I'm not going to try to speak about the tabernacle as a picture of the assembly tonight. The tabernacle is a picture of the individual believer, especially certain parts of that tabernacle such as the boards that were covered with gold and stood on sockets of silver.

But the tabernacle, of course, is a picture of Christ. It's more than a picture of Christ, by the way. It's a beautiful type. It's a foreshadowing of the Lord Jesus. Every pin, every cord, every pillar, every socket, every board, every hanging, every curtain, every vessel, every piece of furnishing in that tabernacle foretold the glories and the beauties of the Lord Jesus Christ.

It was a foreshadowing of the coming Savior. And you'll remember the words of John chapter 1 and verse 14. The Lord was made flesh and pitched his tabernacle among us. And we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of a father, full of grace and truth.

The Lord Jesus is that tabernacle. Christ was foreshadowed in all the glories of that tabernacle. And I'm going to try tonight to point out some of those glories to you. So the subject of the meeting will be Christ tonight.

And if there's a poor sinner here, my friend, you need Christ. You need the Lord Jesus tonight. And if you're a child of God, there isn't any subject should be dearer to your heart. There isn't any subject that's dearer to the heart of God.

God took 16 chapters to tell us about the details of the tabernacle. He gave the pattern to Moses seven times over. If you were to read carefully these closing chapters of the book of Exodus, you would find seven distinct times that Moses was given the pattern of the tabernacle, the perfect number.

But of course, the tabernacle was only a shadow. It was not the very image of those things of which it's fake that writer to the Hebrews tells us. It could only be imperfect. It was only a shadow until the substance came.

Thank God we have the reality today. We have Christ. The tabernacle was only a shadow of Christ. We have the substance. We have himself here to when you love to have something that speaks of them, that portrays them.

And the tabernacle surely portrays Christ. You know, it was a very simple structure. It was the utmost of simplicity. The court of the tabernacle was about 150 by 75 feet. This outer court, if you can see it on this little picture, was 150 feet long and 75 feet wide.

It wouldn't even make what we would call a very large building today, not even the outer court. And that wasn't the tabernacle proper. The tabernacle itself was only about 45 feet long by 15 foot wide.

And you could put it inside this building quite easily. And the holy place was about 30 feet long by 15 feet wide. And the holiest of all was a square about 15 feet by 15 feet. You know, I learned something from that, a very important lesson.

Size means nothing to God. We get so taken up with size. And size is only a relative thing. After all, what is size to the almighty God who made heaven and earth, who made the vastnesses of space, who made suns in the heavens that would make our sun appear as a speck?

What is size to him? There was one vessel in the tabernacle of which we are not given the size. No dimensions are given for the lampstand that was in the holy place. That lampstand, of course, is Christ as the light for the believer, not the light of the world, although he is that.

In the fact that the gospel is preached to all men, but the Lord Jesus illuminates the hearts of his people, and the lampstand speaks of that. But it also speaks of the assembly, which shines as a light for God in the darkness.

And the darkness is deepening in the world around us. But we believe that we're at the threshold of momentous events. We believe we're on the very threshold of a coming again of the Lord Jesus. And as the darkness deepens, the light is all the more needed.

It's amazing how much darkness even a little light can dispel. I was away in the heart of a mountain one day with a miner, and it was a darkness that was penetrating. And he lit just one little lamp, so tiny that in the daylight its light would have been unseen.

But in the blackness of that great cavern in the heart of that mountain, that little light pushed back the darkness to the very extremes of that cavern. And I could look away up and see the vault of the rock above me, one little flickering light.

But in the darkness, how much darkness can be dispelled by a little light? The assembly is light in the darkness. And you know, the lampstand had no measurement. The weight of it is given, not the measurement.

Now, you see, in an assembly, it's not the size that counts. It's the spiritual weight. And that's why with the lampstand, God gives us the weight, but not the size. You can have a great deal of bulk and no weight.

But thank God where there's weight, spiritual weight, that which God values. I must move on very, very quickly. As you enter the gate of the court of the tabernacle, and those of you who are not familiar with this, I'd like to make a suggestion to you tonight.

I've never made this suggestion in a meeting in my life. I might never make it again. The brethren might take me into the back room after I'm finished. But I would suggest to you, if you're not familiar with the tabernacle, there's a very easy place where you can get a tremendous degree of help.

If you read Scofield's notes in the Scofield Bible, from Exodus 25, 26, 27, and later on, as the tabernacle was set up, as it was pitched in the midst of the camp, you'll have teaching that will help you to understand what I'm going to try to say tonight.

When you enter the court, that is from the outside and by the way, you entered it from the east, not from the west. The fellow who drew this made a mistake. He gated the court on the other side. But I guess he wasn't thinking when he drew it.

However, when you enter the court from the east, of course, the first thing that would appear to you would be the brazen altar. And the brazen altar is our presentation to God in the virtue and the value of the great sacrifice of Calvary.

Some have called the brazen altar regeneration. Well, I don't have any difficulty, but I would say that regeneration is the gate itself. Have you ever get in the gate? Have you ever really come to Christ as a sinner?

Was there a time when you got in the door and the door of the tabernacle court was wide? There was room for all sinners who would come in their need. And as soon as you got inside that court, you would find there the brazen altar before you, where the burnt offering was offered, where the fat of the peace offerings was burned, and the fat of the sin offerings was burned there upon that brazen altar.

And it speaks of the fact that I'm presented to God. I'm able to approach to God in all the value of the work of Christ. It's all made good to me. What acceptance I have. The brazen altar tells me that.

And as you would proceed through the court, you would come to the labor. And of course, the labor speaks of purification. It speaks of the fact that I have divine fitness and God, who is a holy God, demands fitness.

And I have cleansing and I have fitness to appear before him. The labor speaks of that. Remember, every believer is a priest. The labor was for the priests. Every believer is a priest unto God. As you would enter the holy place, in the holy place was the lampstand.

And of course, it gave illumination. There were only two lights found in the tabernacle. One was the lampstand in the holy place. The other was the Shekinah glory that illuminated the holiest of all, the presence of God himself.

And in a coming day, in the new Jerusalem, in the dwelling place of the redeemed in the millennium, there'll be no need of the sun, neither of the moon to shine in it, for the lamb is the light thereof.

So you see, in the tabernacle, there was the Shekinah glory that lit the holiest of all. And there was that seven-branch lampstand that illuminated the holy place. There was no outside light. You know what that tells me?

There's lessons to learn all along the way, and I'm going to have to stop every once in a while and apply what I'm telling you. If I don't do that, we might as well not have the meeting. So you'll forgive me if I stop and take little side avenues here and there.

I have a habit of doing that anyway, and I try to keep from doing it as much as possible. But you know, no outside light tells me that when I come to the Word of God, to the understanding of its great truths, the greatest university education in the world, isn't going to help.

Wisdom of men, human intelligence. There was no outside light in that tabernacle. It was illuminated alone by that seven-branch lampstand. If I'm going to understand the truths of this book, if I'm going to have any spiritual insight, it must be given to me by the Lord Himself.

It must be divinely given. That's why we don't believe in Bible schools, by the way. We don't believe in some kind of a mechanical means of instructing people in the things of God, because the school of God and this wilderness, by the way, was the school of God.

And in the wilderness, you learn by experience. And what you learn from the Word of God, you put into practice. It's not like learning the theories of mathematics. It's divine truth that must be lived out in the experience of the believer.

Christ as the Believer’s Life, Sustenance, and Intercessor

Now, the next thing that you would come to, of course, is the table of showbread. That table had 12 loaves on it. And the table of showbread speaks of Christ, as all the other vessels speak of Christ.

You see, the manna that was given to them here—I'm in the wrong place, by the way. It should be between Elam and Rephidim. The manna that was given to them in the wilderness. I'm a believer feeding on Christ as the life-giving one.

I need a divine life. And the bread from heaven came down to meet my need. And if you're a dead sinner tonight, if you don't have Christ, you need the life-giving manna. You need Christ. Showbread, on the table of showbread in the holy place of the tabernacle, tells me of the life-sustaining Christ.

He didn't only save me, but he keeps me. That's very simple, and I'm trying to make it as simple as I can. He's the life-giving Christ. He's the life-sustaining Christ. When they get into the land—away here, if we ever get there—when they get into the land of Canaan, they ate of the old corn of the land.

In a new land, they ate old corn. You know what that tells me? That Christ is the life-promising one. He's the resurrection. He's the first fruit. And I look forward to the glory with Christ, to being with Him and being like Him forever.

So you see, the believer feeds upon the manna, and the believer feeds upon the showbread, and the believer feeds upon the old corn of the land. It's Christ, Christ the Savior, Christ the Keeper, and Christ the Coming One.

Isn't that simple? I didn't know I could make it that simple. I just never thought of it that way before, but that's actually what it is. And if you know Christ is the Savior, then you'll know Christ is the Keeper, and you'll be waiting for Christ as the Coming One.

The altar of incense was also in the holy place, and it's a lovely picture of the fragrance of the person of Christ. His intercessory work at God's right hand, where the sweet perfume of his presence ever arises before the throne of God.

When you come to the veil itself that separated the holy place from the holiest of all, there was only one vessel within, only one piece of furniture in the holiest of all. That's the piece of furniture we've read about tonight, the ark, the ark that was covered with the mercy seat.

The ark represents Christ himself. We've come to Christ now, to the Lord Jesus himself. And the mercy seat tells me of my acceptance, and the care of him tells me of his holy consecration. So let us look at the ark just as simply as we can from what we've read in Exodus chapter 25.

The Ark’s Priority, Pattern, Presence, Peace, and Positions

I have five points to give you about the ark, and I tell them to you, first of all, maybe you can follow a little more easily. I'm going to try to speak about the priority of the ark. I'm going to try to speak about its pattern and about its presence, that is, the Lord's presence upon it, its peace, and its positions.

That won't be difficult. First of all, the priority, the instructions were given about it first of all. God began with this ark of the testament when he gave the order for the construction of the tabernacle.

The pattern that he said to Moses, see that thou make all things according to the pattern which was shown to thee in the mount. How many times did God say that? I've never really added them up, but I know it was many, many times.

And Hebrews chapter 3 tells me that Moses did not fail. It says Moses was faithful in all God's house. That refers to the tabernacle. Moses did just what God commanded. He made the tabernacle just according to the pattern that God had given.

God began with the ark, but you know, the ark is the only vessel in the tabernacle that Solomon carried into the temple. Whenever the temple was built a thousand years later, excuse me, no, not a thousand years later, about 450 years later, when the temple was built, Solomon made new vessels to correspond to all the vessels of the tabernacle.

But when it came to the ark of the testament, it was the very ark that went through the wilderness. It was the very ark that was in the tabernacle that went into the temple. That tells me something about that ark.

That vessel was such a holy vessel. It spoke so fully of Christ that the very ark that was in the tabernacle was in the temple as well. Now, its pattern can be divided into three very simple truths. First of all, what was it made of?

Its composition. It was made of acacia wood. Acacia wood was the wood of the desert. It was the wood that grew up out of this dry ground. If you know anything about the desert, you know that the wood that grows in the desert is not very attractive.

I can understand something of the meaning of Isaiah 53, when it says that he shall be a root. He hath no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. The acacia wood was an incorruptible wood.

It grew in the desert, and it was almost impossible to destroy it by rot or corruption. So it's a beautiful picture to us of the perfect humanity of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God for the sinless Savior.

If it were not for a sinless Savior, there'd be no hope for a sinner like me. Another one who was guilty could not have taken my place. Even an angel could not my place have taken. Highest of the high, though he.

It took the Savior, who was sinless and holy, who came from God, who is God himself, the perfect man, to take the guilty sinner's place and suffer in his stead. And the acacia wood tells me of that. He's the incorruptible Christ.

He's the perfect man. And listen, dear believer, when the Lord Jesus became a man, he became something he never was before. And when he became a man, he became something he always will be. To me, that's one of the warmest truths I know.

I'll be linked to that blessed man forever, for he's a man in the glory. The great truth of the epistle to the Hebrews is there's a man already in heaven. How do I know this man will be there? There's a man already there.

There's a man in heaven, my blessed Lord. The acacia wood tells me of his perfect humanity. But that acacia wood of which the ark was made was overlaid with gold. And of course, the gold tells me of his deity.

And you know, the gold that overlaid the acacia wood hid every bit of it. The deity of the Lord Jesus shone forth for those who had eyes to see. I wonder, do we have eyes to see? You see, the gold of Christ is not just his deity.

Let me explain to you what I mean. It's his deity in manifestation. It's Colossians 2 and 9. In that blessed one were manifested all the fullness of God in a body. In him dwelleth all the fullness of God bodily or in a body.

And so in the person of the Lord Jesus, do you want to know about God? Do you want to know God? Then learneth Christ. He fully reveals the Father. So the measurements are given for this ark. And even the measurements are of the greatest importance.

It was two and a half cubits long. It was a cubit and a half high. And it was a cubit and a half wide. Two and a half cubits long would mean that it was about three foot nine inches approximately. And it was about two foot three high.

Nothing very pretentious, is it? Just a box. A box a little under four feet long and a little over two feet high. Not very important looking. Not very big. Utter the glories of Christ. Let me tell you why it was two and a half cubits long and a cubit and a half high.

You know God doesn't give us here a full cubit at all. He gives us two full cubits which speak of testimony and then he adds a half. Do you know why? Because after all the testimony to Christ has been given by all who have ever known him, two is the number of testimony.

After all the testimony to Christ has been given by men and angels and even by the Spirit of God himself, there's more, there's more, there's more that can never be fathomed. I love the two and a half cubits of the Ark of the Testament.

I tell you there's more in Christ than I can ever take in. There's more in Christ than meets my need. In my Father's house there's bread enough and to spare. And in the person of Christ there is more.

Romans chapter 5 says, and not only so, but much more, much more. Listen dear sinner tonight, if every believer in this meeting rose up and told you all they know of Christ, if they were to tell you what he means to them, what he's done for them, and what he's doing for them, and what he's going to do for them, when they were all finished, I would have to say, and not only so, but much more, much more, much more, more than tongue can tell.

No wonder the Queen of Sheba, when she came to see the wisdom of Solomon, there was no spirit left in her. And she said, the half has not been told me. You know, when I see him in the glory and I get one look at the man who bled for me on Calvary, I'll have to say, the half has not been told me.

So the two and a half cubits is a very blessed truth. You know, the Ark was a cubit and a half high, and I know everybody won't be able to take this in. Maybe some of the younger believers will have a little difficulty, but the first, the first vessel that you came to when you entered the tabernacle, the court of the tabernacle was the brazen altar.

That's where the burnt sacrifice was burned. It was three cubits high and in the middle of it hung a great. Now we're told in Exodus chapter 27 and verse five, that the great was exactly in the middle.

How high was that great? A cubit and a half high, a cubit and a half. That's where the burnt offering was burned. That burnt offering speaks of Christ. Ephesians chapter five and verse two, who offered himself without spot to God for a sacrifice and a sweet smelling savor.

And listen, it was the very height of the Ark where the mercy seat sat. You know what that tells me? The work of Christ is so high. It's so great. It's so complete that it brings me right to the throne of God.

Very place where the burnt offering was offered was exactly the same height as the mercy seat on which the blood was sprinkled. Lovely truth. How did Moses figure all this out anyway? Would you tell me please how Moses ever could give us such wondrous truths?

There's only one way to explain it. These people who mock at the Bible ever begin to show them the wonders of this holy book. Where would you ever stop it? Why, they don't know anything about it. No wonder our hearts go out to them in pity.

They're in darkness and we would be like them were it not for the grace of God to us. And so had contents. In the Ark there were the two tables of the law. And the two tables that were in the Ark were unbroken.

Remember when Moses came down from the mount and he broke the two tables at the foot of the mount in Exodus 32? But the two tables that were put into the Ark were unbroken. You know, I can tell you right away what that tells me.

It tells me of the Lord Jesus who fulfilled the law perfectly. It tells me of that one and the law of God was in his heart. Psalm 1. It tells me of the one who met every claim of a broken law too. It tells me of the Savior who was perfect in all he thought, in all he said, in all he did, in all of his life.

It tells me of the righteous ground for mercy because on that Ark sat the mercy seat. So you see, the fact that there were unbroken tables of the law inside it tell me that I can approach because of the blood on the mercy seat.

The grounds of justice are clear. And stern justice now demands no more. And mercy yields her boundless store. Oh, dear sinner tonight, have you ever understood the value of the cross? You're not saved.

Look at that bleeding Savior suffering in agony on the tree. Stern justice demands no more. To heaven he turns his languid eyes. Now the conqueror cries, then bows his sacred head and dies. The golden pot of manna was in there.

And that tells me, of course, that I feast on Christ, a risen Christ, the bread from heaven. And the golden pot of manna was preserved in the Ark. Aaron's rod that budded was there. So it tells me about the fact that I have a resurrected, living Christ at God's right hand.

The mercy seat covered the Ark. It was all of gold. It wasn't made partly of acacia wood and partly of gold. It was all gold. And, of course, it tells me that I have one whose blood has been shed that gives me acceptance before God.

The mercy seat is a lovely truth. I wish I could stop here for a few minutes. The mercy seat, of course, is Christ. Oh, you say, tell me how you know that. Romans chapter 3 and verse 25. Romans 3 and 25 says that God has made him to be a propitiation by faith in his blood.