The Mercy Seat in the Bible

The mercy seat was the golden cover that overlaid the ark of the covenant, the place where God came to meet his people and where atonement for sin was accomplished. Exodus 25:17-22 describes this seat of mercy placed upon the ark, overshadowed by two cherubim, from which the LORD spoke to Moses: "there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat" (Exodus 25:22). Once a year, on the Day of Atonement, the high priest sprinkled the blood upon this mercy seat (Leviticus 16), picturing the pardon granted to a guilty people. Far from being a mere object of worship, this place announced a greater reality. Romans 3:25 reveals that God set forth Jesus Christ "to be a propitiation through faith in his blood." In him, the justice and the mercy of God meet: the Lord does not turn a blind eye to sin, but he atones for it by giving up his own Son. The mercy seat thus becomes the meeting point where the sinner can draw near to the holy God without being consumed. These verses teach that forgiveness is never an arbitrary favor, but the fruit of a sacrifice. In Christ we have free access to the Father, for the blood that was shed opened the way once for all. The believer may therefore come boldly to the throne of grace (Hebrews 4:16), knowing that God receives him in his beloved Son.