the ark of the testimony with its poles, the mercy seat,
Parallel translations
- KJV The ark of the testimony, and the staves thereof, and the mercy seat,
- BSB the ark of the Testimony with its poles and the mercy seat;
- NKJV the ark of the Testimony with its poles, and the mercy seat;
- NASB the ark of the testimony, its poles, and the atoning cover;
- NLT the Ark of the Covenant and its carrying poles; the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement;
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
They brought the ark of the testimony with its poles and the mercy seat. The central, holiest object was presented.
Overview
The ark held the tablets of the covenant law, and over it sat the mercy seat where atonement blood was sprinkled and God promised to meet Israel. Together they were the focal point of the sanctuary, where law and mercy met. The mercy seat foreshadows Christ, whom Scripture calls the propitiation, the place where God's justice and grace are reconciled (Romans 3:25).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Heb 9:8The Holy Spirit is indicating this, that the way into the Holy Place wasn’t yet revealed while the first tabernacle was still standing;
- Exod 25:17You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its width.
- Heb 9:5and above it cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat, of which things we can’t speak now in detail.
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Christ at the center
The Passover lamb whose blood turns away death, the exodus through the sea, the manna, the rock, and the tabernacle where God dwells with his people all foreshadow Jesus — our Passover, our redemption, the bread from heaven, and God-with-us in the flesh.
How Exodus 39:35 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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