Exodus 37:1     

 

 

 

The Bible says in Exodus 37:1-5, “And Bezaleel made the ark of shittim wood: two cubits and a half was the length of it, and a cubit and a half the breadth of it, and a cubit and a half the height of it: And he overlaid it with pure gold within and without, and made a crown of gold to it round about. And he cast for it four rings of gold, to be set by the four corners of it; even two rings upon the one side of it, and two rings upon the other side of it. And he made staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold. And he put the staves into the rings by the sides of the ark, to bear the ark The ark was a container. What was important about the ark was what was placed in it. Perhaps the most significant thing placed within the ark was the tables of stone that had the Ten Commandments written upon them.

 

Notice that Numbers 10:33 calls it the “ark of the covenant.” It says, “And they departed from the mount of the LORD three days' journey: and the ark of the covenant of the LORD went before them in the three days' journey, to search out a resting place for them.” The important thing was not that you had an ark, but that you had a covenant. The fact that the ark went in front of the entire people of Israel, symbolized the fact that the covenant of the Law was supposed to be their guiding principles. The people of Israel had agreed and had covenanted with God that they would obey the Law of Moses. The Ten Commandments were the central precepts of the Law, and the Ten Commandments represented all the rest of the Law. You had better be careful how you emphasize the Ten Commandments, because the Ten Commandments represent the Old Testament Law, and the law brings a curse. Jesus saves, and Jesus delivers from the curse. John 1:17 says, “For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.” The Bible says in Galatians 3:13, “Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree.”

 

The ark of the covenant represents the law, which reminds us of our sinfulness and inability to keep the law. Therefore, we rely upon God’s mercy to us. It says in Exodus 37:6-9, “And he made the mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half was the length thereof, and one cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And he made two cherubims of gold, beaten out of one piece made he them, on the two ends of the mercy seat; One cherub on the end on this side, and another cherub on the other end on that side: out of the mercy seat made he the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims spread out their wings on high, and covered with their wings over the mercy seat, with their faces one to another; even to the mercy seatward were the faces of the cherubims.” This is the ark of the covenant. We know what is inside the ark: the Ten Commandments, which represent the law. As we think of the law, we must also think of the truth that we have not kept the law. We have failed, and we have sinned. Therefore, we are all guilty sinners. It says in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” How fortunate we are that our God is a merciful God. Because of the sacrifice of Jesus, the Lord is always ready and willing to forgive. No matter how much we have failed at keeping the holy law of God, He will always forgive us, if we repent and pray to Jesus for forgiveness.

 

If all that we had was the law inside of the ark, we would have no hope because our hope is in Christ and what He has done for us. We would face the judgment of God in the guilt of our sins. But thank God when He commanded that the ark be built and the Ten Commandments be placed within the ark, God also commanded that the mercy seat be placed upon the top of the ark. In that way the Israelites would be reminded of God’s mercy even before they saw inside the ark and were reminded of the law. In order to help people’s thoughts to be drawn to the mercy seat, God commanded that two cherubim be created, one on each side of the mercy seat, and each one facing the mercy seat which was between them. The cherubim were pointing to the mercy seat by the way that they were facing. Experiencing the mercy of God through faith in Jesus Christ is critically important because it is the way to heaven. That is why in Luke 18:13 that Jesus pointed to the example of the publican who humbly bowed his head and prayed. Jesus said, “And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.” 

 

To be merciful means to withhold punishment even though punishment is deserved. There is no doubt that God is merciful. It says in Exodus 34:6-7, “And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.” It also says in Deuteronomy 4:31, “(For the LORD thy God is a merciful God;) he will not forsake thee, neither destroy thee, nor forget the covenant of thy fathers which he sware unto them.” And the Bible also says in Psalm 116:5, “Gracious is the LORD, and righteous; yea, our God is merciful.” There is no doubt that Jesus is merciful. The only question is: will you see your own need to seek and to receive His mercy? 

 

Exodus 37:10-15 tells us about a table within the tabernacle. It says, “And he made the table of shittim wood: two cubits was the length thereof, and a cubit the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof: And he overlaid it with pure gold, and made thereunto a crown of gold round about. Also he made thereunto a border of an handbreadth round about; and made a crown of gold for the border thereof round about. And he cast for it four rings of gold, and put the rings upon the four corners that were in the four feet thereof. Over against the border were the rings, the places for the staves to bear the table. And he made the staves of shittim wood, and overlaid them with gold, to bear the table.” The ark had no significance in and of itself, but what was placed inside the ark made its significance. The same is true of the table. The table itself had no significance, but the objects that were placed upon the table did.

 

Concerning one of the objects that was always placed on the table, God said in Exodus 25:30, “And thou shalt set upon the table showbread before me always.” The word “showbread” refers to simple ordinary bread. It was not a special type of bread: it was just your average piece of bread or loaf of bread. By seeing an ordinary loaf of bread on the table, we are reminded that God has promised to supply our needs. Jesus made the same teaching when Jesus said in Matthew 6:11 that we should always pray to the Lord, “Give us this day our daily bread.” Jesus also said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” We should remember the promise that the Lord has made to provide our needs. By remembering His promise, we will not worry about our future. And by remembering His promise, we will have the proper thankfulness to Him for what He has given to us.

 

Of course, bread has an important symbolic and spiritual meaning to it. Jesus provides our physical needs, and He also provides our spiritual needs. Jesus is the spiritual bread. Jesus said in John 6:35, “I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger…” The real significance of what people call “communion” has to do with the fact that bread is symbolic of Jesus Christ Himself. If you have “received” Christ through spiritual contact with Him, then you have already received the bread of life. That is what Jesus was talking about in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If any man hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me   

 

Exodus 37:17-18 tells us about a golden candlestick that was placed within the tabernacle. It says, “And he made the candlestick of pure gold: of beaten work made he the candlestick; his shaft, and his branch, his bowls, his knops, and his flowers, were of the same: And six branches going out of the sides thereof; three branches of the candlestick out of the one side thereof, and three branches of the candlestick out of the other side thereof.” Of course, the candlestick gives off light. Because there were no windows in the tabernacle, this candlestick was the only source of light. From a spiritual standpoint Jesus is the only source of true light to reveal to us the knowledge of God. Jesus is the manifestation of God in the flesh. That is why it says in John 1:1-9, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men through him might believe. He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world

 

There is an interesting correlation between the golden candlestick with seven branches, and the seven golden candlesticks described in Revelation 1:12 where John wrote, “And I turned to see the voice that spake with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks.” In Revelation 1:20 Jesus said to John, “The mystery of the seven stars which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches: and the seven candlesticks which thou sawest are the seven churches.” By the time that the book of Revelation had been written, the spiritual purpose for the tabernacle and what it represented as a witness to the world, had been replaced by the believers who are together known as the church of Jesus Christ. We who believe in Jesus become His lights in this world. Jesus is the Light, and then we reflect His Light as we trust in Him and do His will. We are talking about the work of fulfilling the Great Commission. It is simply a matter of letting your light shine in a dark world.

 

Once we believe on Jesus, He wants us to grow in faith and understanding so that we can be lights for Him. Jesus is interested in bringing all people to faith in Himself. Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”   

 

 

 

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Copyright; 2011 by Charles F. (Rick) Creech
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