The Place of Meeting with God

“You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the testimony which I will give to you. There I will meet with you; and from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony, I will speak to you about all that I will give you in commandment for the sons of Israel” (Exodus 25:21-22).

When God led His people out of Egypt’s bondage, He initiated the building of a tabernacle so there would be a recognizable place where He would meet with and speak to them.Every single thing about this tabernacle was by His design, and each part had perfect meaning and purpose.In the holiest, inner portion of this tabernacle was the ark of the covenant—the most sacred piece of furniture built. And on the top was what God designated as the mercy seat.Literally that means the “propitiary” or “atonement” seat. Big word. massive meaning.

Gracious Mercy

Atone means to “cover over, propitiate, pacify.” It means that the sins which were once seen and that created our true guilt are covered by God.It is fascinating and instructive that this was the place where God said, “There I will meet with you.”God is everywhere, but in the legal sense for God and His people, this is the only place we can encounter Him—at the place of His mercy, at the place of His atonement.There our sins are covered. There we are clean before Him. There we are covered.Because of Christ, the veil was torn from that holy of holies, and now we can enter and experience the presence of Christ Jesus all the time. Our sins are covered, atoned for by His sacrifice.

Never Forget

Those of us who are crying out for revival and spiritual awakening take meeting with God seriously. But, if we are not careful, we could enter His presence with little thought of what has happened to allow us to approach His throne.Remember this each moment you approach Him, and come in humble gratitude. It cost the life of Christ, the sacrifice of the sinless Lamb of God, for this to occur ... and it is an amazing act of His mercy that it happens at all.