The Pulpit Commentary — Exodus — Volume 2 — Section 240

( '1,np. xxv., vcrR. 17-22; chap. xxxvii., vers. 6-9.-The mercy seat and the r-hr-r11 1.,·rn. The nrk alrendy indicated as the rcposit.ory of the two tables, is now further mcl1catc1I nR the resting-place of the mercy seRt and the chemhim. Thus there WM pre- "'"_lt>~\ to the thoughts of the people a Divinely constituted whole, a great symboH-:- unity which ~et fort.h the glory and the my•tcry of God's presence as no unaided human cnnecption could b:n•e done, however Rublimo, however sincere. The ark, the mercy seat, and the cherubim once made BIid placed in position, were hidden e.way from the general iz;aze. Dezalcel looked no more upon his handiwork. But though the things behind the veil were them!<elve~ hidden, yet their general character and relations were known. Hidden in one sense, in another senRC they were all the more manifest just because they were hidden. lt we.s perfectly well known that behind the veil God made himself known e.s the God of the commandments, the God of the mercy seat, the God shining forth between the cherubim. 'l'he proximity of the mercy seat to the tables of the law wa,; an excellent way of showing that the requirements inscribed on these tables wore to be no dead letter. If they could not be honoured by a heartfelt and properly corre- ~ponding obedience, then they must be honoured by a heartfelt repentance for trans- gre.-;sion, an adequate propitiation, and AD. honourable forgiveness. There was a place for profound and permanent repentance, and a place for real and signal mercy to the transgressor: but for a slurring over of disobedience there was no_ place at all. Very close indeed are the law AD.d the gospel. The law, when its comprehensiveness and severity are considered, magnifies the gospel; and the gospel, when we consider how emphatically it is proclaimed as being a gospel, magnifies the law. Then we have also to consider what may be signified by the presence of the cherubim ; and surely we sho.ll not go far wrong in connecting these golden fi~es here with the presence of those awful guardians who prevented the return of Adam and Eve to the scene of earthly bliss which they had forfeited. The presence of these cherubim suggested a solemn con- ~ideration of all that man had actually lost; God looking from between the cherubim, was looking as it were from the scene of the ideal human life on earth; that life which might have been the real, if man had only persisted according to the original injunction of his Maker. Thus the cherubim are associated, first with the barrier against return, and then with the working out of a plan for glorious and complete rest.oration. There is here no word of the flaming sword. The cherubim seem t.o be regarded as contemplative rather than active, somewhat as St. Peter phrases it when he speaks of things which the angels desire to look into. Over a,,aainst the delight of those faithful ones who guarded Eden, we must set the thought of those in whose presence there is such inex- pressible joy over the repenting sinner. God looked forth from between these symbols of the unsullied creatures who serve him day and night continually, and towards those people whom, though at present they were disobedient, carnalised, and unsusceptible, be nevertheless called his own. Sinners may be so changed, renewed, and energised as to be joined in the most complete harmony of service even with the cherubim.-Y. Vers. 10--40. What must be found with every soul that is God's dwelling-place:- !. Tm: ARK (vers. 10--22). The pl,a,ce where the Lord m,eets and wmmunes with us. 1. It contained the testimony. The light of the meeting-place with God is the word concerning righteousness and sin. There is no co=union with God if that be left out. 'l'he law which searches and condemns us must be honoured as God's testimony. 2. Between God and the law we have broken is the mercy seat, sin's glorious covering, on which the cherubim--emblems of the highest intelligence and purity of creation-look, and before which we also bow, with adoring awe. 3. Over the mercy seat rests the cloud of God's glory. We shall meet God only as we seek him here. His glory can be fully revealed and the might of his salvation proved here alone. Ii. THE TABLE OF SHEW-BREAD, THE SOUL'S ENTIRE CONSECJIATION. 1. The bread was the emblem of God's people. The twelve cakes represented the twelve tribes. The fruit of the great Husbandman's toil is to be found in us. 2. God's joy is to be found ii, us. The Lord's portion is his people. 3. We are to be prepared and perfected for Li,; presence, and to be for ever before him (ver. 30). III. THE CA.NDLEBTICK, THE EMBLEM OF TBE Loan's PEOPLE, AND THEIR WORLD- rnliVlCE. 1. It is made of pure gold, the only metal that loses nothing, though passed thruugL the fire and whose lllllt.re is never tarnished. 2. It was iho unly light of the  rn. xxv. 10-40.) TIIR nooK OF EXODUS.