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Exodus 25:16-21

King James Version (KJV)

“In our prayers we talk to God, in our Bible study God talks to us, and we had better let God do most of the talking.”
— D.L. Moody

Scripture focus

16. And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee. 17. And thou shalt make a mercy seat [of] pure gold: two cubits and a half [shall be] the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. 18. And thou shalt make two cherubims [of] gold, [of] beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. 19. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: [even] of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. 20. And the cherubims shall stretch forth [their] wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces [shall look] one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. 21. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.

Exodus 25:16-21 — KJV

Commentary

Commentary on Exodus 25:16

Theological / Devotional

The testimony. That is, the two tables of stone containing the Ten Commandments (Exodus 30:6; 31:18; 32:15, 16). The main purpose of the ark was to serve as a repository for the holy law of God. Because the tables of stone were a transcript of the character and will of God, and were, furthermore, inscribed by God’s own hand, they were honored as the most sacred object in the sanctuary. The latter was therefore called the “tabernacle of testimony” (Exodus 38:21; Numbers 9:15; etc.). The law was also known as “the covenant” (Deuteronomy 4:12, 13; 9:9-15), and the ark was therefore commonly called the “ark of the covenant” (Deuteronomy 31:26; Hebrews 9:4; etc.).

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