Exodus Chapter 37
The furniture inside the tabernacle was very limited but very special. Each piece had a specific purpose that God intended to be a reminder of His presence and a reminder of His worthiness of worship. There was only one piece of furniture that was kept inside the Holy of Holies and that was the Ark of the Testament. It was the Ark of the Testament (or the Ark of the Covenant) that was the furniture piece where God would rest and dwell with the people. God told them that He would dwell with them on the Mercy Seat. The Mercy Seat was the covering placed over the box that would hold the “Testimony” or the tablets of the Ten Commandments. We could literally say that mercy covered the laws that man could not keep.
Let's Reflect
1. The ark was made of acacia wood overlaid in gold. What was the Mercy Seat made of?
2. This was not a big box but would have been heavy because of the gold. What design was instilled in the craftsmanship to make carrying the piece easier?
3. What two items were crafted and placed opposite each other on the Mercy Seat?
4. The next piece of furniture mentioned is the Table of the Bread of the Presence. This table held 12 loaves of bread baked the day before the Sabbath. On the Sabbath the priests would eat the bread from the week prior. Since we know that a cubit is somewhere between 17 and 19 inches (the length of a man’s forearm from elbow to tip of his longest finger), we can see that this was not a big table. What strikes me as peculiar is the height of the table. What was it?
5. What were the vessels covered in that were used on this table?
6. And just as God had instructed, they also made the lampstand. This lampstand had 7 candle holders and was made from one solid piece of gold. We don’t know how big the lampstand was, but we do know that it would have been quite heavy as it was made from a __________________ of pure gold. This would be about 75 pounds.
7. The last article mentioned in this chapter is the altar of incense. It too was small but heavy because it was overlaid with pure gold. What shape was this piece of furniture?
All of these items were created just as God had instructed. We can look back in previous chapters and read about the instructions God gave to Moses, who then passed the instructions on to skilled craftsmen. All pieces in the tabernacle were designed exactly as the Great Designer had instructed them to be.
