Commentary - Exodus 37:1-9

Bird's-eye view

In this chapter, we move from the general contributions of the people to the specific, Spirit-filled craftsmanship of Bezalel. This is not simply a record of an ancient construction project. This is the account of God providing the pattern for His own throne on earth, the place where He would meet with man. The construction of the Ark of the Testimony is described first because it is the heart of the Tabernacle, and the heart of Israel's worship. Every detail, from the type of wood to the placement of the cherubim, is a divine instruction, pregnant with theological meaning. The Ark is a profound foreshadowing of the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the one in whom God's presence truly and finally dwells among us.

What we are reading is a description of the obedient response of a redeemed people. After the great sin with the golden calf, God renewed His covenant, and the tangible fruit of that renewed fellowship is the construction of this dwelling place. This is what grace produces: not lethargy, but careful, glorious, and obedient work for the glory of God. Bezalel, filled with the Spirit, is building the place of atonement, the very object that testifies to both the law of God and the mercy of God.

Outline

Context In Exodus

This section of Exodus (chapters 35-40) details the actual construction of the Tabernacle and its furnishings. This follows the detailed instructions God gave to Moses on the mountain in chapters 25-31. But sandwiched between the divine blueprint and the obedient building is the catastrophic failure of the golden calf in chapter 32, followed by covenant renewal in chapters 33-34. This context is essential. The building of the Tabernacle is not the work of a people trying to earn God's favor. It is the work of a forgiven people, a people brought back into fellowship, who are now joyfully and obediently creating the space for that fellowship to be centered. The glory of God, which they were not worthy to see, is now about to come and dwell in their midst, precisely because a way of atonement has been established.

Commentary

Verse 1

And Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; its length was two and a half cubits, and its width one and a half cubits, and its height one and a half cubits;

The work begins with the man God appointed, Bezalel, whose name means "in the shadow of God." He was filled with the Spirit of God for this very task (Ex. 31:3), making him a type of Christ, the great builder of the true temple, the church. God's work must be done by God's men in God's way. The material is acacia wood, a common desert wood, yet hard and durable. This points to the humanity of Christ. He was taken from among us, a shoot from the stump of Jesse, yet He was without corruption or decay. The dimensions are specified by God. This is not interior design; this is revealed worship. God does not leave the details of how He is to be approached up to us. This is the regulative principle of worship in its seed form. God commands, and we obey. The measurements are precise because our God is a God of order, and His throne is established in righteousness and justice, not chaotic sentiment.

Verse 2

and he overlaid it with pure gold inside and out, and made a gold molding for it all around.

The humble, incorruptible wood is now completely covered with pure gold. This is a glorious picture of the hypostatic union of Christ. The wood, His humanity, is completely encased in gold, His divinity. He is one person, two natures. The gold is not just on the outside, for public display, but on the inside as well. Christ's divinity permeates every aspect of His being. He is glorious through and through, unlike the whitewashed tombs of the Pharisees. The gold molding, or crown, signifies that this is a royal object. This is the throne of the King of all the earth, established in the midst of His people.

Verses 3-5

He cast four rings of gold for it on its four feet; even two rings on one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it. He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry it.

The Ark was not stationary. It was a throne for a God on the move. He was leading His people through the wilderness, and His presence went with them. The rings and poles, also made of this wood-and-gold combination, were for carrying the Ark. This speaks of the pilgrim nature of the people of God. Our God is not an idol confined to a building, but the living God who leads us on our journey. The poles were never to be removed (Ex. 25:15), signifying that God was always ready to move with His people. This points forward to the great mission of the church, carrying the reality of God's presence, the gospel, to the ends of the earth. The throne is stable, resting on four points, but it is also mobile.

Verse 6

He made a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide.

This is the lid of the Ark, but it is far more than a lid. It is the kapporet, the place of atonement. The word is related to the Hebrew word for atonement, kippur. This was the spot where the high priest would sprinkle the blood of the sacrifice on the Day of Atonement. Notice it is made of pure gold. Mercy is entirely a divine reality. Man cannot manufacture it; he can only receive it. Its dimensions perfectly match the Ark, meaning God's mercy perfectly covers the law, which was stored inside the Ark. The law within condemns, but the blood-sprinkled mercy seat above atones.

Verses 7-8

He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered work at the two ends of the mercy seat; one cherub at the one end and one cherub at the other end; from one piece he made the mercy seat with the cherubim at its two ends.

The mercy seat is guarded by two cherubim. These are the guardians of God's holiness. They were placed at the entrance to Eden to block sinful man's way back to the tree of life. Here, they are not blocking the way, but rather guarding the place where God meets with man through blood. They are made of hammered work, not cast from a mold. This suggests an intense, shaping, difficult work. Access to God's holy presence is costly. And they are made from one piece with the mercy seat. This is critical. God's holiness (represented by the cherubim) and His mercy (the mercy seat) are not two separate attributes that are somehow in tension. They are one. God is merciful as a holy God, and holy as a merciful God. You cannot approach His mercy while ignoring His holiness.

Verse 9

The cherubim had their wings spread upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward each other; the faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.

The posture of the cherubim is one of worship and awe. Their wings are spread upward, acknowledging the transcendent God who is enthroned above them. Their faces are toward each other, indicating the harmony and fellowship of the heavenly host. But most importantly, their faces are directed downward, toward the mercy seat. What is it that captures the gaze of these glorious, holy beings? It is the place of atonement. It is the spot where the blood is applied. This is a beautiful prefiguring of what the apostle Peter says, that the angels long to look into the realities of our salvation (1 Peter 1:12). The central drama of all creation, the focus of heaven's attention, is the place where God's justice and mercy meet in the shedding of blood. It is a spectacle of eternal wonder.

Application

We are not called to build a physical ark today. The reality to which the Ark pointed has come. Jesus Christ is the true Ark, the one in whom the fullness of deity dwells bodily (Col. 2:9). He is both man (acacia wood) and God (pure gold). He is our mercy seat, our propitiation, the place where the blood was shed for our sins (Rom. 3:25). God's law, which condemns us, is perfectly fulfilled in Him.

Because of Christ, we do not approach a throne guarded by fearsome cherubim, but we are invited to "draw near with confidence to the throne of grace" (Heb. 4:16). That throne of grace is the antitype of this mercy seat. Our worship, like the construction of the Ark, must be according to God's Word, not our own inventions. And our lives, like the work of Bezalel, are to be Spirit-filled acts of obedience, building up the true temple of God, which is the church, for His glory.

The central focus of our lives, our worship, and our proclamation must be what captivated the cherubim: the mercy seat. We must be perpetually gazing in wonder at the cross of Jesus Christ, where the holy justice of God was satisfied and the glorious mercy of God was poured out for sinners.