(Exodus) Exodus 25:10-19

Now, I want to read the instructions here because we're approaching this from God's viewpoint from the inside looking out. Now, I'm reading. Verse 10, Exodus 25, And they shall make an ark of chitim wood.

Two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. Now, let me pause a moment for us to look at this matter of what is a cubit? That is, how long is a cubit? Well, I do not know. There are many explanations given, anything from 12 inches up to about 30-some-odd inches.

Well, I have a notion that they didn't have a yardstick in that there, a tape measure. The way they really measured was from the tip of the finger, of the middle finger, all the way back to the elbow. Now, you measure yours, and you will find out it's about 18 inches.

Now, if you're a short person, it won't be that long. If you're a tall person, it'll be longer than that. But approximately, it's 18 inches.

You can well understand that if a man's running a dry goods store in that day and he's going to buy goods, why, he'd have as a buyer a big tall fella with a long reach from the elbow back up to that middle finger. But when he was selling the stuff, why, he'd get little short folk to be his sales people, and it wouldn't be so far. You could see how he could work a thing like that.

So evidently, a cubit varied, and that's the reason I think we come up with so many explanations. But it was approximately 18 inches, and I think we can more or less settle on 18 inches and say that it was 18 inches. Now, that would mean that the tabernacle itself was 30 cubits, which would mean 45 feet.

Our 10 across would mean 15 feet. So that everything, if it is to be put into terms of our measurement today of foot, then we come up with something else. So that two and a half cubits, well, that would be, and I'll almost let you figure that one out, because the two cubits, you see, that would be the yard there, and the half would be then about nine inches, so that it would be put on that kind of basis.

But now I'm going to keep it in terms of the cubit and then let you think in terms of the foot for the very simple reason that it'll be easy for me to do that, and I'll let you do the figuring, that is, if you want to get some conception of exactly what size it was. Now, again, may I say that this ark was God's throne. He didn't sit on it.

He dwelt between the cherry beams, which were right above it. But God didn't touch down in the tabernacle. It wasn't his dwelling place.

It's a place where he could dwell to meet with the children of Israel. In other words, it was a place for them to approach God. And the tabernacle speaks of Christ.

You and I come through a mediator to God today. And that mediator, of course, is Christ. And you and I come through him.

Now, this is the sanctum sanctorum of the tabernacle, the ark here. And now you're not going to find this very interesting, and you'll think I got a lot of nerve reading these instructions. But I'm going to read them, and I hope not too many of you will tune out.

Verse 10, And they shall make an ark of chitin wood, two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, a cubit and a half the breadth thereof, and a cubit and a half the height thereof. And thou shalt overlay it with pure gold, within and without shalt thou overlay it, and shall make upon it a crown of gold round about. And thou shalt cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in the four corners thereof.

And two rings shall be in one side of it, and two rings in the other side of it. And thou shalt make staves of chitin wood, and overlay them with gold. Thou shalt put the staves in the rings by the sides of the ark, that the ark may be born with them.

Now, you see, the tabernacle was for the wilderness march, and it was taken down when they were ready to march. It was put together when they came into camp. And we're going to see when we get the book of Numbers how orderly that was.

And it was something that would be quite amazing to see them put it together. Rings were put there to put the staves through, and then the staves, a long pole put through, put on the shoulders of the priests, and they would carry these articles of furniture through the wilderness. And that was the purpose for them.

Now, together with the ark, there went a mercy seat. Now, it's a separate article of furniture, but it was nothing in the world but a top for the box. 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. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold of beaten work, shalt thou make them in the two ends of the mercy seat, and make one cherub on 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.