“and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail” (Hebrews 9:5).
Many of us probably know someone who likes to digress into unrelated topics when conversing with others. That prospect seemed to concern the author of Hebrews as he reviewed the various items related to the Tabernacle here in chapter nine. While our author might have taken the opportunity to discuss those elements in greater detail, he was unwilling to divert his audience’s attention from the subject at hand.
In this instance, the subject at hand involved the symbolic aspects of the tabernacle and its furnishings as they related to Christ. One such item was the mercy seat mentioned earlier. While the mercy seat offered a powerful image of a sovereign authority who pardoned the sins of His people, the underlying significance of this term is even more important.
In the original language of Hebrews 9:5, the term “mercy seat” is associated with the word “propitiation.” This is an important Biblical concept that refers to the satisfaction of God’s justice and the appeasement of His righteous anger towards those who have broken His laws. It also conveys the idea of “paying the price” that was necessary to reconcile sinful human beings with the God who created them.
These definitions direct our attention to Jesus and His sacrificial work on our behalf. He was the one who willingly paid the price that secures eternal salvation for sinful human beings. The New Testament book of Romans discusses this key Biblical doctrine in a familiar portion of Scripture…
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith…” (Romans 3:23-25 ESV).
To this, the Biblical epistle of 1 John adds…
“In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation [that is, the atoning sacrifice, and the satisfying offering] for our sins [fulfilling God’s requirement for justice against sin and placating His wrath]” (1 John 4:10 AMP).
So, while it surely would have been fascinating to join our author in a detailed analysis of the tabernacle and its furnishings, our inspired author chose to stay on point in using those elements to illustrate the access to God that is available through Jesus’ atoning sacrifice.