Exodus 25:17 You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits long and one and a half cubits wide.
The mercy seat is the cover or lid for the Ark of the Covenant.
The Hebrew word for “mercy seat” is kapporeth. Per Strong’s Concordance it means: mercy seat, place of atonement; the golden plate of propitiation on which the High Priest sprinkled the seat 7 times on the Day of Atonement symbolically reconciling Jehovah and His chosen people; on the lid were two golden cherubim facing each other whose outstretched wings came together.
The Hebrew word kapporeth comes from kopher (means propitiatory or substitution).
The mercy seat or the lid of the Ark is a substitution for the covering of sin.
Leviticus 16:15b-16 and bring its blood inside the veil and do with its blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and in front of the mercy seat. He shall make atonement for the holy place, because of the impurities of the sons of Israel and because of their transgressions in regard to all their sins; and thus he shall do for the tent of meeting which abides with them in the midst of their impurities.
For God, the shedding of innocent blood on the mercy seat is a satisfactory substitution for sin. Only the High Priest can make the sacrifice in the presence of God.
Jesus is our High Priest. Hebrews 4:14 Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.
Christ’s blood is the fulfillment of the substitution. His shed blood satisfies the just nature of God. This is the only appeasement. There has to be a payment for all sin. 1 John 2:2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for those of the whole world.
Jesus Christ is the mercy seat. This gift is received only by faith. Nothing you can do.
Romans 3:25 whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.
Leviticus 16:17 When he goes in to make atonement in the holy place, no one shall be in the tent of meeting until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself and for his household and for all the assembly of Israel.
These directions were given to Moses approximately 1,500 years before Christ. They were carried out annually by the earthly high priest of Israel as directed in an earthly tabernacle. Jesus alone is the One who makes atonement in the heavenly Tabernacle before God.
Hebrews 9:11-12 But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things to come, He entered through the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this creation; and not through the blood of goats and calves, but through His own blood, He entered the holy place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.
John 20:11-12 But Mary (Magdelene) was standing outside the tomb weeping; and so, as she wept, she stooped and looked into the tomb; and she saw two angels in white sitting, one at the head and one at the feet, where the body of Jesus had been lying.
