THE MERCY SEAT

The mercy seat is first introduced in Exodus 25:10-22. This is part of a larger passage that is dealing with the construction of the tabernacle and its furnishings. These thirteen verses describe what came to be known as the ark of the covenant. The first few verses describe the ark itself – a wooden box that is about 45 inches long and 27 inches wide and tall. It has legs, rings, and carrying poles, and is overlaid with gold. Contained within the ark were the stone tablets with the words of the covenant written on them.