But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
—1 Peter 2:9–10
When the priest walked behind the veil, he was in the presence of the Lord. The holy of holies was the location of the manifest presence of the Lord on the earth. It was the place where heaven came to earth. The holy of holies, the realm of no explanation, is the final destination in the journey through the tabernacle.
Remember, there was no light source inside the holy of holies—other than the glory of the Lord. There was no sunlight like in the outer court. There was no lamplight like in the inner court, or holy place. There was just the glory. Do you know what that tells me? No matter how dark your circumstances, no matter how deep the hole you have dug for yourself, no matter how dim your outlook, no matter how dismal your life seems, the glory of the Lord can light it up!
The Word says, “In [Jesus] was life, and the life was the light of mankind. The light shines in darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4–5, MEV). That means there is no darkness so dark or deep that the light and love and glory of the King of kings and Lord of lords can’t light it up. Light always overcomes the dark.
Beyond the veil, inside the holy of holies was just one piece of furniture: the ark of the covenant, or the ark of the testimony. The mercy seat rested on top of the ark of the covenant. The Lord told Moses how to make the ark:
And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around. You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them. The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. And you shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you.
—Exodus 25:10–16
The ark of the covenant represents the throne of God on the earth. The Bible says that it is overlaid with gold, inside and out. The gold represents God’s goodness and mercy. God is good inside and out. God is always good. He is always worthy.
Order Jim Raley’s New Book, “The Realm of No Explanation” on Amazon.com!
The ark had four corners, each with a gold ring, so there were four gold rings. We’ve already talked about how the number four points us toward the Gospels. The Gospels of Jesus Christ—Matthew, Mark, Luke and John—recall the goodness of God’s mercy and grace through the manifestation of Jesus:
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. …And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. …“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”
—John 1:14, 16–17; 3:16–17
The Gospels tell us that we come to mercy not because we deserve it but because of God’s amazing grace. They tell us that we have everything we have not because we’re so good or because we’ve got it going on, but instead because of the goodness of our great God.
The gospel, the good news of the saving and redeeming work of Jesus Christ, is what changes lives. It’s the gospel that has the power to change us. The gospel changed my life. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ, the risen Son of God, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world, then the gospel changed your life too. When you have Jesus, things change. Your life changes. You change.
I know I wouldn’t be here without Jesus and His gospel. I know it’s the gospel that has made me who I am. I know that it was Jesus who made me who I am. I know that it was the Savior, the Healer, the Redeemer, the Provider, the Ancient of Days. I know it was the One called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. He is God Almighty, the God who sees, the Lord who sanctifies, the Lord our banner. He is the captain of the host of heaven, the living Word, our living hope, the Rock of
our salvation. He is the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. He is the way, the truth, and the life. He is Messiah. He is Immanuel, God with us. He is Jesus, and there is none like Him.
The four corners on the ark of the covenant also represent the four cardinal directions: north, south, east,
and west. You know what that tells me? Because the mercy seat is right on top of the ark, there’s nowhere mercy can’t go. It doesn’t matter how far you get away from God; mercy will run you down. It doesn’t matter how lost people are; mercy will go where they are. Mercy will go from Alabama to Alaska, from Argentina to Austria, and from Australia to Africa. Mercy makes all the difference in the world, all over the world. It can go anywhere, from the back room to the boardroom to the classroom. It will go from God’s house to the crack house to the White House. It will go from the front row to skid row to death row. Hallelujah!
In the Ark
Inside the ark, underneath the mercy seat, were three things: the two stone tablets with the Ten Commandments written on them, a golden jar of the manna the Lord provided for the children of Israel when they were wandering in the wilderness, and Aaron’s rod that budded.
God gave the Ten Commandments to Moses knowing full well that humanity would struggle to keep them. He knew we could not flawlessly keep the Law. You can act religious if you want to, like you have it all together and you never sin. But the truth is all of us have sinned. All of us have struggled to keep even the most basic commandments.
You might say, “Well, I’ve never killed anybody,” but the Word says, “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer” (1 John 3:15). You might say, “I’ve never committed adultery,” but have you lusted after someone in your heart? Jesus said, “But I say to you that whoever looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Matt. 5:28). At one time or another we have all lied. We have all lusted. We have all envied. We have all hated. We have all said things we shouldn’t. We have all let things in our hearts that shouldn’t be there. None of us is perfect.
So the Lord put those commandments in the ark of the covenant to show you and me that we need another source, to show us that we cannot be flawless, cannot be perfect. But do you know what He did after He had Moses put the Ten Commandments in the ark? He put mercy over the top of them. He knew that we would struggle. He knew that we would fall. He knew that we would fail. He knew that we would miss the mark. He knew that we would cross the line. Mercy was in His plan all along. I’m here today only
because a loving God put mercy over the top of my failures. I praise Him for His abundant mercy that covers all my sin!
Miracle Provision
Next in the ark of the covenant was the golden jar of manna. It represents God’s miracle mercy provision. It doesn’t represent that the Israelites were perfect. It doesn’t represent that they deserved God’s
provision. The manna was God’s way of saying, “Even when you’re losing your mind, even when you’re doubting, even when you’re turning your back on Me, even when you’re not being who you ought to be, even when you forget Me, I won’t forget you. I’ll keep providing for you. I’ll keep making a way for you. I’ll keep bringing you manna in the morning. I’ll keep opening doors for you until you realize that you didn’t get there by yourself.”
I can tell you right now, I’m where I am today only because of the miracle mercy manifestation of God’s
provision in my life. God was good to me even when I wasn’t good to Him. God was faithful to me even when I wasn’t faithful to Him. God provided even when I lost my mind and lost my way. Manna still fell from heaven in my life. I still had food on the table. I still had family that loved me. At the mercy seat we’re reminded of God’s faithfulness and provision even when we don’t deserve it.
Here’s one other thing to remember about the manna: God’s miracle mercy provision doesn’t always look the way we expect it to look. When the children of Israel were wandering in the wilderness and God first provided them manna for food, they had no idea what it was. In fact, the Hebrew word for manna means “What is it?”
When the Israelites needed God to provide food in the wilderness, they didn’t expect manna—but manna was exactly what they needed. Manna had 100 percent of the recommended daily nutrients for wandering in the wilderness. Has God ever provided something for you that was not what you expected? I know He has for me. But even though it wasn’t what I expected, it was exactly what I needed.
Philippians 4:19 says, “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” The manna in the golden jar is a reminder that we can trust Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who provides, to keep His promise to provide for us. That makes me want to stop and give God praise for His goodness.
Power, Life and Freedom
The final thing in the ark of the covenant underneath the mercy seat was Aaron’s rod that budded. This is amazing to me. Do you remember the story of when Moses and Aaron went before Pharaoh? God knew Pharaoh was going to ask for a miracle to back up their claims that the Lord had sent them.
Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Show a miracle for yourselves,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your rod and cast it before Pharaoh, and let it become a serpent.’” So Moses and Aaron went in to Pharaoh, and they did so, just as the Lord commanded. And Aaron cast down his rod before Pharaoh and before his servants, and it became a serpent.
Pharaoh called in his sorcerers and magicians, and their rods became snakes when they threw them down too. But do you remember what happened next? The snake that was Aaron’s rod swallowed up all the other snakes. The power of God triumphed over the power of the devil.
The fact that Aaron’s rod is in the ark with the stone tablets and the jar of manna points us to this reality: The mercy seat gives us power over the devil. The mercy seat gives us power over the enemy. If it weren’t for God’s miracle mercy, the snakes would have killed you a long time ago. They would have sunk their fangs into you or choked the life out of you or swallowed you right up. Oh, but we have mercy.
Lamentations 3:22 says, “Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not.” Because of His great mercy, the Lord isn’t going to let the devil consume you. He isn’t going to let the enemy choke the life out of you. He isn’t going to let the enemy poison your joy. Many times you should have been defeated, but God’s mercy gave you victory and swallowed every attack of the enemy.
Everything may not be perfect in your life, but if the devil had had his way, you would have been defeated and destroyed and consumed long ago. The devil came to steal, kill, and destroy. But God came to give you life—and not just any kind of life but abundant life. He came to give you hope. He came to give you joy. He came to give you purpose. And oh, precious, He came to show you mercy. And because of that mercy, you can walk in victory.
Because of God’s mercy, you are more than a conqueror. It is all because of His mercy. It’s not because of your goodness. It’s not because of your money. It’s not because of your skin color. It’s not because of your education or your good looks or your big accomplishments in life. It’s all because of His mercy. God’s mercy swallowed up the attack of the enemy in your life.
Aaron’s rod was used over and over again when the Lord was delivering the children of Israel from their bondage in Egypt. That is a good reminder, too. Because of His mercy, God doesn’t want His children living in bondage. His miracle mercy can set you free. So I ask you, what are you in bondage to? What is holding you captive? Whatever it is—drug addiction, pornography, envy, anxiety, depression, rejection, etc.—there is freedom waiting at the mercy seat. Whatever it is, God’s mercy has it covered.
We know that everything in the tabernacle points to Jesus Christ. Galatians 5:1 says, “It was for freedom that Christ set us free” (NASB). Your freedom has already been bought and paid for. You have already been set free by the finished work of Jesus on the cross, so it’s time to walk in that freedom. It’s time to walk in victory.
Jim Raley came to Calvary Christian Center in 1997. Prior to coming to Calvary, Pastor Raley traveled as a full-time evangelist. His desire has always been to see people saved and transformed by the power of Jesus Christ. Evangelism being his heart, Calvary Christian Center launched many outreaches in the community, where we have seen thousands of lives changed, healed, and restored. Calvary has flourished into a multi-generational and diverse house that seeks to experience the Spirit, embrace the lost, and live the life. His new book, The Realm of No Explanation, is available on Amazon.com.
