37 Now Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; its length was two and a half [a]cubits, and its width one and a half cubits, and its height one and a half cubits; 2 and he overlaid it with pure gold inside and out, and made a gold molding for it all around. 3 He cast four rings of gold for it on its four feet; even two rings on one side of it, and two rings on the [b]other side of it. 4 He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. 5 He put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, to carry [c]it. 6 He made a [d]mercy seat of pure gold, two and a half cubits [e]long and one and a half cubits [f]wide. 7 He made two cherubim of gold; he made them of hammered work [g]at the two ends of the mercy seat; 8 one cherub [h]at the one end and one cherub [i]at the other end; he made the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat [j]at the two ends. 9 The cherubim had their wings spread upward, covering the[k]mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward each other; the faces of the cherubim were toward the mercy seat.
Here we see the fashioning of the ark and the mercy seat (which would sit on top of the ark. This would be the very place where God would come down and “sit” to grant mercy to His people in exchange for their sacrifices. Mercy being defined as “holding back that which is rightfully deserved.” For what have you been granted mercy this day? It is astounding to think that every day His mercies are renewed, and thank God for that, in light of mankind’s propensity to abound in sin. Indeed, thank God for that.