God's Chair

Moses proceeded to do everything just as the LORD had commanded him. So the Tabernacle was set up on the first day of the first month of the second year. Moses erected the Tabernacle by setting down its bases, inserting the frames, attaching the crossbars, and setting up the posts. Then he spread the coverings over the Tabernacle framework and put on the protective layers, just as the LORD had commanded him. He took the stone tablets inscribed with the terms of the covenant and placed them inside the Ark. Then he attached the carrying poles to the Ark, and he set the Ark’s cover—the place of atonement—on top of it. Then he brought the Ark of the Covenant into the Tabernacle and hung the inner curtain to shield it from view, just as the LORD had commanded him. Next Moses placed the table in the Tabernacle, along the north side of the Holy Place, just outside the inner curtain. And he arranged the Bread of the Presence on the table before the LORD, just as the LORD had commanded him. [Exodus 40.16-23]

It's funny sometimes how we read something over and over without understanding all that it is saying...

I guess it had never occurred to me that the Ark of the Covenant sat on the ground. 

Because of the order in which the Tabernacle objects are always explained in the Bible, I always just assumed the "table" (always mentioned after the Ark) was for the Ark to sit on (since the Ark was only 27" tall plus the height of the covering Mercy Seat with the cherubim on it). 

The table mentioned above was not even inside the Most Holy Place. Instead, it was on the north wall just outside the Most Holy Place. It was not brought into the Tabernacle until after the Ark. The Bread of the Presence was on this table, not the Ark.

So, what is the significance of the Ark sitting on the ground?

Well, for one thing, the Mercy Seat (the Ark's "lid," if you will) is the place where God met with the High Priest. It makes sense that the Mercy Seat served as a chair for God. Most chairs today are around 16" above the ground, but God's "chair" was 27" above the ground which seems reasonable because it is, after all, God's chair and would naturally be elevated like a throne.

In understandable terms, God's chair would, like all chairs, sit on the ground. You just don't sit a chair on a table.

What does this all mean? I think it is worth understanding that the Mercy Seat would necessarily need to be on the ground to serve as God's chair - the place God sits to meet with the High Priest - the Place of Atonement. To sit the Ark on a table makes it an object more to 'contain' God rather than a place for Him to sit. For the Ark to sit on the ground is a direct acknowledgement that God is in the place and "this is His chair."

The Ark, holy as it was (is?), was in no way to be seen as an object to be worshiped. Instead, the Ark served as God's chair. How silly would it be to worship a chair! But be sure of this, that was "Father's Chair" and no one was to even touch it, let alone sit on it!

The significance of all this is further confirmed when the veil in the Temple was torn at Jesus' death on the Cross. Jesus made the way for all to come into the place where God sits and fellowship with Him. How amazing is that?

Father, as simple as it may seem, help me to understand the significance of the Ark being on the ground just like a chair sits on the ground. Help me to see the significance that You would meet with man 'on the ground' where man lives.