And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof.
The mercy seat. Kapporeth. (The engish rendering of the Hewbrew word) This is a separate item of the tabernacle that rested upon the ark of the convenant. There really is not a whole lot, once again, explained as to the construction of this mercy seat. Notice that most of the description of it speaks of the two cherubims that are to be placed on it.
And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof. And thou shalt make two cherubims of gold, of beaten work shalt thou make them, in the two ends of the mercy seat. And make one cherub on the one end, and the other cherub on the other end: even of the mercy seat shall ye make the cherubims on the two ends thereof. And the cherubims shall stretch forth their wings on high, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and their faces shall look one to another; toward the mercy seat shall the faces of the cherubims be. And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. (Exodus 25:17-22)
So the mercy seat is this big slab of gold. Some people believe that the thickness, which the law does not give us, was about a hand’s width.
Aben Ezra observes, that there is no mention made of the thickness of the mercy seat; and the same Jarchi takes notice of, but adds, that, according to their Rabbins, it was an hand’s breadth, and the Targum of Jonathan says,”and its thickness an hand’s breadth.” (John Gill)
My hand is about 3 5/8″ at the palm, not counting the thumb. Let’s round that off to 3 1/2″; nobody likes fractions. That’s a lot of gold. Pure gold. The mercy seat was 2 1/2 cubits by 1 1/2 cubits which by modern standards is approximately 52″ x 31″. Have you ever tried to pick up a solid piece of steel 3 1/2″ thick that is that big? Well you can’t. It would weight 1600 lbs. That’s steel. Gold is much more dense than steel and would weigh 3938 lbs; that just at about 2 tons. So I don’t see that practical. I doubt seriously that the mercy seat was a solid slab a hand’s width.
Some commentaries place the weight of the mercy seat at 750 lbs. That would make it only 11/16″ thick. Even 750 lbs is pretty heavy. A bag of concrete weighs 80 lbs. How far can you walk with a bag of concrete? Not far.
So, I’m inclined to believe that the mercy seat was made of solid gold just as the bible says, of course. But I have a hunch that is it was more than just a flat piece of metal. I think it might have been very similar to how we make countertops at the shop that have no wooden substrate. There has to be some type of lip coming down the side to stiffen it; and also some type of ribs going across the bottom to give the surface some rigidity. It’s got depth, but it’s not solid throughout that depth. It could have been maybe more of a frame-like structure that was cladded with golden panels. So it is very possible that it may have truly been a hand’s breath in thickness; just not solid.
Considering that the details of how these things were to be built are left out of the bible, I’m inclined to think that weight may have been a very serious issue in construction. They could have easily used more men to carry it, but would have been very limited according to the strength of those wooden staves. You can only pick up so much with wood. So I would think that they probably made all this as light as they could.
Besides, they didn’t have much gold to work with. When Moses finally came down from the mount they had already gathered all the gold to make the calf. And that gold was ground up, strewn upon the water, and they had to drink it. So I think most of their gold was gone by the time they started this project.
Besides, the whole design of the tabernacle was one of a collapsible, movable tent-type structure. It was all made to break down and transport easily. There were no roads out there in the wilderness. So I’m really picturing a very light-weight construction of the mercy seat and even of the ark to ease the transport of this cherished work.
So what’s the lesson today? Keep it light! That mercy seat was the place that God had chosen to meet with his people. And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony. Think about those men that had to carry the ark and the mercy seat. Why put more on them that is necessary. They should bear the ark with joy and enthusiasm. If that thing weighed 2 tons, nobody was going to be happy when it was time to move.
Keep it light! Same scripture as last week: (Hebrews 12:1) Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us. How can we serve God with unnecessary weight upon us? Many times I’ve designed products for customers that I have regretted. They’re functional and they look nice, but they’re just too heavy. We call this an overkill.
Don’t overkill it. Keep it light! At the judgement seat of Christ, there will the wood, hay, stubble be revealed by fire. Be careful in your construction. Paul said (1 Corinthians 3:10) Let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. Remember the purpose of the mercy seat: And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat. We only need enough for that. Jesus said (Matthew 11:28-30) Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.