Exodus 25:17-22 And you shall make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof… That it cannot be the angels, who are intended by these mysterious representations, is rendered perfectly clear when you consider that they were part and parcel of the ark itself. They were not something placed upon it, or added to it, but they were something made of it, or for it. They were beaten out of the very materials of the ark itself. The same gold which covered the mercy-seat was wrought out into the form of the cherubim. This could have no significancy as applied to the angels. They are indeed "ministering spirits unto the heirs of salvation," but they stand in no such intimate relation to the covenant of redemption as is indicated by the position which the cherubim occupied. There can be no question on this point. It is not the angels who are represented by the cherubim. To whom then, or to what do they refer? They are doubtless to be regarded, not perhaps as actual existences at all, but as symbols of the glorious qualities or attributes of Christ our Saviour, in carrying on the great work of our redemption, and of attributes or qualities which His ransomed people shall share with Him in the glory of His heavenly kingdom. Let us look then at the qualities indicated by the four-fold faces of the cherubim. 1. The first is the face of a man. This stands before us as the natural, and admitted index of knowledge, or intelligence. And this we know is a quality or attribute which Christ, in His position as our Redeemer, the crowning glory of our ark of the covenant, possesses in the fullest measure. "In Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." 2. But the cherubim are representative of our humanity in its glorified state. And looking at it from this point of view we may gaze upon the "face of a man" in this mysterious symbol till it seems to have a voice and utterance, and to speak to us in eloquent terms of the grand disclosures, the marvellous unfoldings, of what are now hidden things, awaiting us in that bright world to which we are hastening. 3. The second face which the cherubim bore was "the face of a lion." Two qualities are here indicated, viz., courage and majesty. Now the great Captain of our salvation, in the campaign which He undertook, when He resolved to put down the rebellion which had broken out in this province of His Father's dominions, afforded the grandest exhibition of this noble quality which the world or the universe has ever witnessed. And this quality is a characteristic of redeemed humanity as well as of Him who redeemed it. It applies to true Christians even now. "The righteous are bold as a lion," says the wise man. But it will apply to them much more truly hereafter. It is said of them that — "they shall have boldness in the day of judgment." But "the face of the lion" was indicative of majesty as well as courage. This is the halo round Christ's character — the radiance formed by this shining forth of His own glory. He is "the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of His person." But this is a quality, too, which will mark the condition of the redeemed, in the glory of their future state. True, with them it will not be an inherited, but an imparted quality. In themselves, of their own, they have nothing attractive, or majestic. But they do have that imparted to them, by their glorious Lord, which makes them so. 4. The third face which the cherubim bore was "the face of an ox." The quality which this represents is, manifestly, that of strength for service. This, we know, is a glorious attribute of our Divine Redeemer. It is one which He possesses, too, in absolute perfection. But it symbolized the same quality as marking the condition of His people in that glorious kingdom to which it is His gracious purpose eventually to bring them. It is the covenant privilege of the redeemed, even now, in the imperfection of this fallen state, to be "strong in the Lord, and in the power of His might." They "take hold of His strength," and this enables them to mount up with wings as eagles, to "run and not be weary, to walk and not faint." But the ark, and the cherubim upon it, point us onward to the heavenly world. It is a quality, or property, of redeemed humanity in the glory of the resurrection state to which the symbol now before us refers. There will then be bliss in every service, and rest in every motion. 5. The last face associated with this mysterious symbol was "the face of an eagle." Now, one of the things for which an eagle is remarkable, is its keenness of vision. And all the power, or quickness of vision, which the eagle possesses is but a symbol of a corresponding attribute of character pertaining to Christ. His eyes are in every place. "He seeth the end from the beginning." He knoweth our necessities before we ask. 6. But how does this apply to the redeemed in the glory of their future state (see Hebrews 6:5)? which certainly refers to faculties, attributes, or qualities, mental, moral, or physical, to be possessed by the redeemed of Christ amidst the glory and blessedness of the world to come. Again, when I read Isaiah 33:17, I feel that, if I am a believer in Jesus, I have here a promise, in symbol, of such an enlargement of perceptive faculty and power of vision as quite passes my capacity at present to comprehend. 7. But quickness of motion, or speed of flight is another characteristic quality of the eagle. And this we know is a quality which strikingly marks the character of Christ in carrying on the work of our redemption. It was so when He was on earth. What He did for those who sought His gracious intervention, He did quickly. This quality marks His character still. It is only by the practical development of it that He can make good His word when He engages in one place to be to all His people "a very present help in trouble"; and in another to be always "a God at hand, and not afar off"; or when, in still another place, His promise runs — "Before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear." It is clearly manifest how "the face of the eagle" upon the cherubim points to this feature of our Lord's character. 8. But what bearing has this on the position of the redeemed in glory? I answer, a very natural and necessary bearing. It teaches us that quickness of motion, or speed of flight, will be a characteristic of that state. (R. Newton, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: 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. |
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