The third thing that was kept before the eyes of the people was His justice. This God was a God of judgment. You see, the picture of that ark with God symbolically dwelling between the wings of the cherubim over the ark, which contained the law of God, is a picture of judgment because here is portrayed as the holy God and righteous God, staring down upon the law, the expression of His moral character which every single human being has violated. That picture is a picture of judgment. It’s meant to strike terror into the hearts of sinful men and women. God’s standard of justice does not change; and God judges, and will judge all things in the end. The Judge of all the universe must do right. And that means that the God of all the universe cannot overlook sin. We see plenty of violations of His holy law now, and there is a sense in which there is retribution in life. Certain sins produce certain consequences. But it doesn’t exhaust the justice of God. And the day is coming when men and women will stand before Him as we know in our hearts we one day will. And that God will pronounce judgment.
Finally, the Ark of the Covenant also symbolized the mercy of God and that action which flows from the merciful heart of God by which men and women just like us who have violated the law of God can, nevertheless, be saved and can enter into the presence of the One who is utterly holy. And that is because that covering or lid on the ark was called the mercy seat. And the reason the lid was called the mercy seat is because it was meant to symbolize the way in which God shows mercy to sinful men and women.
In the Law of Moses, God had indicated what was to happen on the Day of Atonement in Israel. The priest, after first of all making a sacrifice for himself, was to make another sacrifice for the people, confessing the sins of the people over the animal. And the animal then was sacrificed in place of the people who deserved death. After this the priest took the blood of this animal, the blood being a symbol of its life poured out. And taking this blood, he went forward into the tabernacle and stood before the Ark of the Covenant, symbolizing the presence of God hovering over the law of God as a picture of judgment. Then, obedience to the commands of God given in the law, sprinkled the blood of the animal upon the mercy seat. You see what it symbolized. Here is the holy God within the wings of the cherubim staring down at His holy law which we have broken. And in between stands the mercy seat; and upon the mercy seat is sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice who has died.
This points to Calvary, as Jesus Christ died on the cross and shed His blood. He was the perfect sacrifice for which all the other sacrifices were just a symbol. When that happened, God Almighty tore the veil of the temple in two from top to bottom and, in that symbolic way, indicated that because of the death of Christ the perfect atonement was now made. The way was opened into Gods presence. All who would come in that way—not in their own self-righteousness, but trusting Christ and what He has done—would find God merciful as He had always been.
