The Place of Eternal Atonement and Grace

This passage covers Solomon moving the ark of the covenant into the completed temple. At this important turning point, from the age of the tabernacle to the age of the temple, Solomon made all the furnishings new but moved the ark of the covenant just as it was, the one used since the days in the wilderness. This emphasizes the importance of unchanging truth and stands in contrast to the way the world ignores what is eternal.

Through the qualities of the acacia wood from which the ark was made, the sermon holds up a mirror to who we are. This tree, which grows in the desert, looks worthless on the outside, but it has tough roots and bark. God chose such rough and twisted wood, shaped it, overlaid it with pure gold, and placed it at the center of the Most Holy Place. This shows that when we shape our hearts and are clothed in the grace of Jesus Christ, we can become instruments that please God. The mercy seat, the lid of the ark, also symbolizes God's mercy that forgives sin and the atonement of the cross.

God put nothing in the ark besides the two stone tablets. This shows that God's concern is not with miracles or symbols of grace, but with the covenant and his word alone. We must not make anything other than believing and following God's covenant the object of our faith. When God's glory filled the temple as a cloud, the priests felt his presence so strongly that they could not stand to minister. How will we stand firm on God's covenant that never changes, and stand humbly before his glory?