The Mercy Seat

 In the 25th chapter of Exodus, God gave Moses instructions for building the Tabernacle, wherein God would dwell among his people.  The ark of the covenant, which held the Testimony, or the Law, was the holiest part of the tabernacle. 

The chest itself was to be made of acacia wood -- a wood considered incorruptible and impervious to insects and decay.  The wood was to be overlaid with pure gold inside and out. Above the ark was to be an "atonement cover," sometimes translated as "mercy seat," of pure gold.  Two cherubim were to be placed at the end of the cover, one at each end, with their wings spread upward, overshadowing the ark. There above the cover between the two cherubim that are over the ark of the Testimony, I will meet with you and give you all my commands for the Israelites (25:22).

Symbolically in the bible, wood was the sign for man; gold, for divinity.  In Jesus, we have the purest "wood," or man, overlaid with gold, or divinity.  In Him is the "Testimony," or Word of God; He Himself is the Word, and the Word became flesh and tabernacled for a while among us (John 1).

In most Catholic churches today, the cross of Christ is displayed over the tabernacle, or Ark of the Covenant, containing the Word of God.  His cross is the "atonement cover,' or "mercy seat:" there I will meet with you and give you all my commands.  Jesus bore testimony to the Covenant between God and man; in Him are all the commands, or words of life, given to us by God.  His death is our atonement (at-one-ment) with God.  

If we ever doubt that God is with us, for us, among us, the Cross over the Tabernacle should be our assurance that "there," God becomes one-with-us.