The Real Reason Jesus Became a Carpenter

Exodus 25: 10-22

God gives Moses direct instructions about building the ark of the covenant. He starts with "how" instead of "why." I'll spare you all of the gory measurement details, but he instructs them to make a chest of acacia wood, cover it with gold both inside and out, and make a gold moulding around it. They are to make four gold rings and attach them to each foot, so that there are two rings on each side. Then they are to make poles out of acaia wood and cover them with gold. The poles go into the rings and are not to be removed- they are for carrying the ark. The pending testimony goes inside it.

They then need to make an "atonement cover" (on top of the gold covering and the gold moulding) and guess what- it's to be made out of pure gold. On the ends of the cover, they are to hammer out golden cherubim- one on each end. The cherubim and the seat are all of the same piece.

These angels need to have their wings spread upward overshadowing the cover and they are to face each other. And again, the testimony that's coming is go inside. And this is where God will meet with them.

So it seems that in addition to being men of faith- to be an Israelite in the day you had to have mad carpentry skills and be trained in metallurgy. I'd have been in trouble. My golden cherubim would look like robot potato-heads shaking hands.

I'm still a bit shaky about the purpose of the specificities- maybe Moses will expand in sections to come- but this "atonement cover" is translated in the New American Standard as a "mercy seat." I like that even in this time of law and stone tablets, at the center of where God met was a seat of mercy.