Exodus 25:10-22
The Lord commands Israel to make the ark and mercy seat as the covenant-throne place where His testimony is kept and His word is given.
10 “They shall make an ark of acacia wood. Its length shall be two and a half cubits, its width a cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half its height.
11 You shall overlay it with pure gold. You shall overlay it inside and outside, and you shall make a gold molding around it.
12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four feet. Two rings shall be on the one side of it, and two rings on the other side of it.
13 You shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.
14 You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark.
15 The poles shall be in the rings of the ark. They shall not be taken from it.
16 You shall put the covenant which I shall give you into the ark.
17 You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold. Two and a half cubits shall be its length, and a cubit and a half its width.
18 You shall make two cherubim of hammered gold. You shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat.
19 Make one cherub at the one end, and one cherub at the other end. You shall make the cherubim on its two ends of one piece with the mercy seat.
20 The cherubim shall spread out their wings upward, covering the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces toward one another. The faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat.
21 You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the covenant that I will give you.
22 There I will meet with you, and I will tell you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the covenant, all that I command you for the children of Israel.
The LORD commands Israel to make the ark and mercy seat as the covenant-throne place where his testimony is kept and his word is given.
To give the LORD’s instructions for the ark of the covenant, the mercy seat, and the cherubim-covered meeting place where he will speak to Moses concerning Israel.
After the LORD calls for willing contributions and commands Israel to make a sanctuary according to the revealed pattern, the first furnishing described is the ark. This priority is theological, not merely architectural. The tabernacle is ordered from the throne-room center outward: covenant testimony, atonement cover, cherubim, divine speech, and then the rest of sanctuary life. The passage therefore anchors Exodus 25-31 in the LORD's holy presence and covenant rule.
The ark instructions come immediately after the LORD calls for willing contributions and declares his purpose to dwell among Israel. The ark is the first specific furnishing described, showing its centrality within the tabernacle’s worship order.
The Sanctuary Pattern: Offerings, Ark, Table, and Lampstand
The LORD commands Israel to build His sanctuary according to His revealed pattern so He may dwell among them, meet with them above the atonement cover, and order their worship by covenant testimony, continual provision, and holy light.