Hebrews 9:4 Which had the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant overlaid round about with gold, wherein was the golden pot that had manna, and Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tables of the covenant; 5 And over it the cherubims of glory shadowing the mercyseat; of which we cannot now speak particularly.
We now come to the idea of propitiation. What I want to do first is to explore the Old Testament picture that pointed forward to this propitiation. The verses in Hebrews above describe the ark of the covenant. This box housed three objects. These three objects represented the sin of man. The manna represented man’s sin against God’s provision, the rod of Aaron represented man’s sin against God’s authority/leadership, and finally the tables of the covenant represented man’s sin against God’s law. All of these were housed within the ark of the covenant which was covered by the mercyseat. This mercyseat had 2 cherubims looking down upon it which represented God looking down upon the sin of man. This mercyseat would be sprinkled with blood yearly. In doing so this covering would hide the sin of man from God. He would look down and see blood. The problem with this blood was in its accomplishment.
Hebrews 10:1 For the law having a shadow of good things to come, and not the very image of the things, can never with those sacrifices which they offered year by year continually make the comers thereunto perfect.
Hebrews 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins.
This mercyseat was a mere picture of the sacrifice of Christ, the propitiation that was to come. The mercyseat, this atonement, was no more than a covering. The mercyseat perfectly covered the ark. It represented how the blood of Christ would be shed in the perfect amount for His people, no more blood/no less blood needed. He provided the perfect degree of sacrifice for them. His differed from the covering of the ark in that the mercyseat was a mere covering. His sacrifice was not a covering, it did not simply hide the sin from God. His sacrifice removed sin completely as if the sinner had never committed a sin for God to see.
Psalms 32:1 Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.
Hebrews 8:12 For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more.
To compare the Old Testament mercyseat to the sacrifice of Christ can only be done in type. The mercyseat was a type of the true sacrifice, the propitiation that would take away the sins of the world. Christ’s sacrifice was not an atonement, it was not just a covering. His sacrifice was a remission, sins were gone, and God was satisfied.