The subject of the Mercy Seat is vast so we will try, in our limited space, to answer your question by covering 3 questions: 1) What is the Mercy Seat, 2) Who guarded the Mercy Seat in Old Testament times? and 3) Does someone guard the Mercy Seat today (during the Church Age)?

What is the Mercy Seat? The Mercy Seat was a slab of gold that was on top of the Ark of the Covenant in “Holy of holies” in the Tabernacle in the wilderness and later in the Temple in Jerusalem. It was where God dwelt and where “God and man could meet.” This “meeting between God and man” took place once a year on the great “Day of Atonement.” The High Priest alone could enter in, and we read that “he shall take some of the blood of a bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times” (Leviticus 16:14). Then he would “kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat” (verse 15). By doing this, the blood on the Mercy Seat made atonement for the sins of the High Priest, his household, and all the people. The blood of the innocent victim satisfied God’s holiness and righteousness against sin. Israel’s sins were then “covered” (which is what “atonement” means) for another year but it would have to be repeated annually, thus it never really “took away sins.” But it foreshadowed the sacrifice that Jesus Christ would make by which He “put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself” (Hebrews 9:26). By His sacrifice, He BECAME THE MERCY SEAT for any sinner who believes on Him and His finished work on the cross. We have this truth in Romans 3:24-25 where the DARBY VERSION of the Bible reads, “Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus; whom God has set forth A MERCY-SEAT, through faith in his blood…” Jesus Christ Himself is OUR MERCY SEAT, for He is the One who made it possible for “God and man to meet together.” In the KJV and other translations they use the word “propitiation” in place of “mercy seat.” Propitiation means “a satisfying sacrifice” and thus it is “that act by which it is possible for a righteous God to have his anger against sin satisfied and thus to forgive.” Since God has had His holy claims against sin satisfied through the sacrifice of Christ and the shedding of His blood (see 1 John 4:10 with Hebrews 9:6-26), Jesus Christ is indeed the MERCY SEAT for every sinner who believes on Him.

Who guarded the Mercy Seat in Old Testament times? In Exodus 25:17-18, 20, 22 we read, “You shall make a MERCY SEAT of pure gold…And you shall make TWO CHERIBUM of gold…make them at the TWO ENDS OF THE MERCY SEAT…And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, COVERING THE MERCY SEAT WITH THEIR WINGS…And there I will meet with you.” Cherubim are angels and they are often seen GUARDING THE THRONE OF GOD so no sinful man could approach Him. After the fall in the garden of Eden, they kept men from the tree of life to keep men from God’s presence (Genesis 3:24). In the Tabernacle and the Temple, they were seen “looking at the Mercy Seat which allowed men into the presence of God because of the blood of a satisfying sacrifice that was sprinkled there.” In other words, the blood “satisfied God’s holiness” and the cherubim could allow men to “meet God there.”

Does someone guard the Mercy Seat today? As we saw earlier, today “Jesus Christ is the Mercy Seat” for all who repent of their sins and believe on Him and His finished work on the cross. Meeting God in the “Holy place” is no longer limited to “one man once a year,” but every believer is invited to “meet God there” at any time! “Therefore, brethren, having boldness to enter the Holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He consecrated for us, through veil, that is, His flesh, and having a High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Hebrews 10:19-22). We approach God to meet and commune with Him without fear, but with a boldness born of faith in Christ! God’s THRONE to us is now a “THRONE of grace” and thus in Hebrews 4:16 we are invited to “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain MERCY and find GRACE to help in time of need.” Because of this, there is no longer the need for Cherubim (or anyone else) to guard the way into God’s presence and thus the Mercy Seat that once existed has been replaced by Christ, for as we have seen, Jesus Christ IS the Mercy Seat!  (DO)  (669.1)