The Ark of the Covenant and the Mercy Seat that sat on top were a symbols of God’s presence and a copy (along with the rest of the tabernacle) of God’s abode in heaven (Ex. 25:9; 25:40; 26:30; Hebrews 8:5). The cover is the mercy seat which was a representation of the throne of God and the cherubim that surrounded it. (Isaiah 6:1-9; Ezekiel 1; Revelation 4). The word translated “mercy seat” is the Hebrew word kapporet, which means “atonement piece,” which comes from the Hebrew word for “cover” or “wipe out, kaphar.

Once a year on the Day of Atonement the high priest would apply blood to this Mercy Seat that covered the wooden box covered inside and out with gold, the Ark of the Covenant. The Mercy Seat itself was a solid piece of gold with two cherubim formed out of the golden cover, but remained in contact so that the cover and the cherubim were a single piece. Images of cherubim in Egypt gave the appearance of a sphinx. In Assyria cherubim were the temple guardians and looked like lions with human faces with the Assyrian beard and wings. Scripture describes cherubim as composite beings that included a body with the head of a human with multiple sets of wings, parts of an ox, a lion and an eagle including faces and eyes.  The cherubim where formed so that they were looking towards the center of the space above the middle of the golden cover. This was represented the presence of God.

God would meet with Moses in the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle above the Mercy Seat between the two cherubim that were over the Ark of the Covenant. From this location the Lord would give his commands to Moses for the people. The Lord’s  presence among the Israelites would insure their protection and well-being as they lived in agreement with his decrees. They would be the most favored of all the nations.

Half of the world’s Christians are Catholic (50.1%), a third of the world’s Christians are Protestant (36.7%). A little over a tenth of the world’s Christians are Orthodox (11.9 %). About 1% of Christians belong to cults such as Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses and Christian Science. (More Here)