Mercy seat
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Ex. 25:17, 22 and elsewhere), otherwise the covering over the Ark of the Covenant, in which the tablets of the Law were kept. It was made of gold and had at its ends two golden cherubim stretching their wings toward one another. From the mercy seat God revealed Himself to Moses and declared His will (Ex. 30:6; 37:6, 9; Lev. 16:2). The covering was called the mercy seat because on the Day of Atonement, once each year, the high priest entered the Holy of Holies with the blood of a sacrificial animal and sprinkled blood over the Ark of the Covenant for the cleansing of the people’s sins. The meaning and significance of this sacred rite are explained by the holy Apostle Paul in Hebrews 9:3–7, 8–15, 24–28 and chapter 10.