Exodus 25:10–22, King James Version
Italic words were supplied in the English translation for clarity.
Exodus 25:10–22
Ark, Cover, and Cherubim Mark the Meeting Place
A chest that can be carried, with the testimony inside
They are to make an ark of acacia, overlaid with gold inside and out, with a gold crown, four gold rings, and staves that stay in the rings and are not to be taken from it. Into the ark goes the testimony God will give. Portability is designed in: this meeting-place is not a rooted statue.
Cover, cherubim, and speech from above the mercy seat
A mercy seat of pure gold, the same length and breadth as the ark, has two beaten-gold cherubim of one piece with it, wings covering, faces toward each other and toward the cover. The mercy seat is put above the ark; the testimony is inside.
There God will meet Moses and commune with him from above the mercy seat, from between the cherubim, of all he will command Israel. The innermost object is a place of meeting and speech, not an image of God and not a throne anyone may occupy.
How this should shape us
Treat the holiest object as a meeting-place whose poles stay in, not as a relic to seize or a code to decode. Keep testimony, cover, and speech together, and refuse any use that makes God a portable possession.
Teach it back
Explain Exodus 25:10–22 in your own words. Include both movements, its place in Exodus, one historical or compositional uncertainty, one affected person or group, and one conclusion the complete context rules out.
Your explanation stays in this browser. It is not sent or saved.
Go deeper
The explanation above is meant to stand on its own. Open these notes only if you want language, history, disagreements, or source locations.
Where careful interpreters disagreeThe strongest options and their difficulties
Where do careful interpreters disagree?
Best judgment: Careful interpreters agree that the received text states the following: Acacia wood, gold, poles, testimony, atonement cover, and facing cherubim form the innermost furnishing from above which God will meet and speak. They disagree over source layers, date, historical recovery, archaeology, Hebrew details, ritual development, legal use, and canonical relationship in different proportions; this study treats the final form directly while marking those alternatives as probable or uncertain rather than settled fact.
How certain? probableResearch trail and exact locationsThe source record behind this section
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exodus 25:10–22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech, law, ritual vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Exod.xml, words and morphology for 25:10–22
Supports: Unit-bounded Hebrew, syntax, lexical, textual, name, measure, legal, ritual, and older-English notes; silence is not evidence.
NET Bible Exodus PDF, complete 127-page PDF, translation and verse-attached translator notes for 25:10–22
Supports: Mountain location uncertainty, covenant and treaty comparison, source plurality, mediation, Decalogue, covenant blood, and priestly dwelling instruction.
Yale Bible Study, 'Sinai,' complete study guide pp. 1–6, covenant, Moses and the mountain, Decalogue, Exodus 24, and tabernacle framing; applied to Exodus 25:10–22
Supports: Architectural and ritual comparanda, pattern language, movement, possible historical models, and explicit reconstruction limits.
Homan, 'The Tabernacle in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context,' complete article sections on form, furnishings, shown pattern, temple-building parallels, portability, and historical-versus-literary models; applied to Exodus 25:10–22
Supports: Material-source theology, skilled labor, voluntary gifts, half-shekel assessment, manufactured holiness, and the limits of idealized production language.
Ben-Dov, 'The Materiality of a Divine Dwelling,' complete article sections on Exodus 20 and 25–40, donated and assessed materials, craft, manufactured objects, and divine presence; applied to Exodus 25:10–22
Sources for This Section
These records identify the source, the claim it supports, and the exact location used. A source remains evidence to evaluate; it does not replace the biblical text.
Biblical text
King James (Authorized) Version — eng-kjv2006
eBible.org and CrossWire Bible Society
USFM archive eng-kjv2006_usfm.zip; source files dated 2026-08-19; downloaded 2026-08-24; archive SHA-256 aec1b3b26c622fd3d963d2bbac963016b9513246ffbfa20da00bb100372ea007; normalized corpus SHA-256 09aef51d90488aa7b9722b3fd9a93f4b25f6bf2064c5fd798fb39673c300ddf2.
Supports: Exact KJV wording, paragraph metadata, supplied-word markup, and complete verse coverage for this thought unit.
Exact location: Exodus 25:10–22, pinned eng-kjv2006 USFM corpus
Open source ↗hebrew text and morphology
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible: Exodus
Open Scriptures
Open Scriptures, release 2.2
Supports: Masoretic Hebrew wording, morphology, names, speech, law, ritual vocabulary, older-English controls, and translation limits.
Exact location: Open Scriptures MorphHB v.2.2, commit 6a5db284c715c18b239422e57bb89684e6a19f00, wlc/Exod.xml, words and morphology for 25:10–22
Open source ↗translation and translator notes
NET Bible: Exodus with translators' notes
Biblical Studies Press
eBible.org distribution of the NET Bible, PDF generated 2026-08-12
Supports: Unit-bounded Hebrew, syntax, lexical, textual, name, measure, legal, ritual, and older-English notes; silence is not evidence.
Exact location: NET Bible Exodus PDF, complete 127-page PDF, translation and verse-attached translator notes for 25:10–22
Open source ↗open university course study guide
Sinai Study Guide
Joel S. Baden and John J. Collins
Yale Bible Study, 2019 course edition
Supports: Mountain location uncertainty, covenant and treaty comparison, source plurality, mediation, Decalogue, covenant blood, and priestly dwelling instruction.
Exact location: Yale Bible Study, 'Sinai,' complete study guide pp. 1–6, covenant, Moses and the mountain, Decalogue, Exodus 24, and tabernacle framing; applied to Exodus 25:10–22
Open source ↗ancient near eastern comparative architecture study
The Tabernacle in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context
Michael M. Homan
TheTorah.com, 2018
Supports: Architectural and ritual comparanda, pattern language, movement, possible historical models, and explicit reconstruction limits.
Exact location: Homan, 'The Tabernacle in Its Ancient Near Eastern Context,' complete article sections on form, furnishings, shown pattern, temple-building parallels, portability, and historical-versus-literary models; applied to Exodus 25:10–22
Open source ↗modern jewish scholarly material and literary study
The Materiality of a Divine Dwelling
Jonathan Ben-Dov
TheTorah.com, 2017
Supports: Material-source theology, skilled labor, voluntary gifts, half-shekel assessment, manufactured holiness, and the limits of idealized production language.
Exact location: Ben-Dov, 'The Materiality of a Divine Dwelling,' complete article sections on Exodus 20 and 25–40, donated and assessed materials, craft, manufactured objects, and divine presence; applied to Exodus 25:10–22
Open source ↗