“And after the second veil, the tabernacle which is called the holiest of all; which had _the golden censer, and the ark of the covenant_ overlaid round about with gold, wherein was ... _the tables of the covenant_” Heb. 9:3, 4. See also Ex. 40:20, 21. 6. By what name was the cover of the ark known? “And thou shalt put _the mercy-seat_ above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.” Ex. 25:21. 7. Where was God to meet with Israel? “And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee _from above the mercy-seat, from between the two cherubim which are upon the ark of the testimony_.” Verse 22. 8. What was in the ark, under the mercy-seat? “And He wrote on _the tables_, according to the first writing, _the ten commandments_.... And I turned myself and came down from the mount, and _put the tables in the ark_ which I had made.” Deut. 10:4, 5. 9. When did the priest minister in the first apartment of the sanctuary? “Now these things having been thus prepared, the priests go in _continually_ into the first tabernacle, accomplishing the services.” Heb. 9:6, R. V. 10. Who alone went into the second apartment, how often, and for what purpose? “But into the second went _the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people_.” Verse 7. 11. What were sinners desiring pardon instructed to do? “And if any one of the common people sin through ignorance, while he doeth somewhat against any of the commandments of the Lord ... then he shall bring his offering, a kid of the goats, a female without blemish, for his sin which he hath sinned. And _he shall lay his hand upon the head of the sin-offering, and slay the sin-offering in the place of the burnt offering_.” Lev. 4:27-29. NOTE.—According to this, if a man sinned in Israel, he violated one of the ten commandments that were in the ark under the mercy-seat. These commandments are the foundation of God’s government. To violate them is to commit sin, and so become subject to death. 1 John 3:4; Rom. 6:23. But there was a mercy-seat reared above these holy and just commandments. In the dispensation of His mercy, God grants the sinner the privilege of confessing his sins, and bringing a substitute to meet the demands of the law, and thus of obtaining mercy. 12. What was done with the blood of the offering? “And the priest shall take of the blood thereof with his finger, and put it upon the horns of the altar of burnt offering, and _shall pour out all the blood thereof at the bottom of the altar_.” Verse 30.