it. Then he came to a “laver” or washing basin, then to the first curtain, then to the Holy Place. In the middle of the Holy Place were a lampstand on one side and a table with bread on the other. At the far end of the Holy Place the priest came to an altar of incense, then to the second curtain, and finally to the Most Holy Place with its ark (a gold covered box), the cherubim, and the special cover for the ark called the “mercy seat” or atonement cover. Inside the ark were the tablets of the law