What happened to the Ark of the Covenant?

     In 1981 a wonderful and exciting adventure film hit the theaters – Raiders of the Lost Ark. The production was Lucas and Spielberg at their best as they expanded on a mystery arising in Jewish History. Unlike other societies at the time, the Israelites were instructed to never make and worship idols. Instead, they were to construct a box (ark) approximately 27 inches wide, 27 inches high, and 42 inches long. This box was to be covered with gold, and the stone tablets given to Moses were to be placed in it. This was to represent the presence of God among the Israelites.

     The Ark traveled with the Israelites, often going to war with them, until finally being placed in the inner sanctuary (Holy of Holies) in Solomon’ newly built temple. After this event, there is only one historic record of the Ark. All other mentions thereafter were in terms of its memory. This has led to many theories regarding its movement or presence.

     During the twentieth century an interesting theory was developed, and Raiders of the Lost Ark used this theory as the setting for the movie. According to this theory, one of the things that King Solomon gave to the Queen of Sheba (1 Kings 10:13) was a son. Late in King Solomon’s reign the son came to visit him, having replaced his mother as regent of Sheba. At this time Solomon gave his son the Ark of the Covenant to protect it from the conflicts raging across Israel. The one thing that could support this theory is the record that Solomon was drawn away from God late in his reign (1 Kings 11:9-10). There are, however, several problems with this theory.

1) The land is recorded as being at peace during Solomon’s rule.  He did have problems with Edom late in his reign, but that does not seem serious enough to threaten Jerusalem.

2. When the Solomon’s temple was dedicated, the Glory (Spirit?) of God occupied the new center of worship (2 Chronicles 7:2). It did not depart the temple until Judea was conquered.

3) Considering that Uzzah died after simply laying his hand on the Ark to stabilize it (2 Samuel 2:6-7), taking it from the temple and transporting it to Ethiopia (the assumed location of Sheba) would have been dangerous and life threatening to Solomon’s son and his party. Solomon would have known this.

4)  The ‘nail in the coffin’ for this theory, however, is found in 2 Chron. 35:3:  And he [King Josiah] said to the Levites who taught all Israel and who were holy to the Lord, “Put the holy ark in the house which Solomon the son of David, king of Israel, built; you need no longer carry it upon your shoulders.”  This raises a whole series of new questions. Why was it not in the Holy of Holies, where Solomon put it? Who authorized its removal? Why was it being carried around on shoulders? Most of all, considering point 3), why was it possible to remove it? No one was to enter the Holy of Holies except the Chief Priest, and he could only enter it once a year. He did so with great fear that, if one thing was done wrong, he would likely die in the process.

     Another modern theory has its origin on a summer day in 1795. A young man was exploring on Oak Island in the Mahone Bay, Nova Scotia, Canada. He ran across a thirteen foot wide depression in the ground with associated definite evidence that someone had worked there. Thinking there might be pirate’s treasure buried there, he and two friends began digging.  It soon became obvious that they were digging down a refilled shaft.  At ten feet they hit an oak log platform. Below that the shaft continued.  They dug to 25 feet before feeling further digging was dangerous. Subsequently the shaft has been dug to about 100 feet, where it is “booby trapped” by tunnels to the ocean, causing the shaft to be flooded.  Probing has indicated a concrete chamber at 160 feet.  Obviously, there must be something of value down there, and the site became known as the Money Pit. During more recent years, however, a different theory has arisen. It has been theorized that, during the crusades, the Knights Templar found the long missing Ark of the Covenant, and this is the content of the chamber at the bottom of the Money Pit. It is, however, unlikely that, if the pit’s problems are ever overcome, the Ark will be found at the bottom.

     The legend within the Jewish community is that, when Jerusalem was being threatened by the Babylonians, some priests hit the Ark in a compartment under the temple.  Despite diligent searches, however, the ark has never been found. It seems more likely that the Ark was destroyed when the Babylonians destroyed the temple during the late sixth century BC. Ezekiel related a vision of God leaving the temple about the time that Jerusalem was conquered by the Babylonians (Ezekiel 10). It seems likely that he was no longer protecting the Ark when the temple was destroyed.  

     An intriguing passage occurs in Revelation 11:19. “Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and the ark of his covenant was seen within his temple; and there were flashes of lightning, voices, peals of thunder, an earthquake, and heavy hail.” Three possibilities come to mind.

1)      The Ark of the Covenant was modeled after an item in God’s heavenly temple.

2)      The Ark in the heavenly temple is a model of that created during the Exodus.

3)       The Ark in the heavenly temple is actually the spiritual remains of the one that had resided in the earthly temple.

Someday we will know the answer to this puzzle.

     Returning to Raiders of the Lost Ark, what will we find if the Ark was, indeed, hidden away and it is found? It is unlikely to be anything like that depicted - a pristine Ark containing sand. The Ark, itself, is apt to be completely disintegrated by now, but the stone tablets contained therein (1 Kings 8:9, 2 Chronicles 5:10) are likely to be remaining intact. Anything is possible with God, but after Moses broke the original tablets in anger, he was told to create new tablets (Exodus 34:1). This would most easily be done with slate.  This rock is stable and writing on its surface would be durable. Slate is metamorphosed shale, which originated from clay deposits. Thus, if the tables were decomposed, they most likely would be clay dust, not sand.  What would appear on them? Not Hebrew writing, because that was not developed until about 300 years later. Most likely the writing would be in Egyptian hieroglyphics, since Moses was educated in the Egyptian pharaoh’s palace. It is unlikely that God would be still protecting the Ark, but were I to find it intact, as in Raiders of the Lost Ark, I think I would probably be reluctant to open it!