What happened to the Ark of the Covenant?

Answer

What happened to the Ark of the Covenant is a question that has intrigued theologians, Bible scholars, and archaeologists for centuries. In the eighteenth year of his reign, King Josiah of Judah instructed the caretakers of the Ark of the Covenant to bring it back to the temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 35:1-6;cf: 2 Kings 23:21-23). This marks the final mention of the ark’s whereabouts in the Scriptures. Forty years later, King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon seized Jerusalem and looted the temple. Within a decade, he returned, pillaged the remaining contents of the temple, and then set fire to both the temple and the city. So, what became of the ark? Was it taken by Nebuchadnezzar? Was it destroyed along with the city? Or was it relocated and concealed, similar to what occurred when Pharaoh Shishak of Egypt ransacked the temple during the rule of Solomon’s son Rehoboam? (“Evidently” because if Shishak had indeed taken the Ark, why did Josiah request the Levites to bring it back? If the Ark had been in Egypt—akin to the storyline of Raiders of the Lost Ark—the Levites would not have had possession of it and thus could not have returned it.)

Interestingly, Revelation 11:19 references the ark as being in heaven: “Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.” This verse has prompted some to theorize that the ark was transported to heaven for safekeeping. However, the ark that John observes in his heavenly vision is likely not the same ark that Moses constructed. We understand that the items in the tabernacle were “replicas of the heavenly things” « It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these. »

There were greater sacrifices than these.” (Hebrews 9:23) and that the sanctuary itself was but “a copy and shadow of what is in heaven” “who serve as an example and shadow of heavenly things, as Moses was instructed by God when he was about to construct the tabernacle: ‘See,’ He said, ‘that you make everything according to the pattern shown to you on the mountain.'” (Hebrews 8:5). Revelation 11 deals with the sounding of the seventh trumpet, which introduces a final round of judgments upon the earth. John’s glimpse of the ark is likely intended as a reminder that God has not forgotten His people, that He is present with them, and that true worship will soon be restored.

The non-canonical book of 2 Maccabees reports that just before the Babylonian invasion, Jeremiah, “following a divine revelation, ordered that the tabernacle and the ark should accompany him and…he went off to the mountain which Moses climbed to see God’s inheritance [i.e., Mt. Nebo; cf. Deuteronomy 34:1]. When Jeremiah arrived there, he found a room in a cave in which he placed the tent, the ark, and the altar of incense; then he sealed the entrance” (2:4-5). However, “Some of those who followed him came up intending to mark the path, but they could not find it. When Jeremiah heard of this, he reproved them: ‘The place is to remain unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows them mercy. Then the Lord will reveal these things, and the glory of the Lord will be seen in the cloud, just as it appeared in the time of Moses and when Solomon prayed that the Temple might be gloriously sanctified’” (2:6-8). It is uncertain if this secondhand account is accurate; even if it is, we will not know until the Lord returns, as the account itself states.

Other theories about the whereabouts of the lost ark include Rabbis Shlomo Goren and Yehuda G.

Etz’s claim is that it is concealed beneath the temple mount, having been buried there before Nebuchadnezzar could take it. Unfortunately, the temple mount is now occupied by the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic sacred site, and the local Muslim community refuses to permit excavation. Therefore, we cannot ascertain the accuracy of Rabbis Goren and Getz.

Explorer Vendyl Jones, along with others, theorizes that an object discovered among the Dead Sea Scrolls, the mysterious “Copper Scroll” of Qumran Cave 3, is essentially a map revealing the whereabouts of various valuable items taken from the temple prior to the Babylonians’ arrival, including the lost Ark of the Covenant. The veracity of this claim is yet to be confirmed, as no one has successfully identified all the required geographical landmarks mentioned in the scroll. Notably, some scholars suggest that the Copper Scroll might be the document mentioned in 2 Maccabees 2:1 and 4, recounting Jeremiah concealing the ark. While intriguing, this theory lacks substantiation.

Graham Hancock, a former East African correspondent for “The Economist,” presented a book in 1992 titled The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant, where he posited that the ark had been hidden in Saint Mary of Zion’s Church in Aksum, an ancient Ethiopian city. Explorer Robert Cornuke of the B.A.S.E. Institute also believes the Ark could be in Aksum. Nevertheless, it has not been located there. Similarly, archaeologist Michael Sanders suggests the ark is concealed in an ancient Egyptian temple in the Israeli village of Djaharya, but he has not yet discovered it there.

An uncertain Irish tradition asserts that the Ark is buried beneath the Hill of Tara in Ireland. Some scholars propose that this is the origin of the Irish legend of a “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.” Even more implausible are the assertions of Ron Wyatt and Tom Crotser, with Wyatt claiming to have personally seen the lost Ark of the Covenant buried under Mt.

Calvary and Crotser claim to have seen it on Mt. Pisgah near Mt. Nebo. Both of these men are held in low esteem by the archaeological community, and neither has been able to substantiate the wild claims with any evidence.

In the end, the ark remains lost to all but God. Interesting theories like the ones presented above continue to be offered, but the ark has yet to be found. The writer of 2 Maccabees may very well be right; we may not find out what happened to the lost Ark of the Covenant until the Lord Himself returns.