Nothing was in the ark except the two tables of stone that Moses put there at Horeb, when Adonai cut a covenant with the children of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt.
Then they brought out the king’s son and placed upon him the crown and the insignia. They proclaimed him king, and Jehoiada and his sons anointed him and declared, “Long live the king!”
You are to set it in front of the curtain that is in front of the Ark of the Testimony, in front of the atonement cover that is over the Testimony, where I will meet with you.
Then he is to put the incense on the fire before Adonai, so that the cloud of the incense may cover the atonement cover that is on the Ark, so that he would not die.
Adonai said to Moses, “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holiest Place behind the curtain —before the atonement cover which is on the Ark—so that he would not die. For I will be appearing in the cloud over the atonement cover.
When Moses entered the Tent of Meeting to speak with Adonai, he heard the voice speaking to him from above the atonement cover atop the Ark of Testimony between the cheruvim. So he spoke with Him.