The Ark of the Covenant

[Exodus 37:1-9] Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; two cubits and a half was its length, a cubit and a half its breadth, and a cubit and a half its height. He overlaid it with pure gold inside and outside, and made a molding of gold around it. And he cast for it four rings of gold for its four feet, two rings on its one side and two rings on its other side. He made poles of acacia wood and overlaid them with gold. And he put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark to carry the ark. He made a mercy seat of pure gold; two cubits and a half was its length, and a cubit and a half its breadth. And he made two cherubim of gold. He made them of hammered work on the two ends of the mercy seat, one cherub on the one end, and one cherub on the other end. He made the cherubim of one piece with the mercy seat at its two ends. The cherubim spread out their wings above, overshadowing the mercy seat with their wings, with their faces one to another; toward the mercy seat were the faces of the cherubim.

The Ark of the Covenant, also called the Ark of the Testimony, was the most holy object of Israel and represented the presence of Jehovah God. Three months after the Exodus, the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai, where God instructed Moses to design and build this sacred chest. The Ark contained the two stone tablets inscribed with the Ten Commandments, a jar of manna, and the staff of Aaron that had budded (Hebrews 9:4). The lid of the Ark was the Mercy Seat, flanked by two winged cherubim. On the first day of the second year after the Exodus, the Ark was officially completed and placed inside the Most Holy Place of the Tabernacle (Exodus 40:1-3). The High Priest was only permitted to enter the Most Holy Place and approach the Ark once a year, on the Day of Atonement, to pray for himself and for Israel, seeking God’s atonement and cleansing for the people.

After entering Canaan, the Ark was placed in the Tabernacle at Shiloh. 1 Samuel 4-5 records that the two sons of the High Priest Eli, following human desire, took the Ark into battle, and it was captured by the Philistines. From that time on, the Ark never returned to Shiloh. After the Philistines returned it, it was placed in Kiriath-Jearim. After wandering for about 70 years, David, who was king in Jerusalem, had the Ark moved to Jerusalem. When Solomon became king and built the Temple, the Ark was placed in the Most Holy Place within the Temple. In 586 BC, when the Babylonians captured Jerusalem, the Temple was burned, and the Ark disappeared.