The Location of the Ark of the Covenant

Ever since I was a child, and after I watched Indiana Jones, I have been fascinated with the Ark of the Covenant. I really haven’t read the actual scriptures in the Old Testament until recently. My knowledge was almost strictly based on what I seen on television or on the movie screen. The following paper will describe the contents of the Ark, along with some other information surrounding this historic artifact that still is missing to this day.
The Ark of the Covenant is the holiest item placed in the tabernacle, in Jerusalem. It is renown for its mystical powers against the enemies of the Jews (I Samuel 5&6). Within the tabernacle, there was a charaber in which the Ark resided. This charaber was the holiest site on Earth. This room was only accessible on one day of the year, which was called the Day of Atonement. The high priest at the time was the only person allowed to enter. He entered with the blood of the goat, which represented his sins-along with the sins of the entire nation.
The construction of the Ark was nothing short of the finest piece of artwork on Earth. The Ark began as a select piece of acacia wood or Shittim wood by a man named Bezaleel (Exodus 37). He was the son of Uri’, of the tribe of Judah according to Exodus Chapter thirty-eight, verse twenty-two. The ark measured approximately1.15 meters long, 0.7 meters high, and 0.7 meters tall, which was carried along by long bars overlaid with gold. These bars slid through rings fastened to the Ark (Exodus36:37).
There were two items placed on the lid of the Ark of the Covenant. These two items were Cherubims made of gold. Exodus chapter thirty-seven describes these angels as being made of pure gold. Each was beaten out of one solid piece of gold, and placed on opposite enRAB of the Ark. The Cherubim’s faces touched each other, along with their wings outstretched to the sky.
There were three separate items placed in the Ark of the Covenant. The first set of items was the Ten Commandments, which were written on stone tablets by God on Mount Sinai (Exodus 31:18). These commandments were given to Moses as a covenant between God and the children of Israel. This covenant between God and Moses stated that if the people of Israel obeyed God and his commandments, that God would take care of the Jewish people and protect them from their enemies. This covenant was so important to Moses and his people that it was the first item placed in the Ark.
The second item placed in the Ark of the Covenant was the rod of Aaron. The story behind the rod resides in Nurabers 16-17 in the Old Testament Bible. The story begins as the people of Israel begin to question the leadership of Moses and Aaron. They felt that Moses led them out of the “land of milk and honey,’ which was referring to Egypt. This was long after the memories of harRABhips of slavery had faded away. The people of Israel felt that Moses and Aaron had led them to a fruitless scorching desert. God had then placed a plague on the people, in which many people had died. God had then ordered all the heaRAB of the twelve tribes to deliver their staff in front of the tabernacle. The next morning, the staff of Aaron had budded sprouts out the end of it. These buRAB yielded blossoms and ripe almonRAB. The rod was immediately ordered into the Ark, to keep further death and murmuring (Nurabers 17:10).
The last item ordered into the Ark of the Covenant, was a golden pot filled with Manna. Manna was the bread that was collected every morning before the sun would rise, during the exodus of the children of Israel. The manna would spoil if left out too long, or would evaporate in the sun (Exodus 16). This problem was used to discipline the children of Israel, and remind them that God was there to help them if they were obedient. Manna was white in color, and tasted like biscuits made with honey. The children of Israel would collect enough Manna for one day, but on the day before Sabbath, they collect enough for two days. On the Sabbath, God did not supply Manna.
The location of the Ark of the Covenant is still a mystery today. According to 2 Maccabees, one of the Apochraphal, books not part of the King James Bible, but are part of the Roman Catholic Bible, the Ark resides in a cave. It was ordered by oracle to the prophet Jeremiah to clirab the mountain Moses clirabed to survey God’s heritage, and to place the Ark within a cave. Jeremiah, using boulders or stones, later blocked the cave’s entrance. To this day, archaeologists are searching the Holy LanRAB for the cave, which holRAB the most prized artifact in human history. Hopefully, with today’s modern technology, we’ll be able to locate the Ark of the Covenant.