This article was first published in the Adventist Review (August 26, 1993). Look, however, for links, new text, and pictures not in the original.
Where is the Ark of the Covenant?
Almost as frequently as I am questioned about the finding of Noah's ark I am asked about the Ark of the Covenant. Has the Ark of the Covenant really been found? If so, where is it?
The Ark of the Covenant as a Symbol of Truth
The Ark of the Covenant was a center-piece of Israelite worship. It was into this golden box, adorned with angels, that Moses placed the Ten Commandments (Exod 40:20; Deut 31:26). By the end of Moses' life this same sacred chest also contained the "book of the law" (Deut 31:26). A plate of manna and Aaron's rod were to be placed before it as a memorial of God's provision (Exod 16:32-34) and the Israelites' rebellion (Num 17:10). And most important of all, it was over the Ark of the Covenant on the mercy seat that the very presence of God existed (Exod 25:22; Lev 16:2). The ark, itself, was kept within the veil of the "holy of holies" in the tabernacle (Exod 26:33, 34; 40:20-21).
During their forty-year sojourn in the wilderness, the ark was carried by the children of Israel and it was the first thing to be brought into the promised land. As the feet of the Levites, who carried the ark, touched the edge of the Jordan river, the waters stopped flowing (Josh 3:15-17). After the Israelites settled in Canaan, the Ark of the Covenant is only occasionally mentioned. We know it had a home in Bethel (Judg 20:18, 27), Shiloh (1 Sam 1:3, 25; 3:3, 4:3), Kiriath-jearim (1 Sam 7:1-2), and Jerusalem (2 Sam 6:12-17). The Bible also says that the ark was carried from (and returned to) Jerusalem, when David was fleeing from his son to Transjordan (2 Sam 15:24-25, 29).
The last major biblical event involving the Ark of the Covenant was when the priests carried the ark into Solomon's temple (1 Kng 8:6-11; 2 Chron 5:1-10). It was recorded that at that time only the Ten Commandments were in the ark (1 Kng 8:9; 1 Chron 5:10). Much religious apostasy passed between the time of Solomon, who put the ark of God's covenant in his temple, and that of good king Josiah, who revived the worship of the true God (2 Chron 34:14, 18-21, 29-33). Whether Josiah was quoting the words of David (2 Chron 17:8) or whether he was encouraging the priests himself, is not clear, but it may be that the ark was not permanently in the temple of Solomon after Solomon's time (2 Chron 35:3).
Where is the Ark Today?
The only possibly historical reference to the ark after the time of Josiah (639-609 B.C.) is found in the 2 Maccabees 2:4-8:
It was also in the writing that the prophet (Jeremiah), having received an oracle, ordered that the tent and the ark should follow with him, and that he went out to the mountain where Moses had gone up and had seen the inheritance of God. And Jeremiah came and found a cave, and he brought there the tent and the ark and the altar of incense, and he sealed up the entrance. Some of those who followed him came up to mark the way, but could not find it. When Jeremiah learned of it, he rebuked them and declared: "The place shall be unknown until God gathers his people together again and shows his mercy. And then the Lord will disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord and the cloud will appear, as they were shown in the case of Moses, and as Solomon asked that the place should be specially consecrated.
The Book of Jeremiah does not record this story. How much credibility should be given to this story depends on how credible one sees the book of 2 Maccabees. Scholars believe that 2 Maccabees was composed during the first century B.C., about 500 years after Jeremiah lived. Because Jeremiah sees no theological use for the Ark of the Covenant at the end time, it seems unlikely to me that he in particular would have taken the time to hide it (Jer 3:16). In any case, according to 2 Maccabees, Jeremiah hid the Ark of the Covenant on Mount Nebo (Deut. 32:49). Ellen White agreed that the ark was hidden "to place [it] beyond the reach of ruthless hand