The Cracked Acorn: Ark of the Covenant

“The question of whatever happened to the ark of the covenant, an ornate box containing the laws handed down to Moses on Mount Sinai, has been a source of intense speculation for over two millenniums. The ark had a pre-eminent role in the Bible from its creation until the time it was placed in the Temple’s holy of holies during the days of David and Solomon. But sometime between 970 B.C. and 586 B.C., the ark disappeared, and no one knows what became of it. Does it still exist? Or was it destroyed thousands of years ago?” (From Eden to Exile by Eric H. Clines)

If you, like myself, believe that the Bible is the spoken, inspired literal word of God, you know that without a doubt that the ark of the covenant did exist. It was constructed of acacia wood, a little over 4 feet long and 2 ½ feet high, and 2 ½ feet in width, was covered over with hammered gold, a gold lid, and two cherubim of hammered gold, and could have weighted between 400 and 500 pounds.

Exodus 25 and 37 give us details of how it was made. Eventually, it contains two tablets of the Ten Commandments, Aaron’s rod (had sprouted. It not only sprouted, but it had also put forth buds, had produced blossoms.) and a pot of manna.

If it has survived through the ages, it is:

Popularly thought to be in a secret chamber deep within the Temple Mount, underneath the present-day Dome of the Rock. This could have been done before the destruction of the Temple in 586 B.C.

Or

In January 1979, Ron Wyatt claimed that his team had found the ark in a cave system north of the Damascus Gate in Jerusalem, but something happened that they were never able to retrace their steps to document their discovery.
Or

The ark was removed during the reign of Manasseh and taken to Egypt. The latest claim is that the ark has been seen in a church in Aksum, Ethiopia.

In my opinion, since the ark was never used in a profane manner and did carry with it the fear that one could be struck down that when Nebuchadnezzar in 585 B.C. destroyed the Temple, the collapse of the roof, walls, columns – the ark of the covenant was crushed and reduced to rubble, lost in the destruction or unearthed to be melted down for its gold. The people had been taken into slavery and so closed a great chapter of the nation in bondage.

The ark of the covenant is a great topic to study. The past three weeks could not cover in depth the details about how the ark was used, abused, and then lost.