For the Israelites, God’s presence was associated with the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25:22). This was a sacred chest of wood overlaid with gold in which Moses placed the two stone tablets of the Law. While the Israelites dwelled in the wilderness, the ark was kept in the Most Holy compartment of the tent of meeting (Exodus 26:33). The ark was eventually placed in the Most Holy compartment of Solomon’s temple (1 Kings 6:19).
Just when and under what circumstances the ark of the covenant disappeared isn’t known. King Hezekiah is the last biblical figure mentioned as having seen the ark. Hezekiah is also known for protecting Jerusalem against the Assyrian Empire by improving the city walls and diverting the waters of the Gihon Spring through a tunnel known today as Hezekiah’s Tunnel, which channeled the water inside the city walls to the Pool of Siloam.
In a noncanonical text known as the Treatise of the Vessels, Hezekiah is identified as one of the kings who had the ark and the other treasures of Solomon’s temple hidden during a time of crisis. This text lists the following hiding places, which it says were recorded on a bronze tablet: (1) a spring named Kohel or Kahal with pure water in a valley with a stopped-up gate; (2) a spring named Kotel (or “wall” in Hebrew); (3) a spring named Zedekiah; (4) an unidentified cistern; (5) Mount Carmel; and (6) locations in Babylon.
The ark is last mentioned in 2 Chronicles 35:3 when King Josiah in 642 B.C. returned it to the temple. The ark may have been removed by Josiah’s evil predecessor, Manasseh, who put an image in the temple. Or perhaps the move had been for safekeeping during Josiah’s temple renovations (2 Chronicles 33:1, 2, 7; 34:1, 8-11).
What became of the ark thereafter is a mystery, for it’s not listed among the objects taken from the temple when the Babylonians conquered Jerusalem in 605 B.C. (2 Kings 25:13-17; 2 Chronicles 36:7, 18; Ezra 1:7-11). The Scriptures don’t say that the ark was returned to the Most Holy of the temple rebuilt by Zerubbabel; nor does it seem that a replacement was ever made (Ezra 7:12-19).
In Jesus’ day no ark of the covenant existed in the Most Holy of Herod’s temple for the Jewish high priest to sprinkle the atonement blood upon it once a year. The Most Holy was empty, except for a large stone in its center where the high priest deposited the golden censer upon which to sprinkle incense before sprinkling the blood of the atonement day sacrifices.
However, if you’re Orthodox Christian — especially Ethiopian or an Ethiopian Jew — you likely believe that it resides in a chapel in Aksum, a small city in northern Ethiopia and guarded by a single monk. The monk enters and never leaves until the day he dies. Once anointed, the virgin monk literally is forbidden from stepping out of the grounds. No one but this monk gets to see it.
The legend goes that the Queen of Sheba, who is said to be from the area of Ethiopia, had Solomon’s child, named Menelik. Years later, Menelik traveled to Jerusalem to see his father. On the return journey, Solomon ordered the first born sons of noble men and priests to accompany him. Unbeknownst to Menelik, they stole the ark and took it with them back to Ethiopia. When he found out about it, Menelik reasoned that if such a powerful thing allowed itself to be stolen, then it was meant to be with him. Since then it has sat in the Church of St. Mary of Zion, guarded by a succession of virgin priests.
We simply don’t know what happened to the ark of the covenant. Many theories exist, but the biblical evidence (which is important since it’s a biblical artifact) is scant. Just like Noah’s ark, the cup that Jesus drank from at the Last Supper, and the cross Jesus was crucified on, the ark of the covenant is now resigned to history, barring a future, incredible archeological discovery or the allowance of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church to investigate their claims of having the ark. Finding it would be tantalizing, I’ll admit. But it really wouldn’t add anything to bring us closer to God. That’s what He inspired and revealed the Scriptures to all of us for (1 Peter 1:6-12; 2 Peter 1:2-4).
Kyle Campbell