Question: "What happened to the Ark of the Covenant?"
Answer: Interestingly, Revelation 11:19 mentions the ark as being in heaven: “Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.” Some believe the ark John sees is the heavenly counterpart of the one that existed on earth, as Hebrews teaches that the Tabernacle—including the ark that sat in the Holy of Holies—was a “copy and shadow” of one in heaven (Hebrews 8:5; 9:23). Yet others believe the ark John sees was the earthly one, which God preserved and took to heaven. Either way, John’s glimpse of the ark is probably meant as a reminder that God has not forgotten His people, that He is present with them, and that true worship will soon be restored.
The non-canonical book of 2 Maccabees reports that, just prior to the Babylonian invasion, Jeremiah, “in obedience to a divine revelation, issued orders that the tent and the Ark should accompany him, and . . . he went off to the mountain that Moses had ascended to view God’s inheritance [i.e., Mt. Nebo; cf. Deuteronomy 34:1]. Upon arriving there, Jeremiah found a cave-dwelling where he placed the tent, the Ark, and the altar of incense, after which he blocked off the entrance” (2 Maccabees 2:4–5). However, “some of his companions came up later with the intention of marking out the path, but they were unable to find it. When Jeremiah learned of this, he rebuked them. ‘This place shall remain unknown,’ he declared, ‘until God gathers his people together again and shows them his mercy. Then the Lord will once again disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord will appear together with the cloud, as it was revealed in the time of Moses and when Solomon prayed that the place might be solemnly consecrated’” (2 Maccabees 2:6–8). It is not known if this secondhand (see 2 Maccabees 2:1) account is accurate; even if it is, we will not know until the Lord comes back, as the account itself claims.
Other theories concerning the whereabouts of the lost ark include Rabbis Shlomo Goren and Yehuda Getz’s claim that it is hidden beneath the temple mount, having been buried there before Nebuchadnezzar could steal it away. Unfortunately, the temple mount is now home to the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic holy site, and the local Muslim community refuses to allow it to be excavated. So we cannot know if Rabbis Goren and Getz are correct.
Explorer Vendyl Jones, among others, believes that an artifact found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, the enigmatic “Copper Scroll” of Qumran Cave 3, is actually a treasure map of sorts detailing the location of a number of precious treasures taken from the temple before the Babylonians arrived, among them the lost ark of the covenant. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen, as no one has yet been able to locate all of the necessary geographical landmarks listed on the scroll. Interestingly, some scholars speculate that the Copper Scroll may actually be the record referred to in 2 Maccabees 2:1 and 4, which describes Jeremiah hiding the ark. While this is an interesting speculation, it remains unsubstantiated.
Former East African correspondent for “The Economist,” Graham Hancock, published a book in 1992 entitled The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant, in which he argued that the ark had been stowed away in Saint Mary of Zion’s Church in Aksum, an ancient city of Ethiopia. Explorer Robert Cornuke of the B.A.S.E. Institute, also believes the ark may now reside in Aksum. However, no one has yet found it there. Similarly, archaeologist Michael Sanders believes the ark is hidden away in an ancient Egyptian temple in the Israeli village of Djaharya, but he has yet to actually find it there.
A doubtful Irish tradition maintains that the ark is buried under the Hill of Tara in Ireland. Some scholars believe that this is the source of the Irish “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow” legend. There are also the claims of Ron Wyatt and Tom Crotser. Wyatt claimed to have actually seen the lost ark of the covenant buried under Mt. Calvary, and Crotser claimed to have seen it on Mt. Pisgah near Mt. Nebo. Neither has been able to substantiate his claims with any real evidence.
In the end, the ark remains lost to all but God. Interesting theories like the ones presented above continue to be offered, but the ark has yet to be found. The writer of 2 Maccabees may very well be right; we may not find out what happened to the lost ark of the covenant until the Lord Himself returns.
The non-canonical book of 2 Maccabees reports that, just prior to the Babylonian invasion, Jeremiah, “in obedience to a divine revelation, issued orders that the tent and the Ark should accompany him, and . . . he went off to the mountain that Moses had ascended to view God’s inheritance [i.e., Mt. Nebo; cf. Deuteronomy 34:1]. Upon arriving there, Jeremiah found a cave-dwelling where he placed the tent, the Ark, and the altar of incense, after which he blocked off the entrance” (2 Maccabees 2:4–5). However, “some of his companions came up later with the intention of marking out the path, but they were unable to find it. When Jeremiah learned of this, he rebuked them. ‘This place shall remain unknown,’ he declared, ‘until God gathers his people together again and shows them his mercy. Then the Lord will once again disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord will appear together with the cloud, as it was revealed in the time of Moses and when Solomon prayed that the place might be solemnly consecrated’” (2 Maccabees 2:6–8). It is not known if this secondhand (see 2 Maccabees 2:1) account is accurate; even if it is, we will not know until the Lord comes back, as the account itself claims.
Other theories concerning the whereabouts of the lost ark include Rabbis Shlomo Goren and Yehuda Getz’s claim that it is hidden beneath the temple mount, having been buried there before Nebuchadnezzar could steal it away. Unfortunately, the temple mount is now home to the Dome of the Rock, an Islamic holy site, and the local Muslim community refuses to allow it to be excavated. So we cannot know if Rabbis Goren and Getz are correct.
Explorer Vendyl Jones, among others, believes that an artifact found among the Dead Sea Scrolls, the enigmatic “Copper Scroll” of Qumran Cave 3, is actually a treasure map of sorts detailing the location of a number of precious treasures taken from the temple before the Babylonians arrived, among them the lost ark of the covenant. Whether or not this is true remains to be seen, as no one has yet been able to locate all of the necessary geographical landmarks listed on the scroll. Interestingly, some scholars speculate that the Copper Scroll may actually be the record referred to in 2 Maccabees 2:1 and 4, which describes Jeremiah hiding the ark. While this is an interesting speculation, it remains unsubstantiated.
Former East African correspondent for “The Economist,” Graham Hancock, published a book in 1992 entitled The Sign and the Seal: The Quest for the Lost Ark of the Covenant, in which he argued that the ark had been stowed away in Saint Mary of Zion’s Church in Aksum, an ancient city of Ethiopia. Explorer Robert Cornuke of the B.A.S.E. Institute, also believes the ark may now reside in Aksum. However, no one has yet found it there. Similarly, archaeologist Michael Sanders believes the ark is hidden away in an ancient Egyptian temple in the Israeli village of Djaharya, but he has yet to actually find it there.
A doubtful Irish tradition maintains that the ark is buried under the Hill of Tara in Ireland. Some scholars believe that this is the source of the Irish “pot of gold at the end of the rainbow” legend. There are also the claims of Ron Wyatt and Tom Crotser. Wyatt claimed to have actually seen the lost ark of the covenant buried under Mt. Calvary, and Crotser claimed to have seen it on Mt. Pisgah near Mt. Nebo. Neither has been able to substantiate his claims with any real evidence.
In the end, the ark remains lost to all but God. Interesting theories like the ones presented above continue to be offered, but the ark has yet to be found. The writer of 2 Maccabees may very well be right; we may not find out what happened to the lost ark of the covenant until the Lord Himself returns.
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