The ark of the covenant was a wooden chest covered with gold, located in the Most Holy Place of the Jewish tabernacle, and later the temple. It reminded Israel of God's covenant with them. Inside were the tablets of the covenant, known as the "Ten Commandments." On the day of atonement, the high priest sprinkled blood on the ark's cover to purify the people (Leviticus 16:2–17).
During Israel’s time in the wilderness, God's glory appeared over the ark, where he met with his people (see Exodus 25:22). Throughout Israel’s history, the ark represented God's presence. The people carried it as they traveled (Numbers 10:33–36). When they brought it to the Jordan River, the water stopped so the Israelites could cross on dry ground (Joshua 3:4–6). They carried the ark around Jericho before the city was invaded. It was present during the siege of the Ammonite city of Rabbah in King David’s time (2 Samuel 11:1–11).
The Philistines considered the ark as equal to Israel’s God (1 Samuel 4:6–8). This made sense because the Philistines took images of their gods into battle (2 Samuel 5:21). The Israelites did not use images of God. So they considered the ark as God's "footstool" and temporary home, not his image (see 1 Chronicles 28:2).
Yet, the Israelites developed a false view of the ark. They treated this holy object like a magic box and tried to use God's presence for their own gain. They thought "it may go with us to save us from the hand of our enemies” (see 1 Samuel 4:3). Their defeat that day showed that non one can control God (4:1–11). He is the leader of his people, and they must obey and trust him (compare Joshua 5:13–15).
King David eventually moved the ark to Jerusalem (2 Samuel 6:1–17). When King Solomon built the temple, he placed the ark in the most holy place. It remained the center of Israelite worship (1 Kings 8:1–11).
The Hebrew scriptures do not mention the ark after the early kingdom or monarchy. It was probably destroyed by the Babylonians along with the temple in 586 BC. Yet, a tradition from the apocrypha (or deuterocanon) claims that the prophet Jeremiah hid the ark during the exile in Babylon (2 Maccabees 2:4–8) (The apocrypha is a set of ancient texts not included in the Hebrew Bible but accepted by some Christian groups as Scripture.) Still, God's presence through Jesus Christ and his complete sacrifice made the ark unnecessary (see Hebrews 9:1–10:18).
Passages for Further Study
Exodus 25:10–22; 40:20–21; Leviticus 16:2; Numbers 10:33–36; Deuteronomy 31:25–26; Joshua 3:4–6; 6:6–13; Judges 20:26–28; 1 Samuel 4:3–11; 5:1–7:2; 2 Samuel 6:1–17; Jeremiah 3:16–18