Having read of the origin of the ark of the covenant (Exodus 25:10-22), here is a bit of a ‘sidebar’ on the thread othe story of the ark in the Old Testament.
The ark is the central ‘character’ in the crossing of the Jordan in Joshua 3 and 4. When the feet of the priests carrying the ark touch the river, the water is stopped up and the whole nation of Israel crosses.
The ark becomes prominent in the Bible again in 1 Samuel, chapters 4 to 7. After a battle with the Philistines goes especially badly, the Israelites decide to bring the ark into battle. This really backfires because the Philistines are so unnerved by this move they compensate with extra effort. They not only defeat Israel, again, but also capture the ark. Their celebration at this is short-lived, however, because the ark brings disaster and disease to the Philistine towns it gets handed around to like a spiritual grenade. They finally put it on a cart to see where the cattle will pull it; if it heads back to Israelite territory, that will be considered to clinch the prevailing theory that the ark has brought all the trouble they have been experiencing. The animals pulling the cart head straight for Israelite territory, where it ended up staying at the house of a man named Abinadab, whose son, Eleazar was consecrated to guard it (1 Samuel 7:1).
The ark story thread emerges again in 2 Samuel, with the story that culminates in David’s wild dance accompanying the ark into Jerusalem (2 Samuel 5 and 6). But then we hear of the ark again out in the field (2 Samuel 11:11), although it finally rests in Jerusalem (2 Samuel 15:24-25). The last thing the Bible clearly records about the ark is in 1 Kings 8, which describes Solomon moving the ark into the most central – inner sanctuary – of the temple.
There is nothing in the Bible that says what happened to the ark. It is possible invading Egyptians took it. See 1 Kings 14:25-26, which says Shishak of Egypt took all the treasures of the temple (This gives some plausibility to the plot line of Raiders of the Lost Ark, in which the ark is dug up in Egypt!). The other main theory is that it was either lost or stolen during the invasion by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24).
A comment in Jeremiah 3:16-17 may be seen as part of a direction in the prophets from depending on external things (altars and arks) toward seeing humanity’s connection with God more as more directly a matter of mind and heart. You don’t find that in the Jeremiah passage yet, however, but rather there is a vision of Jerusalem as a gathering place for Israel and “all nations” to honour the name of the Lord. People will no longer even mention the ark, says Jeremiah; “It will never enter their minds or be remembered; it will not be missed, nor will another one be made” (verse 16).
Prayer:
Praise to you, Lord, for your guidance to your people with this sign and pledge of your presence. Thank you even more that you commit to live within us as we turn to you in trust, so that we may know your power in personal ways. Through Christ. Amen.
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