Where is the ark today?

Let’s look at where the ark started and where it is now today.

It would appear by the scriptures that when Moses received the Ten Commandments {the second set, as Moses broke the originals} he then put the tablets of stone into a temporary ark which Moses himself made. This must have been a temporary place for the tablets until the Ark of the covenant was made by Bazalel. It does not appear to be too elaborate, rather fairly plain in comparison to the grand Ark of the Covenant made by Bazalel. God gave Moses many instructions regarding the building of the Ark and the tabernacle of meeting. It may well have been 1 year from the time of receiving the Ten Commandments till the Ark was finished along with the tabernacle of meeting. That is a possible explanation for the temporary Ark built by Moses.

Deu 10:1  “At that time the LORD said to me, ‘Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain and make yourself an ark of wood.

Deu 10:2  And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you shall put them in the ark.’

Deu 10:3  “So I made an ark of acacia wood, hewed two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand.

Deu 10:5  Then I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are, just as the LORD commanded me.”

The Covenant was made with Israel in Exodus 20 of the Bible, so now we see the following scriptures show what God told Moses to build the tabernacle and the ark of the covenant. However it did take a year for the tabernacle to be completed.

Exo 40:2  “On the first day of the first month you shall set up the tabernacle of the tent of meeting.

Exo 40:3  You shall put in it the ark of the Testimony, and partition off the ark with the veil.

Exo 40:17  And it came to pass in the first month of the second year, on the first day of the month, that the tabernacle was raised up.

The following are the instructions of how to make the Ark. There were many instructions given by God as to how to make the Ark and the Tabernacle of meeting. Note that the Ark was very elaborate with beautiful work of gold over it and inside it. Plus the beautiful cherubim.

Exo 25:10  “And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height.

Exo 25:11  And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around.

Exo 25:12  You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side.

Exo 25:13  And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold.

Exo 25:14  You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them.

Exo 25:15  The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it.

Exo 25:16  And you shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you.

Exo 25:17  “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width.

Exo 25:18  And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat.

Exo 25:19  Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat.

Exo 25:20  And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat.

Exo 25:21  You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you.

Bezalel made the Ark

As shown above from Exodus 25 to Exodus 40 took 1 year to set up the tabernacle and make the Ark.

Exo 37:1  Then Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits was its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height.

The various items that were put in or beside the Ark may have been put there at different times.

The Ten Commandments were put inside the Ark.

Exo 40:20  He took the Testimony and put it into the ark, inserted the poles through the rings of the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark.

The book of the law was put beside the Ark.

Deu 31:24  So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished,

Deu 31:25  that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the LORD, saying:

Deu 31:26  “Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there as a witness against you;

The original contents of the Ark.

Heb 9:4  which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;

Exo 16:32  Then Moses said, “This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: ‘Fill an omer with it, to be kept for your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you out of the land of Egypt.’ ”

Exo 16:33  And Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot and put an omer of manna in it, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations.”

Exo 16:34  As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept.

Num 17:10  And the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die.”

Num 17:11  Thus did Moses; just as the LORD had commanded him, so he did.

Exo 40:20  He took the Testimony and put it into the ark, inserted the poles through the rings of the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark.

Exo 37:1  Then Bezalel made the ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits was its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height.

The Ark had the book of the law {that is the first 5 books of the Old Testament} beside it.

Deu 31:26  “Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God, that it may be there as a witness against you;

Inside the ark were the golden pot of manna, Aaron’s rod that budded and the tablets of the covenant.

Heb 9:4  which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;

It appears that the manna and the rod were taken out of the Ark at some time, when, is not mentioned in the Bible.

However God punished the men of Beth Shemesh for they looked into the Ark. There is a possibility that they also removed the rod and the manna. It is not stated in the Bible that they removed the items, however it is a possible explanation.

1Sa 6:19  Then He struck the men of Beth Shemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD. He struck fifty thousand and seventy men of the people, and the people lamented because the LORD had struck the people with a great slaughter.

1Sa 6:20  And the men of Beth Shemesh said, “Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? And to whom shall it go up from us?”

1Sa 6:21  So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the LORD; come down and take it up with you.”

1Ki 8:9  Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt.

The ark largely travelled with the Israelites during the 40 years of wondering, then it was taken by the Philistines.

1Sa 4:17  So the messenger answered and said, “Israel has fled before the Philistines, and there has been a great slaughter among the people. Also your two sons, Hophni and Phinehas, are dead; and the ark of God has been captured.”

1Sa 5:1  Then the Philistines took the ark of God and brought it from Ebenezer to Ashdod.

1Sa 5:2  When the Philistines took the ark of God, they brought it into the house of Dagon and set it by Dagon.

1Sa 5:3  And when the people of Ashdod arose early in the morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the earth before the ark of the LORD. So they took Dagon and set it in its place again.

1Sa 5:4  And when they arose early the next morning, there was Dagon, fallen on its face to the ground before the ark of the LORD. The head of Dagon and both the palms of its hands were broken off on the threshold; only Dagon’s torso was left of it.

1Sa 5:5  Therefore neither the priests of Dagon nor any who come into Dagon’s house tread on the threshold of Dagon in Ashdod to this day.

1Sa 5:6  But the hand of the LORD was heavy on the people of Ashdod, and He ravaged them and struck them with tumors, both Ashdod and its territory.

1Sa 5:7  And when the men of Ashdod saw how it was, they said, “The ark of the God of Israel must not remain with us, for His hand is harsh toward us and Dagon our god.”

1Sa 5:8  Therefore they sent and gathered to themselves all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “What shall we do with the ark of the God of Israel?” And they answered, “Let the ark of the God of Israel be carried away to Gath.” So they carried the ark of the God of Israel away.

1Sa 5:9  So it was, after they had carried it away, that the hand of the LORD was against the city with a very great destruction; and He struck the men of the city, both small and great, and tumors broke out on them.

1Sa 5:10  Therefore they sent the ark of God to Ekron. So it was, as the ark of God came to Ekron, that the Ekronites cried out, saying, “They have brought the ark of the God of Israel to us, to kill us and our people!”

1Sa 5:11  So they sent and gathered together all the lords of the Philistines, and said, “Send away the ark of the God of Israel, and let it go back to its own place, so that it does not kill us and our people.” For there was a deadly destruction throughout all the city; the hand of God was very heavy there.

1Sa 5:12  And the men who did not die were stricken with the tumors, and the cry of the city went up to heaven.

The Philistines sent the Ark back on a cart with two milk cows pulling it

1Sa 6:10  Then the men did so; they took two milk cows and hitched them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home.

1Sa 6:11  And they set the ark of the LORD on the cart, and the chest with the gold rats and the images of their tumors.

1Sa 6:12  Then the cows headed straight for the road to Beth Shemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and did not turn aside to the right hand or the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth Shemesh.

1Sa 6:21  So they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjath Jearim, saying, “The Philistines have brought back the ark of the LORD; come down and take it up with you.”

The ark stayed in Kirjath Jearim for 20 years.

1Sa 7:1  Then the men of Kirjath Jearim came and took the ark of the LORD, and brought it into the house of Abinadab on the hill, and consecrated Eleazar his son to keep the ark of the LORD.

1Sa 7:2  So it was that the ark remained in Kirjath Jearim a long time; it was there twenty years. And all the house of Israel lamented after the LORD.

David brought the Ark back from the house of Abinadab on the hill.

2Sa 6:2  And David arose and went with all the people who were with him from Baale Judah to bring up from there the ark of God, whose name is called by the Name, the LORD of Hosts, who dwells between the cherubim.

2Sa 6:3  So they set the ark of God on a new cart, and brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill; and Uzzah and Ahio, the sons of Abinadab, drove the new cart.

2Sa 6:4  And they brought it out of the house of Abinadab, which was on the hill, accompanying the ark of God; and Ahio went before the ark.

2Sa 6:5  Then David and all the house of Israel played music before the LORD on all kinds of instruments of fir wood, on harps, on stringed instruments, on tambourines, on sistrums, and on cymbals.

David was afraid and angry over the death of Uzzah.

2Sa 6:6  And when they came to Nachon’s threshing floor, Uzzah put out his hand to the ark of God and took hold of it, for the oxen stumbled.

2Sa 6:7  Then the anger of the LORD was aroused against Uzzah, and God struck him there for his error; and he died there by the ark of God.

2Sa 6:8  And David became angry because of the LORD’s outbreak against Uzzah; and he called the name of the place Perez Uzzah to this day.

The Ark was kept at the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite for three months.

2Sa 6:9  David was afraid of the LORD that day; and he said, “How can the ark of the LORD come to me?”

2Sa 6:10  So David would not move the ark of the LORD with him into the City of David; but David took it aside into the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite.

2Sa 6:11  The ark of the LORD remained in the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite three months. And the LORD blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.

David and the Israelites brought the Ark in the City of David. This was done with great singing and gladness. This was a temporary place for the Ark prior to Solomon building the temple which would then house the Ark.

2Sa 6:15  So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet.

2Sa 6:16  Now as the ark of the LORD came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the LORD; and she despised him in her heart.

2Sa 6:17  So they brought the ark of the LORD, and set it in its place in the midst of the tabernacle that David had erected for it. Then David offered burnt offerings and peace offerings before the LORD.

David wanted to build a house for the Ark. He was not permitted to do so, because he was a man of war and had shed blood.

1Ch 28:2  Then King David rose to his feet and said, “Hear me, my brethren and my people: I had it in my heart to build a house of rest for the ark of the covenant of the LORD, and for the footstool of our God, and had made preparations to build it.

1Ch 28:3  But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed blood.’

God chose Solomon to build a house for the Ark.

1Ch 28:6  Now He said to me, ‘It is your son Solomon who shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his Father.

The Ark was brought into the temple.

2Ch 5:1  So all the work that Solomon had done for the house of the LORD was finished; and Solomon brought in the things which his father David had dedicated: the silver and the gold and all the furnishings. And he put them in the treasuries of the house of God.

2Ch 5:2  Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, in Jerusalem, that they might bring the ark of the covenant of the LORD up from the City of David, which is Zion.

2Ch 5:3  Therefore all the men of Israel assembled with the king at the feast, which was in the seventh month.

2Ch 5:4  So all the elders of Israel came, and the Levites took up the ark.

2Ch 5:5  Then they brought up the ark, the tabernacle of meeting, and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle. The priests and the Levites brought them up.

2Ch 5:6  Also King Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled with him before the ark, were sacrificing sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude.

The Ark was put into the inner sanctuary of the temple.

2Ch 5:7  Then the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the temple, to the Most Holy Place, under the wings of the cherubim.

2Ch 5:8  For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim overshadowed the ark and its poles.

2Ch 5:9  The poles extended so that the ends of the poles of the ark could be seen from the holy place, in front of the inner sanctuary; but they could not be seen from outside. And they are there to this day.

2Ch 5:10  Nothing was in the ark except the two tablets which Moses put there at Horeb, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they had come out of Egypt.

2Ch 5:11  And it came to pass when the priests came out of the Most Holy Place (for all the priests who were present had sanctified themselves, without keeping to their divisions),

2Ch 5:12  and the Levites who were the singers, all those of Asaph and Heman and Jeduthun, with their sons and their brethren, stood at the east end of the altar, clothed in white linen, having cymbals, stringed instruments and harps, and with them one hundred and twenty priests sounding with trumpets

2Ch 5:13  indeed it came to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD, and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised the LORD, saying: “For He is good, For His mercy endures forever,” that the house, the house of the LORD, was filled with a cloud,

The glory of God the Father filled the temple.

2Ch 5:14  so that the priests could not continue ministering because of the cloud; for the glory of the LORD filled the house of God.

When the High Priest went into the Holy of Holies, on the day of Atonement, this was an earthly copy of the heavenly. So the Holy of Holies represented going into the very presence of God the Father. The High Priest sprinkled the blood which was to cover the sins of the people and himself. The mercy seat on the ark represented the very throne of God the Father.

When Jesus died for our sins He entered behind the veil in heaven. Jesus is our High Priest.

Heb 6:19  This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil,

Heb 6:20  where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.

Heb 9:12  Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

He did not sprinkle the blood of goats or calves, but His own blood was shed for us.

Heb 9:1  Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary.

Heb 9:2  For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary;

Heb 9:3  and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All,

Heb 9:4  which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant;

Heb 9:5  and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.

Heb 9:6  Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services.

Heb 9:7  But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance;

Heb 9:8  the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing.

Heb 9:9  It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience—

Heb 9:10  concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.

Heb 9:11  But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation.

Heb 9:12  Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption.

Heb 9:13  For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh,

Heb 9:14  how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?

Heb 9:15  And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance.

Heb 9:16  For where there is a testament, there must also of necessity be the death of the testator.

Heb 9:17  For a testament is in force after men are dead, since it has no power at all while the testator lives.

Heb 9:18  Therefore not even the first covenant was dedicated without blood.

Heb 9:19  For when Moses had spoken every precept to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people,

Heb 9:20  saying, “THIS IS THE BLOOD OF THE COVENANT WHICH GOD HAS COMMANDED YOU.”

Heb 9:21  Then likewise he sprinkled with blood both the tabernacle and all the vessels of the ministry.

Heb 9:22  And according to the law almost all things are purified with blood, and without shedding of blood there is no remission.

Heb 9:23  Therefore it was necessary that the copies of the things in the heavens should be purified with these, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Heb 9:24  For Christ has not entered the holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us;

Heb 9:25  not that He should offer Himself often, as the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood of another—

Heb 9:26  He then would have had to suffer often since the foundation of the world; but now, once at the end of the ages, He has appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself.

Heb 9:27  And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,

Heb 9:28  so Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many. To those who eagerly wait for Him He will appear a second time, apart from sin, for salvation.

When Jesus died for our sins the earthly representations of the heavenly were no longer required. The tabernacle with the Holy of Holies and the Ark of the covenant.

When Jesus died the veil was torn, Christ entered into the Holy of Holies in Heaven. The sacrifices and washings were no longer required after this point. The ark of the covenant would have been taken to heaven, as there was no longer a need for it on earth. Where the book of Revelation states it is at present.

Rev 11:19  Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.

Jesus is our High Priest now in the priestly order of Melchisedec.

Heb 5:5  So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: “YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU.”

Heb 5:6  As He also says in another place: “YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK”;

Heb 5:7  who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear,

Heb 5:8  though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered.

Heb 5:9  And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him,

Heb 5:10  called by God as High Priest “ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK,”

A prophesy showing that the Ark would no longer be visited by man.

Jer 3:16  “Then it shall come to pass, when you are multiplied and increased in the land in those days,” says the LORD, “that they will say no more, ‘The ark of the covenant of the LORD.’ It shall not come to mind, nor shall they remember it, nor shall they visit it, nor shall it be made anymore.

The Ark going to heaven with the Father.

2Ch 6:41  “Now therefore, Arise, O LORD God, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength. Let Your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, And let Your saints rejoice in goodness.

Psa 132:8  Arise, O LORD, to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your strength.

The last recorded place of the Ark.

The Ark of the Covenant is in heaven in the Temple of God

Rev 11:19  Then the temple of God was opened in heaven, and the ark of His covenant was seen in His temple. And there were lightnings, noises, thunderings, an earthquake, and great hail.