okay, here’s an interesting eating topic. Since the building of the ark is mentioned- what say you folks? Is the ark still around? Destroyed? Sitting in Ethiopia? When the Temple is rebuilt do you think the original ark will be returned? Just curious t hear some opinions. I for one, have no idea where it is if it is still around.
Didn’t they find the ark in that WWII era documentary with Harrison Ford?
When the First Temple was constructed, there was an underground storage space where the Mishkan and Ark constructed in the desert were to be hidden when the Temple would be destroyed, as the prophets told Solomon it would.
It was hidden by Jeremiah, probably within the Temple Mount, since the First Temple’s destruction was imminent. The various other stories are misdirections involving replicas, usually of only the Ark when the Mishkan (Tabernacle) was actually a larger construction.
After thousands of years, the wood it was made from would have turned to dust unless miraculously preserved. Even though it was gold plated, the underlying wood would decay.