I suggest you read Exodus 25:10-22. It’s called the Ark of the Covenant because it contained the covenant God made with the Israelites. It was not a symbol, it was the dwelling place of God, the place from which He would speak to Moses about His commandments from God.
“Abolish” and “replace” are wildly different concepts, and one should not glibly use them in the same sentence. Jesus expressly said he did not come to abolish the law (teachings). I think a more helpful way to think about this is in the context of a contract - when an old contract is fulfilled, and a new one regarding the same subject matter is drawn up, we don’t talk about abolishing or replacing. I think a better way to think about it is that the old covenant was merged into a new convenant - one that takes the old agreement to a better place.
God said His covenant with Israel would last forever. I believe Him.
The Ark itself may also have lasted forever, or at least up till the present day. It still exists on earth, or so I read in a new book (The Lion and the Covenant). This is a novel, but could also be factual in what it reveals in considerable detail about the history of these matters in recent times.
The history reported is that British Freemasons under the patronage of Queen Victoria sent a Royal Engineers expedition, led by a General Sir Charles Warren, to dig under Temple Mount in 1867. That was based on information received that the location of the Ark was recorded there. The following year they sent a large army to Ethiopia under a cover story, apparently because of what they had learned in their Jerusalem excavations. In Ethiopia, they stormed the mountain fortress of the Emperor at Magdala after a long march inland. There they seized Ethiopia’s religious treasures including the Ark, gathered and hidden there by Emperor Theodore during the previous decade. Theodore then committed suicide in shame.
The British royal hope was apparently that possession of the Ark, albeit in secret, would enable the British Empire to become the greatest empire in all history. Which apparently came true for several generations. Unlike American Freemasons, who believe in democracy and republicanism, the British ones are ardent royalists and have been led by the British royal family for over two centuries (currently by the Duke of Kent, first cousin of Queen Elizabeth).
So, the Ark may still exist, & this book reveals claimed details of where it has been more recently, and also how & why it disappeared to begin with, so long ago. However the British Freemasons, who like all Freemasons are obsessed with King Solomon’s Temple, are said not to want this their biggest secret to get out, and apparently refuse to even discuss this matter at all. The lower-level ones probably wouldn’t even know the facts about it in any case, but just toe the line to the gag order. Hopefully US media will be open-minded enough to look into this startling claim though, because the historical detail is quite convincing I thought.