Ark

Ark. The Ark of the Covenant was constructed by Moses, Aholiab, and Bezaleel by command of JAHWEH (Exodus 25:10). It was composed of shittim wood (acacia) overlaid with gold and was about four feet long and two feet wide and two feet deep and had rings on the sides through which staves could be thrust so that it could be carried by the Levites. The top of the Ark was called the Mercy Seat and upon it were placed two cherubim with outstretched wings. In the Ark were kept the tables of stone on which were carved the Ten Commandments, a golden pot full of manna, and Aaron’s Rod. The whole was lodged in the Sanctum Sanctorum or Holy of Holies or rear chamber of the Temple. It was once supposed that, upon the approach of the Chaldeans, the Israelites must have secreted these most sacred items, but no trace of them was ever found, so that presumably they were (comments removed) with the Temple.

The Ark used by the Royal Arch Masons is the substitute Ark, a purely ritualistic creation or copy or imitation of the Ark of the Covenant and is so declared in the ritual of the Capitular Rite, where it is said that the Ark was discovered in a secret vault under the ruins by Jeshua, Zerubbabel, and Haggai.