The Ark of Bezalel and Where It Was Finally Hidden

(Exodus 25:11-21) "And they shall make an ark of acacia wood." Abba Hanan says in the name of Rabbi Eliezer: one verse says (Deuteronomy 10:1), "And you shall make for yourself an ark of wood," and another verse says, "And they shall make an ark of acacia wood." How is this? The one [singular] is at a time when Israel does the will of the Omnipresent; the other [plural] is at a time when Israel does not do the will of the Omnipresent, and so on. Rabbi Jonathan says: whether "take for yourself" or (Exodus 27:20) "and they shall take to you," it is from communal funds. If so, what does "take for yourself" teach? As it were, from yours I desire more than from theirs. Rabbi Yochanan raised a contradiction: it is written, "And you shall make for yourself an ark of wood," and it is written, "And they shall make an ark of acacia wood" - from here we learn that for a Torah scholar, the people of his city are commanded to do his work for him. How did Bezalel make the ark? He made it as three boxes, two of gold and one of wood. He placed the wooden one inside the gold one and the gold one inside the wooden one, and overlaid its upper rim with gold, as it is said, "And you shall overlay it with pure gold." Since there is no need for Scripture to say "within and without you shall overlay it," what does "you shall overlay it" teach? It teaches that he overlaid its upper rim with gold. The cover of gold was set upon it from above, as it is said, "And you shall put the cover upon the ark on top." Four rings of gold were fixed in the ark, two on the north and two on the south, in which they would place the poles, and they never came out from there, as it is said, "the poles shall be in the rings of the ark," and so on. Even though Solomon made a copy of all the vessels, he did not make a copy of the ark, as it is said (1 Kings 8:3), "And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests carried the ark." The ark was set within the House. "And he divided the House, ten cubits from here and ten cubits from there." And two cherubim of gold stood on their feet on the ground; from the wall to the cherub, five cubits, and from the cherub to the ark, five cubits. And from where do you say that when the priests brought in the ark, the poles lengthened and reached the curtain and touched the entrance, so that the doors of the Holy of Holies were never shut? As it is said, "and the poles were long, and they were seen," and so on. It is impossible to say "they were seen," for it is already said "they shall not be seen," and it is impossible to say "they shall not be seen," for it is already said "they were seen." How is this? They bulged into the curtain and were seen in the Sanctuary like the two breasts of a woman. And from where that they extended within? As it is said, "and they were not seen outside" - thus you learn they extended within. And from where that they extended without? As it is said, "and the heads of the poles were seen from the holy place on the front of the inner sanctuary." And from where do you say that just as the heads of the poles were drawn out, so the ends of the limbs of the cherubim were drawn out and covered the ark and screened the House from above? As it is said (1 Kings 8:7), "and the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim covered the ark and its poles from above." And where was it hidden? Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish says: in its place, in the Holy of Holies, as it is said (1 Kings 8:8), "and they are there to this day." And the sages say: in the chamber of the woodshed. Rabbi Eliezer says: it went down to Babylon, as it is said (2 Kings 20:17), "nothing shall be left, says the LORD" - and "thing" [davar] means nothing other than the [ten] utterances [dibberot] within it. Rabbi says: Josiah hid it away, as it is said (2 Chronicles 35:3), "And he said to the Levites who taught all Israel, who were holy to the LORD: put the holy ark in the house that Solomon son of David king of Israel built; you need not carry it on your shoulders; now serve the LORD your God and His people Israel." He said to them: it shall not go down with them to Babylon, that you should carry it up on the shoulder. The doors were not shut because of the poles that went out at the entrance, and the curtain was spread before the entrance. The Holy of Holies that Solomon made had a wall, an entrance, and doors, as it is said, "And he made doors for the Sanctuary and for the inner sanctuary." But the latter building had no wall; rather it had two partitions, each one and a half cubits long, and two curtains of gold were spread over them from above, and the place was called the cubit of the partition [amah teraksin].