With eyes on winning war, building third Jewish Temple, Ark replica shown in Jerusalem
A replica of the Ark of the Covenant, painstakingly constructed, its creators say, to the Torah specifications of the sacred vessel that was the First Temple’s central fixture, was displayed in Jerusalem on Sunday evening, during the intermediate days of the Sukkot holiday. “Now we can see with our own eyes something which we have missed for 2,000 years,” said Israeli scholar Lt. Col. (res.) Mordechai Kedar of Bar-Ilan University.
The Significance and History of the Sacred Vessel
The ark described in the Torah, which housed the Ten Commandments tablets among other holy objects, was hidden after the destruction of the First Temple, per rabbinic tradition. At Jerusalem’s King David Hotel, the replica shown in the hotel’s sukkah contained a refurbished Torah scroll, which survived the Holocaust, from Thessaloniki, Greece. Several members of the Knesset and Israeli activists were on hand at the hotel for an event and festive meal—a stop on the replica’s journey retracing the steps of the biblical prototype.
The replica ark stopped in Jericho, the first Israeli city inhabited by Jews after the biblical Exodus from Egypt, and in Shiloh, the site that served as the Jewish capital for 369 years after Jews settled in Israel and the location of the Tabernacle before the building of the First Temple.
A Process of Discovery and Mystery
It took 17 volunteers, who live in several countries, three-and-a-half years to build the replica ark. According to “Jake” the project’s chief architect, who prefers to remain anonymous, and Lewis Topper, its principal financier, the construction involved unique materials and research. Although the Torah delves into extensive detail about the construction of the Ark and its dimensions and materials, it leaves out a lot of critical information that a builder would need to create the sacred vessel.
“It was really a deep process of discovery and a mystery. It’s not a question of just reading the descriptions literally and building the device,” Jake said at the event. “You have to do some heavy research, you have to immerse yourself and you have to go on a journey. Building the Ark is the ultimate journey.”
Technical Design and Materials
The construction utilized the following specifications and materials:
- Materials: The replica is made out of donated gold and some three tons of Egyptian Acacia.
- Gold Purity: “We went with the highest purity of gold available to the Egyptians,” Jake said. “The purity used for royal artifacts is around 23.75 carats, so we went with 23.75.”
- Mathematical Principles: The volunteers drew on a “tremendous amount of math” to build the ark. “The math parallels the ones found both in the Tabernacle and the First Temple.”
- Design Elements: The Golden Ratio—a relationship between values that has been seen as beautiful since ancient times—played a “very important part in the design.”
Specifications Table
| Feature | Details |
|---|---|
| Construction Time | Three-and-a-half years |
| Wood Type | Three tons of Egyptian Acacia |
| Gold Quality | 23.75 carats (royal artifact purity) |
| Core Concepts | Kabbalistic concepts, Numerology, and the Golden Ratio |
| Team | 17 volunteers from several countries |
“A lot of the concepts or motifs that we used follow up either Kabbalistic or some other concept by way of numerology,” Jake explained. Each step raised new questions about how such a complex object was constructed before the advent of modern manufacturing. Earlier in the day, the ark was fitted with the Greek Torah at Jerusalem’s City of David and later displayed on a rooftop overlooking the Western Wall plaza and Temple Mount.