The Ark of the Covenant, the chest of gold built by Moses to house the Ten Commandments, may have been found, according to an Italian news report. The Leader of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Abuna Pauolos met with Pope Benedict XVI this week to discuss the Ark. Pauolos stated: "Soon the world will be able to admire the Ark of the Covenant described in the Bible as the container of the tablets of the law that God delivered to Moses . . . . The Ark of the Covenant is in Ethiopia for many centuries. As a patriarch I have seen it with my own eyes and only few highly qualified persons could do the same, until now."

The Italian news agency, Adnkronos, reported that Pauolos had planned to "unveil" the Ark in a formal press conference on Friday -- but no such announcement was made.

Bob Cornuke -- "a real-life Indiana Jones" who participated in a History Channel documentary about the Ark of the Covenant called, Digging for the Truth -- told WND reporters: "They either have the Ark of the Covenant or they have a replica that they believed to be the Ark of the covenant for 2,000 years."

Other scholars are skeptical, however, and do not believe claims that the Ark is in Ethiopia.

Regardless, the Ark of the Covenant is a treasured spiritual artifact. In the Old Testament of the Bible, God instructed Moses on Mount Sinai to build the Ark of the Covenant and a Holy Tent so that God could live among His people as they traveled through the desert to the Promised Land (Israel). The Ark of the Covenant was placed in special section of the Holy Tent -- the "Most Holy Place" -- where God would appear in a cloud. Because the Ark of the Covenant was holy, it could not be touched by human hands, and only the Levite priests were permitted to be near the Ark. The priests covered the Ark and carried it on poles whenever they traveled.

In the Book of Joshua, God instructed Joshua (Moses' successor as leader of the Israelites) to use the Ark of the Covenant to perform miracles: as a tool to part the Jordan River for the Israelites and as a weapon to bring down the walls of Jericho, an enemy fortress (Joshua 6). Neighboring countries began to fear the Israelite army, attributing the Israelites' many victories to the Ark of the Covenant.

In I Samual, the Philistines captured the Ark and took it to Ashdod, where they placed it in the temple of their god, Dagon. But God destroyed the statue of Dagon and sent a plague into Ashdod. After seven months of misery and death, the Philistines sent the Ark away. King David eventually brought the Ark back to Jerusalem (2 Samual 6:1-15), and his son, Solomon, built a temple for the Ark of the Covenant (I King 8). But the Israelites fell into decline and began worshipping other gods. After several warnings (through prophets), God eventually allowed the Babylonians to destroy Jerusalem, and the Ark was lost.

The Ark of the Covenant is mentioned in the New Testament, as well, in the book of Hebrews. Before the temple was destroyed, only the High Priest was permitted to enter the Most Holy Place with the Ark of the Covenant to atone for the sins of Israel (with animal sacrifices). In Hebrews 9, the writer explains that as a high priest, Jesus entered the Most Holy Place in heaven to atone for the sins of humankind with his own blood. This is the new covenant that was prophesied in the Old Testament (Jeremiah 31:31). Jesus reiterated the new covenant in the Last Supper, a Passover meal he ate with his followers before he died. Jesus took a cup of wine, gave thanks to God, and said, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you" (Luke 22:20).

The Ark of the Covenant is mentioned in the Book of Revelations -- the last book of the Bible that foretells the end of the world. In Revelations 11, the seventh angel blew his trumpet to announce the "third trouble," and the heavens opened, revealing the Ark of the Covenant in God's temple . . . the heavenly version of what was built on earth.