Has the House of the Ark of the Covenant Been Found?

Tucked in the hills of the central Samaria region lies Tel Shiloh, an archaeological site layered with biblical memory. It was here, according to the books of Joshua and Samuel, that the Mishkan, the Tabernacle, stood for nearly four centuries. It was here that Hannah prayed, that Eli served, and that Samuel was called.

And now, it may also be the place where the Ark of the Covenant once stood.

A team of archaeologists led by Dr. Scott Stripling has uncovered a monumental Iron Age structure in Tel Shiloh that may, quite literally, reshape biblical archaeology. The building, he says, matches the dimensions, orientation, and internal layout of the Mishkan as described in the Torah.

“It faces east-west. It’s divided 2:1 in proportion. Its measurements align with the biblical Tabernacle,” Stripling told the Christian Broadcasting Network. “And it sits at the exact site the Bible names as the first spiritual capital of Israel.”

A Ritual Center, Or the Tabernacle Itself?

The physical dimensions alone would be newsworthy, but the surrounding findings are just as compelling. The excavation unearthed over 100,000 animal bones, most from kosher animals — primarily sheep, goats, and cattle. Astonishingly, the vast majority of these were from the right side of the animals, aligning with the instruction in Leviticus 7:32:

“The right thigh shall you give unto the priest for a heave offering.”

These are not the remains of casual pastoralism. They’re the remains of ritual sacrifice, on a scale that suggests national, not local, religious activity.

Pottery shards found in situ have been dated to the Late Bronze and early Iron Age, the very era in which the Israelites are believed to have settled the land.

Shiloh Before the Temple

Before there was a Jerusalem, before there was a Temple, there was Shiloh. According to Joshua 18, the entire nation gathered at Shiloh to divide the land. It was in Shiloh that the Mishkan was first assembled, a portable sanctuary, but a permanent spiritual home.

That sanctuary, the Torah tells us, held the Ark of the Covenant, the gold-covered chest that held the Tablets of the Law from Sinai. According to the Book of Samuel, the Ark was removed from Shiloh during a disastrous battle against the Philistines. It was captured, and Eli the High Priest, upon hearing of its loss, fell backward at the city gate and died.

Now, Stripling’s team believes they may have found that very gate.

A Partitioned Space. A Holy Space.

The structure itself includes a massive internal dividing wall, one that recalls the parochet, the curtain that separated the outer sanctuary from the Holy of Holies in the Mishkan. Could this have been the exact space that once housed the Ark?

“It’s not proof — not yet,” Stripling concedes. “But it’s more than coincidence. The evidence is piling up.”

The academic world is still reviewing the claims. But the implications are staggering. If confirmed, this would be the first structure ever uncovered that could credibly be associated with the Mishkan, the Ark’s original dwelling place.

A Lost Ark, A Found Identity

The Ark of the Covenant vanished from the biblical narrative long before the Babylonian exile. Its disappearance, and the divine silence surrounding it, has spawned thousands of years of speculation, midrash, and mystery.

But the renewed search for its context, for the space it may have occupied, the sacrifices offered around it, and the people who carried it, reveals something deeper than relic-hunting. It points to a living connection between text and land, between ancient worship and modern identity.

Even if the Ark is never found, the renewed focus on Shiloh re-centers the geography of holiness in Jewish memory. It reminds us that long before the grandeur of Solomon’s Temple, the Divine Presence dwelled in a humble tent, nestled in the hills of Shiloh.

And maybe, just maybe, we’ve found its floorplan.