The Missing Contents of the Ark of the Covenant: What Was Inside the Ark?

(HINT: Not just the 10 Commandments)

Whenever the subject of ancient technology comes up, most people have been conditioned by spectacular movies and TV shows to think right away about the Ark of the Covenant. Some say it was a capacitor of some kind—a power source containing a communicator with which to converse with ancient aliens. Others insist it was a weapon of mass destruction. Fantastic claims have been published describing beams issuing from it that destroyed entire armies, although those claims are not found in the Bible. The Ark is also said to have been the place where the Ten Commandments were kept.  But if you read the passage quoted above from the book of Hebrews, and parallel passages from Exodus and Numbers, you soon realize that's only part of the story. 

“The first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. A tabernacle was set up. In its first room were the lamp stand, the table and the consecrated bread; this was called the Holy Place. Behind the second curtain was a room called the Holy of Holies, which had the golden altar of incense and the gold-covered Ark of the Covenant. This Ark contained the gold jar of manna, Aaron's staff that had budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. Above the Ark were the cherubim of the Glory, overshadowing the atonement cover.”
(Hebrews 9:1-5)

The Ark of the Covenant According to the Book of Exodus

The book of Exodus tells us that when Moses climbed Sinai to receive the Law (delivered to the Israelites after their escape from Egypt), he was instructed to build an Ark upon which the glory of God would rest.