The innermost space was not a public chamber.

Solomon's priests brought the Ark into the innermost room, under the wings of the cherubim. It held the two tablets of stone, and nothing else.

The Torah describes two golden cherubim facing each other over the Ark's cover, and God's promise to meet and speak with Moses from between them.

Rabbinic tradition counts the Ark among five things missing from the Second Temple. The Mishnah records traditions about where it was hidden; the Talmud records a dispute over whether it was hidden or exiled.

In its place stood a stone from the days of the early prophets, called the shetiyah, three fingerbreadths above the ground. On Yom Kippur the High Priest set the incense pan on it.

Only the High Priest, only on Yom Kippur, only at the time of the service. He passed between the two curtains with incense and coals, and the room filled with smoke. His prayer outside was kept short, so as not to alarm the waiting people.

No source the site relies on says with certainty that the Ark will be found or restored. Jeremiah even foresees a time when people will no longer speak of it or miss it; commentators read that verse in different ways.

The site never depicts the Ark, in any Temple.