What do the Ten Commandments, psychics, the CIA, and social media have in common?
We’re glad you asked!
It is the Ark of the Covenant, which is currently trending in the podcasting and social media realms.
Some content creators recently discovered declassified U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) documents from the 1980s about a U.S. Army program known as the Stargate Project. This project was a foray by the Army into harnessing psychic powers for (among other things) locating objects. And one of the objects they sought was the biblical Ark of the Covenant.
What exactly is the Ark of the Covenant?
The Ark of the Covenant
In a physical sense, the Ark of the Covenant was a gilded rectangular chest made from acacia wood. It was overlaid with pure gold both inside and out. On its cover it had two cherubim (angel guardians) made of pure gold, their wings stretched out toward each other. It had four gold rings affixed to the sides, and two long poles, also covered in gold, one for each side, that slid through the rings, for carrying the Ark. The Ark’s description can be found in Exodus 25:10–22. It is the very first item described in God’s instructions to the Israelites about how to build the Tabernacle.
Most important, the Ark’s purpose was to store and transport the Ten Commandments that God gave to Moses at Mount Sinai.
A new set of tablets
But wait . . . there is a plot twist!
The stone tablets on which the Ten Commandments were written—and which were placed into the Ark for safekeeping—were actually a second set of the tablets. They were not the original tablets carved by God. Moses famously smashed those tablets to the ground, destroying them. Moses’ ire in the moment is nicely captured in the classic 1956 movie “The Ten Commandments,” with Charlton Heston, over-dramatized as only Cecil B. DeMille could do:
In the United States it has been a tradition since the 1970s for network television to air “The Ten Commandments” on Easter weekend. It is an entertaining movie about an important biblical moment for Jews and Christians. This year (2025) Easter is on April 20. You might enjoy the movie upon reading several of our classic blog posts that offer a richer understanding of Moses and the Exodus. Just be aware that “The Ten Commandments” is a modern novelization. It adds in many scenes and details that aren’t in the Bible’s stories of the Exodus and the events at Mt. Sinai afterwards.
Once the dust had settled, God told Moses that they would have a do-over, and create a second edition of the tablets. Except this time Moses had to contribute toward the work. God instructed him to re-ascend Mount Sinai carrying two blank tablets that he was to prepare, whereupon God would re-write the same commandments on them. (The first time, God prepared the stone tablets and wrote the commandments on them.)
In an earlier blog post, “How God Speaks in the Bible to Us Boneheads,” we describe in detail the significance and spiritual meaning of Moses destroying the first set of tablets, and why and how the tablets were made a second time.
Does the Ark still exist?
Today there is no publicly known physical evidence of the Ark. It has never been found. Some believe it is near the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, underneath the innermost room—the Holy of Holies—of the long-destroyed Temple. Others believe it is in Jordan. Still others contend that it is in a church building in Ethiopia, watched over by church guardians and protected by supernatural forces from being opened.
The documents from the Stargate Project were eventually declassified by the CIA in 2000 after it took over the program . . . and shut it down. Despite all the excitement and conspiracy theories, the reality is that the Stargate Project rarely, if ever, yielded any useful intel. That’s why it was shuttered after less than two decades of existence.
“Viewer #032” and the Ark
The document everyone is excited about comes from a remote viewer designated in the documents as “Viewer #032.” This was a person with psychic abilities who purportedly described the Ark of the Covenant, saying that it is hidden in a dark, damp place underground in the Middle East. The original document is available as a PDF from the CIA website, here:
https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP96-00789R001300180002-7.pdf
Of course, if the Army had pursued the leads given in the document, and attempted to locate the Ark, they would have come up empty—just as with nearly every other result from the remote viewers.
How can we say this so confidently?
Because anyone who has read the description of the Ark in the Bible can immediately tell that whatever Viewer #032 saw, it was not the Ark of the Covenant. Here is the description of it in the declassified document:
Target is a container. This container has another container inside of it. The target is fashioned of wood, gold, and silver. The target is similar in shape to (AOL) a coffin, and is decorated with seraphim.
There are several problems with this description.
The first and most obvious is that it says that “the target” (meaning the Ark) “is fashioned of wood, gold, and silver.” However, the description of the Ark in Exodus 25:10–22 is crystal clear that the Ark itself and everything connected to with was overlaid with gold. There was no silver in the Ark. There wouldn’t be any wood visible either, since all the wooden parts were covered in gold. As we will see, this is important for the spiritual significance of the Ark.
Other problems are that it is described as “decorated with seraphim,” but the figures on the ark were cherubim, not seraphim. The two are not the same. Further, it says that it is similar in shape to a coffin, which would make it too long and narrow to be the Ark of the Covenant. Here is one present-day recreation of what the Ark would have looked like:
Whatever this remote viewer saw, it was not the Ark of the Covenant described in the Bible.
The problem with remote viewing, if it has any validity at all, is that remote viewers are seeing things, not with their physical eyes, but with their spiritual eyes. As a result, what they see is not an accurate portrayal of physical objects and places. It is scenes that, while they might draw on physical places and things, overlay them with other ideas and imagery from the human mind and imagination, and from the spiritual world.
Given the inaccurate description of the Ark given by Viewer #032, clearly it was a vision, not of the actual Ark of the Covenant, but of some vague and inaccurate conception of it that the psychic had in mind when looking for it. This is why we can confidently say that if the Army had pursued the leads given in the document, and had attempted to locate the Ark based on it, the result would have been nothing but a wild goose chase.
So . . . does the Ark still exist?
Besides, it is highly unlikely that an object made primarily of wood managed to remain intact for well over three thousand years since it was first built. Most likely it was carried off to Babylon when the Babylonians sacked Jerusalem and the Temple as described in 2 Kings 25:1–26 and 2 Chronicles 36:15–21, its gold melted down and repurposed, and its underlying wooden structure destroyed in the process.
The spiritual meaning
However, the physical presence of the Ark is immaterial to the spiritual progress of mankind. After all, it is not a physical vessel we should seek, but rather the spiritual goodness and truth that it represents. The U.S. Army was searching for the wrong Ark! Either way, they stood no chance of finding it.
But we can still find great meaning in the Ark for our everyday lives today.
Emanuel Swedenborg (1688–1772) reminds us that the Bible is meant to be understood spiritually rather than literally. In fact, the Bible has multiple layers of spiritual symbolism. Let’s focus on what the Ark means for our individual spiritual life.
The Tabernacle
First, it helps to have an overall picture of the Tabernacle in which the Ark was housed. Here is a present-day model of it sited in Timna Valley Park, Israel:
The Tabernacle, like the later Temple, was divided into three areas:
- The outer court
- The Holy Place
- The Most Holy Place, or Holy of Holies
The outer court was where the animal sacrifices were offered. This is the large area within the outer curtain in the model.
The Holy Place was in the front part of the tent in the center. It was lit by a lampstand. It also had an altar for offering incense and a table for the “showbread,” or “bread of the presence,” that was offered to the Lord every day.
The Most Holy Place was also in the tent, behind the holy place, separated from it by a veil. This is where the Ark of the Covenant rested. There was no other furniture in this room.
The common people only went as far as the outer court, where their sacrifices were offered by the priests.
The priests went into the holy place every day to keep the lamps lit, offer incense, and place fresh showbread on the table of showbread.
Only the high priest went into the most holy place, and only once a year, on the Day of Atonement. This is when God would speak to the high priest from between the cherubim on the mercy seat that covered the Ark. Inside the Ark were the two tables of the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments, then, were within the Ark of the Covenant, which was in the central Holy of Holies of the Tabernacle, and later of the Temple in Jerusalem. This gives us a sense of just how important the Ark, and the Ten Commandments within it, were.
The spiritual meaning of the Tabernacle
We can think of the Tabernacle, and the later Temple, as representing our spiritual self and life. It is the place where we meet God and serve God.
- The Holy of Holies is our heart of hearts. This is where our love for God and the neighbor—our fellow human beings—resides in us.
- The Holy Place represents our thinking mind, and specifically, the spiritual beliefs and principles by which we guide our lives.
- The outer court represents our active life of service to God and to our fellow human beings. This is where we put our religion into action in our everyday life.
What does it mean that the Ark of the Covenant, and the Ten Commandments, were in the very center of the Tabernacle?
Our relationship with God
It helps to understand the Ark, and the Ten Commandments themselves, as representing our relationship with God at the deepest level. It was from the mercy seat, which was the lid of the ark, on which were the two cherubim, that God spoke to the high priest once a year, continually re-establishing the living relationship between God and the people of Israel.
Every part of the Ark was either covered with gold or made of gold. If you looked at the Ark, everything you saw would be gold. Gold is the metal of love. (See “The Gold Standard.”) The acacia wood that the Ark was also made of represents goodness in the human heart. Even the materials that the Ark was made of symbolize love and goodness in our heart: love for God and the neighbor, and the goodness of our active and loving relationship with them.
Love is at the center of every good relationship, both with God and with other people. That’s why the entire Ark had to be covered with gold, inside and out.
The Ten Commandments themselves also represent a relationship with God.
Why are there two tablets?
Because one tablet is the tablet for God, and the other is the tablet for us. On the first tablet are written the first four or five commandments, which are about how we should relate to and serve God. On the second tablet are written the rest of the commandments, which are about how we should treat our fellow human beings.
These two tablets were stored together, right next to each other, inside the Ark. Even the tablets themselves picture and represent a relationship between God and the people—meaning us.
And where is that relationship?
It is in our heart. In other words, at its core, our relationship with God is a relationship of love. God, who is love, loves us with an infinite and tender love. If we love God in return, then and only then do we have a relationship with God.
And how do we love God in return? Not only by loving and worshiping God directly, but also by loving the other people whom God has created along with us. In biblical terms, we love God by loving our neighbor. That is why Jesus said in the parable of the sheep and the goats in Matthew 25:31–46:
Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.
Jesus also said:
If you love me, keep my commandments. (John 14:15)
When we keep God’s commandments, the first table of which are about how we honor and relate to God, and the second table of which are about how we are to treat our neighbor, then and only then do we have a relationship of love with God and with our fellow human beings.
That’s why the Ark, and the Ten Commandments within them, are at the very center of the Tabernacle of our spiritual life.
And here, from our YouTube channel, is a video version of this post:
For further reading:
- The Ten Commandments: Our Spiritual Inventory List
- How do I Love God with my Whole Heart?
- How Do I Love My Neighbor?
- How did Swedenborg interpret 1 John 2:2: “He is the propitiation for our sins”?
- How God Speaks in the Bible to Us Boneheads
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Lee Woofenden is an ordained minister, writer, editor, translator, and teacher. He enjoys taking spiritual insights from the Bible and the writings of Emanuel Swedenborg and putting them into plain English as guides for everyday life.
Spiritual Insights for Everyday Life 
Hi Lee,
Very interesting, I used to think the Ark of the Covenant was more myth or something like out of the Indiana Jones movie since that was my only exposure when growing up. But learning how it was an actual object but even more importantly its spiritual significance in our everyday relationship with God is very eye opening. It’s a great reminder to not get caught up in actual physical objects but instead we should be focused on its spiritual significance which ultimately that’s what really counts since that is what will stay with us when we enter the spiritual world.
It seems like a common theme either in movies or even in history like I remember watching on the History Channel (which isn’t a reliable source) that Hilter was obsessed with wanting to collect all these Biblical or sacred objects like the holy grail cup or the spear that punchcard Jesus’ lung because I guess he thought these objects would grant him ultimate power I heard? That’s why they are still looking for like the U-boat that was sunk that supposedly contains some of these artifacts?
And regarding the “remote viewing”, the “Monroe Institute”(which I heard is a direct continuation of the Stargate Project) and the Remote viewing projects there was a person who said:
“In 2005 when I was still practicing/teaching and really into remote viewing when I read a book called the stargate cronicals which talked about Robert Monroes journey but the book was written for the author who was their autobiography his name was Joesph Mcmonyhill which was one of the most famous remote viewers from the army remote viewing team and he also mentioned remote viewing is just clairvoyance steeped in science.
There are highly scientific protocols to help keep the psychic very honest and help allow the psychic to replicate results again and again. This was something born out of military programs in the 1970s to keep tabs on the soviets psychic spying programs. Like the person named Joesph Mcmonyhill who worked for the military as a remote viewer and wrote the book called stargate chronicles. He also does live TV presentations that are not parlor tricks which blows peoples minds since he can also see past, present, and future.
For example, Remote viewers are given a set of numbers that are “triple blinded” which is their “target” and they were all able to talk about what happened and all of them told them same thing. This is because when they practice remote viewing they shouldn’t be “front loaded with all the information and the target should be completely unknown”. Physics when “practicing” they were able to “accurately draw the target without even knowing” about it.
Like with remote viewing, there’s a frequency associated with every state of consciousness. For instance, remote viewing you don’t need to go deep and can be at an Alpha frequency around 125 Hz. OBEs is around beta wave at 65 Hz. Rejuvenation is Delta wave at 40 hz. The highest brain wave recorded is 160hz.”
And “If you don’t believe Remote viewing and how certain corporations use this to spy on their competitors then “you’re going to go out of business.””
How can there be frequencies that is associated with every state of our consciousness? Like we can be controlled by these so called frequencies? And so called “triple blind” this reminds me like what you covered regarding the “prison planet” that’s a “team of remote viewers” said.
But I wanted to include the quotes above as a lead up to what are your views on https://www.monroeinstitute.org/ it’s named after Robert Monroe which some say they have a contract with the government and recruiting and training physics and “gifted” children. So essentially like the TV show Stranger Things lol.
They said how “Our guided programs use sound technology to empower your journey of self-discovery. Discover the path to self-actualization by joining us for your first Monroe experiential program.” Some even say how Robert Monroe is the “godfather of OBEs” and that the Monroe Institute is a direct continuation of the “Stargate Project”.?
But Robert Monroe and the Army Remote viewers and others like engineers like Bruce Moen (which some are still part of it today) created this institute along with this technology called “The Gateway Experiences” which “The gateway CDs are based on Hemisync Technology. Hemisync is where you listen with headphones and you have this binarel beat, one specific sound goes into the right ear and effects the left brain hemisphere and one beat that goes into the left ear that effects the right brain hemisphere. And those two distinct signals will then create a 3rd signal and that will then harmonize and give you this whole ray of brain activity. So synchronize both hemispheres. This whole brain activity is what monks spend years and years and years through meditation to achieve these deep trance states. With the hemisync technology you can achieve these deep trance states, out of body, and remote viewing states in a matter of 10 – 15 minutes. So it’s power technology.”
But I just wanted to get your views on these topics and this weird Monroe Institute located in Virginia which some people literally view them and the people associated with the institution like Robert Monroe as godlike with all the answers, it’s quite crazy actually. Some even said we should “abandon old outdated text since we have more modern up to date information.” And like mention above how this is so called very “science based” and how science keeps the remote viewers “objective” doesn’t make any sense.
Like in your other article you wrote how mediums aren’t reliable sources and what you wrote before regarding this topic it’s just a bunch of people overlaying their imagination/thoughts and their current spiritual state overlaying everything they experience. And because all these people see things or experiences the same, would that be explained like what Swedenborg said regarding how we can be by someone physically and our spiritual spheres can affect other peoples spirits and distort what someone sees?
Thank you Lee
Hi Sam,
Raiders of the Lost Ark is a fun movie! But it’s just a movie. And of course, it sensationalizes the whole “Ark of the Covenant” thing to the max. There is no scene in the Bible where people open up the ark and look in, and it melts them all down! Here is the closest it comes to that:
Even the scene in the YouTube clip from the Cecil B. DeMille movie “The Ten Commandments” is hugely sensationalized. Moses didn’t throw the Ten Commandments at the golden calf, resulting in fancy pyrotechnics. But people go to the movies to be entertained—and cinematographers are very good at entertaining them. Fancy pyrotechnics draw in the crowds!
It is common for worldly and materialistic people who are also superstitious to think that there is some sort of magical earthly power in various sacred objects. Even the Catholic Church collects “relics” (most of them probably fakes) and puts them into shrines, where people think they have magical powers. It wouldn’t surprise me if Hitler thought the same way. He was far from the only one. Modern movies also commonly make sacred objects into sources of physical power.
However, as you say, the real power is in their spiritual meaning, and its effect upon our eternal life, not to mention on our life of love and kindness to our fellow human beings right here on earth.
I’ll respond separately about the remote viewing.
Hi Sam,
About remote viewing, the Monroe Institute, and so on, all this stuff is good at getting gullible people to part with their dough. It may even be good for getting people to go on an acid trip without the acid. But it’s just parlor tricks and fun experiences. Nothing solid or practical comes out of it. As the remote viewing page on Wikipedia says:
And:
And:
So the U.S. Army spent twenty million taxpayer bucks for . . . exactly nothing.
But that wouldn’t sound good on the Monroe Institute website! Of course they’re going to make it sound like it was some amazing thing that yielded all sorts of essential intelligence! And of course they’re going to dress it up in scientific-sounding stuff like 65 hertz and 35 decibels. And . . . the idea that corporation are using remote viewers to spy on their competitors is just plain hogwash.
The only practical effects of remote viewing is to make some $$$ for the cranks who promote it.
Hi Lee,
Thank you very kindly as always for your analysis on these topics, it’s very enlightening as always!
Since learning about true spiritual knowledge,Swedenborg and learning more just now, like movies and people or groups like Catholics who are worldly and superstitious (along with remote viewing). If these people actually promoted or created movies that are instead focused on the spiritual significance along with their correspondence with our relationship with God and being a good neighbor, how much more we could get out of from watching movies like The Ten Commandments or even Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Some of my distant relatives who live up north literally think the movie The Ten Commandments is what actually happened verbatim and they claim to read the Bible!
There was a fairly recent movie based on Swedenborg’s book Heaven and Hell called “Things Heard and Seen” but they made it “spooky” instead of what Swedenborg actually meant by his writings. It’s cool to see but it focused on material world objects and it could have been so much more. Just like how people miss the meaning of the Ark or the Covenant and how that still applies to our everyday lives today.
And regarding the Monroe institute and remote viewing, what you said really puts the nail in the coffin as the saying goes. I never knew that at all. And I definitely got a good laugh as well how, “The only practical effects of remote viewing is to make some $$$ for the cranks who promote it.” lol so true! I never really realized how much money is actually involved with these woo woo groups.
It’s amazing how the information to all this stuff is right there in front of everyone’s faces as plain as day but yet it’s still pushed as absolute fact especially from the new age community (I’m sure there are others) despite it being totally bogus no matter how hard they try to dress it up in scientific woo woo. And it’s sad how money was wasted instead of using it for actual good of helping people. This reminds me like the hype of the “bending of the spoons” parlor trick.
I wonder that’s why a lot of people I notice in the new age/paranormal field or the mediumship field like Michael Tymn and all the other people I mentioned before on your website, all said there is a concerted effort to suppress truth on websites like Wikipedia, YouTube, fact checking websites and so on… but yet websites like for instants “Bitchute” doesn’t “suppress truth” which that site is known to spread conspiracy theories?
But I’m guessing why they say that is because if people actually got to the truth like you said than their source of income would be impacted and they would be exposed of praying on gullible people for their money and narcissism. I notice those who say that also organize sometime very expensive “retreats” or “institutions” or have some money on the line like publishing books or just want a following are the ones who say that kind of stuff.
Thank you kindly again Lee
Hi Sam,
You’re welcome, as always.
Yes, these people make money from their “spiritual” stuff that really isn’t very spiritual. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean they have bad intentions or are bad people. Many of them are very sincere and believe they are helping people. And usually there’s at least some good and truth in what they teach, even if there is plenty of falsity mixed in with it also.
Of course, they couldn’t make any money at it, and would have no audience, if there weren’t lots of people out there who eagerly eat this stuff up. They’re serving up what a lot of people want, which is “spirituality” that makes people feel good and gives them “spiritual” experiences without their having to put in any hard or deep effort to experience it. And they serve up magic tricks that fascinate people who aren’t really spiritual at all, but want to feel as if there is something supernatural about life.
As an analogy, consider companies that make candy and junk food. It’s not good for you, and the people who make it know that. However, they wouldn’t make any money at it if there weren’t millions and even billion of people out there who want it, and are willing to pay good money for it. The people running those companies and working at them aren’t necessarily bad people. They probably like candy and junk food themselves! It’s not as though they’re sitting around all day thinking, “Heh, heh, heh, this stuff is really gonna rot people’s teeth!” They’re just serving up what people want, even if it’s not the best stuff. And it does have some nutritive value, even if it’s been stripped of a lot of its solid and balanced nutritional value.
Similarly, those “gurus” are providing a spiritual-ish “product” for people who are at a low level of spiritual development (or lack thereof). They do serve a purpose. The people they serve aren’t ready for or open to any path that is truly spiritual. These teachers give them something at their own level. For people who have delved into the deeper aspect of God and spirit, it’s just sugary goop. But for the ones who go for it, it tastes amazing!
Some of these people will outgrow it and move on to something really spiritual. Meanwhile, this keeps them at least feeling as if there’s more to life than just working, eating, and sleeping. So it’s not all bad.
On another subject you bring up, for materialistically minded people, anything spiritual seems “spooky.” It’s actually kind of funny to read some of the commentary on Swedenborg’s Heaven and Hell from people in that camp. They make it into some ghostly, scary thing because that’s how it feels to them. For them, only material things are solid and real. Anything else must be wispy and fly-by-night.
Of course, that’s the opposite of the truth. Spiritual things are far brighter, more vivid, more real, and more alive than anything that exists on this material plane. But for someone whose mind is stuck on the material level, that idea just doesn’t compute. To them anything non-physical seems phantasmagorical and strange. Hence movies and novels like Things Heard and Seen. That one is not the first, and it won’t be the last.
And no, Wikipedia and other established websites aren’t “suppressing the truth.” They just require a certain amount of evidence and support for things that are posted there, and these New Age and conspiracy theory thingamajiggies don’t have any.
Flat-earthers think there’s a vast conspiracy to suppress the “reality” that the earth is flat. But we have massive evidence, including millions of photos and videos and hundreds of eye-witnesses who have been to space and seen the curvature of the earth, and a couple dozen who have seen the entire round earth in one view.
However, for people who believe something fervently, the only way they can make sense of how every credible source says that their belief is false is to conjure up a vast conspiracy to suppress the truth. How else can they continue to believe these crazy ideas in the face of mountains of experience and evidence to the contrary?
Hi Lee,
Thank you again for the further clarification and knowledge on these subjects! And very true of course what you said, it makes so much sense as always! Using the analogy of the candy and junk food is a more truer way of seeing this topic and why people take it in and these people who serve this stuff they definitely like it too! Reminds me like how Swedenborg says that evil is permitted for it to bring good out of it. So at least these people can feel like there is more to life than our physical existence and to get to actual information, that candy can also be used to serve as a springboard to true spiritual knowledge as a path forward. But they have to choose that path and actually put in the hard work which reminds me of a quote from Swedenborg that reads, “…for the good which flows in from the Lord is not given as much as men desire, but as much as they can receive; whereas evil is allowed as much as they desire.” -Arcana Coelestia 8432
But it is funny how people use their feelings and materialistic state to make anything into their narrative and to walk away with that interpretation. The book Heaven and Hell is filled with goodness and truth and even some tough love of evaluating ourselves and then having the courage to change for the better. Maybe that’s the true “spooky” part! lol
And so true I never thought about how the only way these people can make sense of how every credible source says that their belief is false is to conjure up a vast conspiracy to suppress the truth. These people literally have to create an illusion and because their foundation is false, it’s so easy to crumble since that’s literally their only footing to counter act all the experiences and evidence on established websites that discredit what they say. So what better way than to discredit them and conjure up more illusions of “suppressing truth”. It’s so wrong these people do that, which just leads the gullible astray. This is an important lesson to always remember when hearing people espouse those things.
Thank you kindly again Lee