Central to the covenant was the true worship of the Lord as the only true God. The greatest blessing Israel had as a nation was the Lord’s presence with them. No other nation had this privilege. The clearest reminder to Israel of this blessing was the ark of the covenant. It was a constant physical reminder of the spiritual reality that when they went to the Temple in Jerusalem to worship, they were worshipping the Lord, the covenant-keeping God of Creation who was with them. Jeremiah is not criticizing the role of physical symbols in Israel’s worship; these symbols had all been given to them by the Lord to help them in their worship. But when the people become content with the symbols and no longer seek the spiritual reality they point to, then they become worthless and even dangerous.1 This is what had happened to Judah. The ark had been redefined into a lucky charm that gave the people a false sense of security about the Lord’s presence with them as a nation.2
The restoration that the Lord is promising will bring about true worship in Israel. Jeremiah pictures a day where important symbols such as the ark would not even come to mind or be remembered or missed.
The ark would be gone forever, never to be made again.
Spiritually restored Israel would no longer need material symbols to aid her in her love for and worship of the Lord. She would no longer find a false sense of security in symbols: Formalism will have vanished and there will be no need for religious symbols as a focus of the people’s worship
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16 And when you have multiplied and been fruitful in the land, in those days, declares the LORD, they shall no more say, “The ark of the covenant of the LORD.” It shall not come to mind or be remembered or missed; it shall not be made again.