Others were stubborn and would not repent, and would not come by the side of Moses at all. About three thousand of the leaders in wickedness perished at the command of the Lord, and the camp was cleansed.
Aaron confessed his sin in making the golden calf, and was forgiven. The calf was ground to powder and scattered in the waters of the brook from which they drank.
At the command of God, Moses hewed out two more tables of stone, and took them up to Sinai. On these God again wrote His law. When the sanctuary was completed, these tables were placed in a beautiful ark, overlaid with gold. For this reason it was called "The Ark of the Covenant."
This ark was the most sacred thing in all the earthly sanctuary. It was sacred because it contained the tables on which God had written His law. It was deposited in the most holy place, into which none but the high priest ever entered.
On the top of the ark was the mercy seat, and here was where the glory of God rested, and from this place He spake to His people.
When the children of Israel were taken captive by the Babylonians, the ark disappeared, and the Bible makes no mention of it since that time.
The Return of the Spies.