Many of the theories about the meaning of Revelation and other Biblical prophecies that we see on Christian Forums assume that the Jewish Temple will be rebuilt in Jerusalem. It is possible for Jews to rebuild the Temple. If they do, it will be called the Third Temple. The Temple standing at the time of Christ was the Second Temple. The Jewish Law allows a new Temple to be built, but a Third Temple may not be politically possible. There would be an international backlash. Very few Israelis are interested in the project, either as a matter of national pride, or as a matter of religious practice.
While Israelis could build a new Temple, if they wanted to badly enough, they cannot make a new Ark. The original Ark made at the time of Moses has been lost, it was destroyed. I have run into CF posters who become testy if you say that the Ark no longer exists, but it is settled history. Jeremiah referred to the loss of the Ark.
"In those days, when your numbers have increased greatly in the land,” declares the Lord, “people will no longer say, ‘The ark of the covenant of the Lord.’ It will never enter their minds or be remembered;
it will not be missed, nor will another one be made."
Jeremiah 3:16 NIV
Here Jeremiah either predicts the destruction of the Ark, or it has already happened. Jeremiah predicts that memory of the Ark will fade and it will become ancient history. Why didn't the Israelites make a new Ark to replace the one lost to a foreign enemy? Making a new Ark according to the directions laid down in Exodus might seem straightforward. In Exodus 31, God tells Moses that He has chosen Bezalel and Oholiab to make the Ark and other furnishings of the Tabernacle. Bezalel was the master craftsman and Oholiab was his associate, or assistant.
Then the Lord said to Moses,
2 “See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah,
3 and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, with understanding, with knowledge and with all kinds of skills—
4 to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze,
5 to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of crafts.
6 Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamak, of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given ability to all the skilled workers to make everything I have commanded you:
7 the tent of meeting, the ark of the covenant law with the atonement cover on it, and all the other furnishings of the tent—
8 the table and its articles, the pure gold lampstand and all its accessories, the altar of incense,
9 the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, the basin with its stand—
10 and also the woven garments, both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests,
11 and the anointing oil and fragrant incense for the Holy Place. They are to make them just as I commanded you.”
Exodus 31: 1-11 NIV
God commanded that the Ark be made by Bezalel and Oholiab. When these two men passed away, there was no way to follow God's commands in making a new Ark.
What did they use for an Ark in the Second Temple? The Holy of Holies was empty.
As the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia tells us, at the time of Ezekiel:
"There was then no Ark of the Covenant, but Jewish tradition relates that the blood of the great Day of Atonement was sprinkled on an unhewn stone that stood in its place. In Herod's temple ... The holiest place continued empty."
--International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Link
Holy of Holies in the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia.
Jesus seems to have indirectly referred to the Holy of Holies being an empty room in Matthew 23: 16-22. Here He is criticizing the Pharisees for swearing on the Temple and on the altar in the Temple. He does not mention swearing on the Ark. No one made that mistake because they knew there was no Ark in the Temple.
Where does this leave us? Modern day Jews cannot build another Ark. Jewish scripture doesn't leave any wiggle room, and there is the precedent of the Second Temple. A new Ark wasn't made then, so one won't be made now.
There are several reasons that few Jews are interested in building a new Temple. In Old Testament times, most families owned animals, even if that wasn't their main business. Sacrificing animals at the Temple in gratitude to God, or by way of asking forgiveness, made sense to people. But how many Jews own sheep today? Jews have done without animal sacrifice for almost two thousand years and few want to bring it back.
If it were possible to make a new Ark and place it in a new Temple, that could be a matter of national and religious pride. Without an Ark, it may not be worth the trouble.
