It was also in the
same document that the prophet, having received an oracle, ordered that the
tent and the ark should follow with him, and that he went out to the mountain
where Moses had gone up and had seen the inheritance of God. Jeremiah came and
found a cave-dwelling, and he brought there the tent and the ark and the altar
of incense; then he sealed up the entrance. Some of those who followed him came
up intending to mark the way, but could not find it. When Jeremiah learned of
it, he rebuked them and declared: "The place shall remain unknown until
God gathers his people together again and shows his mercy. Then the Lord will
disclose these things, and the glory of the Lord and the cloud will appear, as
they were shown in the case of Moses, and as Solomon asked that the place
should be specially consecrated." (2 Maccabees 2:4-8, NRSV)
While studying an unrelated concept today, I re-read this pericope from
2 Maccabees wherein the prophet Jeremiah is said to have hidden in a secret
cave the Ark of the Covenant and other sacred objects. It reminded me of the
various reports (often, seemingly, visionary events) of a cave containing the
various plates the prophet-historian Mormon used to produce his record.
For a good article on "Cumorah's Cave," see:
Cameron J. Packer, "Cumorah's Cave"
