3 And when the people were come into the camp, the elders of Israel said, Wherefore hath Yahweh smitten us to day before the Philistines? Let us fetch the ark of the covenant of Yahweh out of Shiloh unto us, that, when it cometh among us, it may save us out of the hand of our enemies.

There must have been a history of the ark to justify such a thought. We have such a history in the case of Moses and Joshua. Marvels were wrought in connection with it in their day: allow these, and the divinity of all that follows (to the last verse in Revelation) is established.

Deny these, and the confidence of Israel that the ark would save them is without explanation. Not only Israel, but the Philistines had great expectations from the ark, which must have had the same substantial foundation.

... The Philistines regarded the ark superstitiously, and the unenlightened portion of Israel did so, saying,

"Let us fetch the ark, that when IT cometh among us, IT may save us."

Visible Hand of God Ch 22

10 And the Philistines fought, and Israel was smitten, and they fled every man into his tent: and there was a very great slaughter; for there fell of Israel thirty thousand footmen.

Scripture narratives attributed nothing to the ark, but all to the power of God present with them. On this very occasion, when trust was placed in the ark, instead of God, whose symbolic presence it was, the narrative shows us the ark a discredited and helpless piece of furniture in the hands of the enemy—a fact inexplicable on any theory except that of simple truth.

Visible Hand of God Ch 22