Shortly after their deliverance from Egypt, the Israelites began to murmur about food. So Jehovah provided manna for them. (Exodus 12:17, 18; 16:1-5) At that time, Moses instructed Aaron: “Take a jar and put in it an omerful of manna and deposit it before Jehovah as something to be kept throughout your generations.” The account states: “Just as Jehovah had commanded Moses, Aaron proceeded to deposit it before the Testimony [an archive for the safekeeping of important documents] as something to be kept.” (Exodus 16:33, 34) While Aaron undoubtedly gathered manna into a jar at that time, the depositing of it before the Testimony had to wait until Moses made the Ark and placed the tablets in it.

The manna was a provision made by God during the 40-year sojourn of the Israelites in the wilderness. It was no longer provided when “they began to eat some of the yield of the land” of promise. (Joshua 5:11, 12) Aaron’s rod was placed in the ark of the covenant for a purpose​—to serve as a sign to or a witness against the rebellious generation. This suggests that the rod remained there at least for the duration of the wilderness journey. It would, then, seem logical to conclude that some time after Israel entered the Promised Land and before the dedication of Solomon’s temple, Aaron’s rod and the golden jar of manna were removed from the ark of the covenant.