Good question, Steve. Solomon himself provides the answer in his Temple dedication prayer recorded in II Chronicles 6. There he petitions Yahweh to hear the prayers of repentance from Israel when (not if) certain things would occur in their future: sins against one's neighbor (vs 22); defeat at the hands of an enemy (24); rain is withheld (26); famine or plagues (28); and finally, deliverance and deportation of the nation into the hands of an enemy because of Israel's sins (36). Solomon was a wise guy, after all. He knew human nature (though he couldn't, in the end, control his own). I think he somehow knew that Israel would someday turn their back on Yahweh, and that their sorry assets would subsequently be carted off to some foreign land as a prize of war.

Rood's hypothesis rests on the idea that Solomon did indeed take steps to protect the ark and other temple furniture in the event of this inevitable future invasion. Wyatt's hypothesis, on the other hand, assures us that no such preparations were necessary. He thought the ark could have been spirited away to a hastily prepared hiding place under cover of darkness, perhaps masquerading as a funeral procession. I don't presume to know which hypothesis is correct (if either). But it is clear that Solomon did forsee a day when the ark would require protection if it were to be preserved, and it's also pretty clear that he's just the kind of guy who could have engineered a solution ahead of time.

kp