Building with a Purpose ~ The Ark

 

Accordingly, Noah's instructions are given to him by God (Genesis 6:14–16): the ark is to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high (approximately 134×22×13 m or 440×72×43 ft).

 

What does the Bible say about the construction of the Ark?

… for the construction of the vessel: “Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; you shall make the ark with rooms, and shall cover it inside and out with pitch.

Building Noah's Ark: instructions

The Lord commands Noah to build an ark and take his family and two of every living thing into it (Genesis 6:14–22; 7:1–10). Genesis 7:11–24; 8; 9:8–17.

According to the Bible, Noah's Ark was a massive ship that saved Noah, his family, and representatives of every animal from a global flood: 
 

·  Size: The ark was 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high, which is roughly 440 ft x 72 ft x 43 ft. That's about the size of 250 railroad cars, and could hold at least 112,500 sheep. 
 

·  Construction: The ark was made of gopher wood, which may have been cypress, cedar, or pine. 

·  Design: The ark had three internal divisions, representing heaven, earth, and the underworld. Each deck was the same height as the Temple in Jerusalem. The ark had a door on the side and a tsohar, which may have been a skylight or roof. 
 

·  Cargo: The ark had enough space to hold several thousand animals. 
 

·  Location: The ark came to rest on the “mountains of Ararat”. 
 

Some say that the ark's dimensions are based on a numerological preoccupation with the number 60. Others say that the ark was actually a large raft made of papyrus reeds, with only the animals' stalls and the family's shelter made of timber

 

 

 

The story of Noah's Ark is told in the Bible in Genesis 6:13–9:29: 

·  God commands Noah to build an ark: God tells Noah to build an ark of gopher wood, cover it with pitch, and make rooms inside. God also tells Noah to bring two of every animal species, male and female, to the ark. 
 

·  Noah and his family board the ark: Noah and his family board the ark, along with the animals. 
 

·  The flood: The floodwaters cover the earth for 150 days. 
 

·  The ark comes to rest: The waters recede and the ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat. 
 

·  Noah and his family leave the ark: God tells Noah to bring all the animals out of the ark, and Noah and his family do so. 

·  God makes a covenant with Noah: God promises to never again destroy the earth with a flood.

What was it like in the days of Noah?

The biblical account of Noah begins in Genesis 6. Approximately 1,600 years had passed since the creation of Adam and Eve (Genesis 1:26–27). As the earth’s population exploded in number, it also exploded with evil. Long forgotten was the righteous sacrifice of Abel (Genesis 4:4) as “the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Verses 11 and 12 say, “Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.” However, “Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord” (verse 8).

When Jesus described the events that will surround His second coming, He said, “Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man. They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all” (Luke 17:26–27). Jesus was pointing out that, although the people of Noah’s day were totally depraved, they were not the least bit concerned about it. They were carrying on the events of their lives without a single thought of the judgment of God. Noah is described as a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5), meaning he had spent years warning his friends and neighbors what the Holy God was about to do. No one listened.

The depravity and ungodly lifestyles of the entire world at that time were enough to cause the Lord to “regret that He had made man” (Genesis 6:6). Many scholars believe that part of the need to destroy every human being except Noah and his family was the sin mentioned in Genesis 6:1–4, when “the Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them.” As evil reproduced and overtook the world, the most merciful act God could perform was to start over.

It is interesting that God allowed Noah nearly one hundred years to complete the building of the ark. Through all that time, God patiently waited (1 Peter 3:20). Scripture seems to imply that Noah preached to the people of that time about what was coming (Hebrews 11:7). They did not believe Noah and were content with their wickedness and idolatry. Their hearts were hard and their ears dull. No one repented, and no one cared to seek God.

Jesus said that the world will be much the same before He returns to set up His earthly kingdom (Matthew 25:31–33). He warned us to “be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Second Timothy 3:1–4 gives us a clear picture of the state of the world before Jesus comes and most likely also describes the world in the days of Noah. That verse says, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.” It is becoming increasingly obvious that, to understand what the world was like in the days of Noah, we only need to watch the evening news.