The Ark

2023-11-01

This is about the ark built by Noah for the flood. For other arks, follow the links here for the ark of the covenant and the ark that contained the baby Moses.

A special thanks to the Ark Encounter Museum, from whom I learned some of this information.

The ark was the boat the LORD told Noah to build to save him, his wife, his sons, and his daughters-in-law from the Flood.

Ark Specifications

Here are the specifications we know of:

• Made of gopher wood. Some have said this is the same as cypress or cedar wood. However, because the antediluvian world was drastically different from the post-flood world, we don’t really have a way of finding out what it truly is.
• Consisted of rooms. With all the animals that would be preserved inside the ark, many rooms were necessary.
• Covered with pitch inside and outside. This was a sealant for waterproofing the ark as it would have been done for other wooden ships.
• The dimensions were 300 cubits (length) by 50 cubits (width) by 30 cubits (height). It is generally agreed that a cubit is about 1.5 feet, or about the length of the average fingertip to elbow. In other words, it was about 450 feet by 75 feet by 45 feet, or approximately 1.5 million cubic feet.
• It had a window. Possibly a way for ventilation. This was also used after the worst of the flood was over; Noah released birds from this window to see how far the waters had receded.
• It had a door in the side of it. There was only one door. Noah was instructed to make the door, but God closed the door. God decided when to close the door, and when it was closed, it was too late for anyone else to get on the ark.
• It had three stories. Multiple stories and multiple rooms maximized usage of the space aboard the giant vessel.
• This was not a vessel designed for sea navigation. There was no need for masts, rudders, and the like on the ark.

Animals on the Ark

The ark was to preserve the lives of animals through the flood that would populate the postdiluvian world. Here is what we know with some possible hypotheses.

• Two of every land animal was initially commanded, male and female. (Genesis 6:19-21). This included birds and land animals of each kind.
• More specifically, God commanded clean animals and birds to come by sevens. The word “sevens” is plural compared with “two,” which is singular. This might mean seven pairs since it is saying male and female. “Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female: and of beasts that are not clean by two, the male and his female. Of fowls also of the air by sevens, the male and the female; to keep seed alive upon the face of all the earth” (Genesis 7:2-3). What was clean in Noah’s day may not have meant the same thing under Mosaic Law. Whatever it meant, it would have made sense to Noah. The animals were brought to Noah by the Lord.

A common complaint is how did all those animals fit on the ark? Recall that this ark was a huge vessel of about 1.5 million cubic feet. Also, a “kind” is likely a broader category than species. Anything that would interbreed would be within the same kind. For example, in our time, wolves and dogs would likely be the same kind. Also, they would not have likely taken full grown animals onboard. They would have probably taken young animals that take up less space, which also eat less and were easier to manage.

A post-flood ice age likely allowed for the animals on the ark to scatter from Ararat to all continents of the world.

Noah’s Obedience

The Bible says that Noah did as God commanded: “Thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he” (Genesis 6:22). Again, “There went in two and two unto Noah into the ark, the male and the female, as God had commanded Noah” (Genesis 7:9).

Noah would have had the abilities to build the ark to fulfill God’s commands. This would have included woodworking, metalworking (cf. Genesis 4:22), animal husbandry (cf. Genesis 4:20), and agriculture (cf. Genesis 5:29). The civilization in which Noah lived had knowledge of these things (see noted verses). Having lived 500 years (recall the long lifespans of antediluvian people), he had tons of time to learn a lot of those skills. Because he had about a century after that to build the ark, anything he may have lacked he could have learned, and God would have helped him.

Don’t buy into the evolutionary lie that ancient peoples were unintelligent and less-than-human. They were smart because they were in God’s image, had long lives to learn many things, spoke the same language, and could share knowledge easily. Noah likely would have been a wealth of knowledge in many subjects.

The Ark as a Sign of Judgment

The ark would have been the talk of the town. It would likely have been built higher up to avoid collision with as many things as possible as the flood waters rose. Because of this, people would have wondered what manner of vessel Noah was building. Where is the body of water he would be sailing in? Noah, whether he volunteered for the position or not, would have been “a preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). People would ask, and Noah would have to explain what he was doing and why. The word would have spread. Many had the opportunity to get on board the ark. God gave the dimensions of the ark, knowing they would not respond. He could have made it as big as necessary to save people that would come. When the door was closed and the rain fell, then they knew they were too late.

Alleged Ark Discoveries

Some have said they found the ark. Here are some examples:

• Durupinar. Near Ararat. There is something with an ark-like appearance.
• Mount Takht-e Suleyman. Iranian mountain is said to have petrified wood and dark rock with the approximate size of the ark.
• Ahora Gorge. Northeast side of Mount Ararat. George Hagopian claimed his uncle took him to the ark twice in the early 1900s. It was never found since.
• Mount Judi, located in the mountains of Ararat. Berossus claimed people would go to Mount Judi and break off pieces of the Ark to use as amulets. There has been no evidence of the Ark there in modern times.

Given this vessel was a large wooden structure likely to decompose over a period of over 4,000 years, the mountains of Ararat cover a large area, and the area is difficult to access, it would be difficult to find evidence of it. It doesn’t stop any of us from being curious about finding it.

The most important thing is that for the coming judgment, there is no ark. Jesus Christ is our Ark; He died for our sins, paying our sin debt. He rose from the dead. We need to get on board, because in the future, there will come a time that the door will be closed, and nobody else is getting on.