The last report I wrote was on the worldwide flood. I told a little about what happened and gave some scientific evidence for it. But something I did not spend a lot of time on was the ark that God told Noah to build. Just like everything God does or tells someone to do, the ark was very well designed. The Bible tells us a little bit about it, but there is a lot we can learn from it. First of all, the ark was not a little boat like the traditional “Noah’s Ark” in coloring books. The ark was huge! The ark was not as long as, but was wider than the Titanic. It was about a football field and a half long, and it was three floors high.

Of course, you know the reason God told Noah to build the ark. It was so that he, his family, and some of the animals would be saved from the flood that God was going to bring upon the whole earth. This pictured, or was a type of, the way God would provide for the saving of man’s soul. The flood pictures eternal death in the Lake of Fire, and the ark pictures salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ. The only way someone could have been saved from the flood of God’s judgment was to accept God’s provision, the ark.

God told Noah to bring food into the ark for his family and the animals. God was going to save them from the flood, and He did not intend for them to starve on the ark. He was providing for their every need. It is like that when the Lord saves us. God has given us plenty of spiritual food in the Bible, and there is enough there to sustain us until our ride in the ark is over, and we reach our heavenly destination.

God also told Noah to build the ark with one door and one window. These are both a picture of something in the Bible, as well. The one door pictures the one way to salvation, which, of course, is through Jesus Christ, and Him alone! The door was the way God provided for Noah, his family, and the animals to get into the ark. They did not have to work their way into the ark; they just had to step in, and then they were in. They did not have to hope that when the flood hit they might have made it into the ark. The one window was in the top of the ark, and the light came from above! If we want light to understand God’s Word, we need to “look up” to God, and ask him for it.

Noah and his family did not know what was going to happen outside the ark. They had never seen a flood before! They could guess what it was going to be like, but they would not know for sure until it happened. That’s how it is with us. We don’t know what hell is like. None of us have ever been there! But by faith we believe to be true that which God has told us about it.

The Bible does not tell us this, but I think that perhaps the people that saw Noah building the ark mocked and laughed at him. Remember, they had never seen a flood before, either. Of course, we don’t know if that actually happened, but if it did, it did not keep Noah from obeying God. Noah also didn’t give up on the job because he thought it was taking too long. Noah was faithful.

When Noah was done building the ark (and it took him many years!), God brought the animals to Noah to the ark. Noah did not have to go out and find all of the different kinds of animals; God brought them all to Noah! Noah did not go out and force the animals to come into the ark. God was the one who put them into the ark. This is the way it is today; we can point people to our Saviour, but we can’t force them to accept Him. And we can’t do the saving, either. That part is up to the Lord.

Finally, Noah was finished building the ark, the food was in the ark, the animals were in the ark, and Noah and his family were in the ark. They were safe from the flood. The Bible says, in Genesis 7:16, that “the LORD shut him in”. Noah did not close the door on himself, but God shut the door (we don’t seal our salvation ourselves; God does)! God shut the door, and Noah did not get to leave the ark until the journey was over! Just like Noah, we cannot leave the ark (our salvation). John 10:27-29 says, “My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand.” Isn’t our God wonderful! He provided for Noah, and he still provides for us today!