The Ark and Its Preparation

The Ark and Its Preparation A. By the ark, salvation was prepared for the righteous before the judgment. 1. This is the essence of Christ’s work in putting away our sin and ascending to heaven on our behalf before final judgment. HEB 9:25-28. 2. Remember that God’s saving grace to all the children of promise is likened to Noah and the ark. ISA 54:1, 7-10 c/w GAL 4:26-28. B. God gave Noah specific instructions for the building of the ark. GEN 6:14-16. 1. “Make thee an ARK...” (v. 14). a. ark: A chest, box, coffer, close basket, or similar receptacle... b. Noah was not to build a ship of carefully sculpted lines to please the eye. It was, like Christ, to have “...no form nor comeliness...no beauty...” (ISA 53:2). c. It was not built for directional navigation by its occupants. So Christ came not to do his own will (JOH 6:38) nor is His salvation directed by its objects. JOH 1:12-13; TIT 3:5. 2. “Make THEE an ark...” (v. 14). a. The ark was indeed for a particular salvation. GEN 6:18 c/w HEB 11:7. b. So Christ, dismissing all other sacrifices and saviors, gave “...HIMSELF for us...” (EPH 5:2) and “...HIS arm brought salvation unto HIM; and HIS righteousness, it sustained HIM” (ISA 59:16-17). 3. “Make thee AN ark...” (v. 14). a. One ark built according to God’s order was all that was needed, and only what was needed for salvation. b. So Christ is the only way unto the Father and His one-time offering all sufficient to save the elect. JOH 14:6; HEB 9:28; 10:14; 1PE 3:18. 4. “...of gopher wood...” (v. 14). a. The material was specific. b. So Christ had to be “...made of a woman...” (GAL 4:4), “...made of the seed of David according to the flesh...” (ROM 1:3), and “...God...manifest in the flesh...” (1TI 3:16). 5. “...ROOMS shalt thou make IN the ark...” (v. 14). a. Eternal salvation is a prepared one in Christ. EPH 1:3-4. b. Christ has for us prepared heaven a place of many mansions. JOH 14:2. 6. “...pitch it within and without with pitch...” a. The pitch sealed and preserved from destruction unto the new world. So Christ faithfully preserves His elect unto final salvation. 1PE 1:2-5. b. The Hebrew word translated “pitch” is “kopher” (SRN H3724) and means “a cover.” c. The same Hebrew word is often translated as “ransom” as in PSA 49:7-9. d. The ransomed of Christ are preserved because Christ has us covered. JUDE 1:1. C. Noah was to build according to “the fashion,” or pattern that he was given. GEN 6:15-16. 1. Deviations from God's plan, however “helpful” or well-intended, would have been wrong. c/w 1CH 13:7-10; 15:13. a. Moses likewise was told to build the tabernacle according to God's pattern. EXO 25:40; HEB 8:5. b. In whatever project God commits to the hands of men, it is incumbent upon them to follow His pattern. EZE 43:10-11; 44:5. c. The local church must ever be built according to the pattern of ACT 2:38-47. (1) The gospel must be declared so as to convict men of sin and point them to The Ark and Its Preparation 6-24-18 Page 1 of 2 Christ. (2) When men prove their repentance and faith, a minister should baptize them. (3) Converts should be added to a church that day. d. What if Christ had not kept to the pattern of God in fulfilling the Law to the letter and satisfying the Law’s demands against sin by His death? MAT 5:17. 2. The dimensions of the ark were 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. Recall that God’s love in Christ is of dimensions that may be known. EPH 3:18-19. a. Using an 18” cubit as gauge, this would result in a vessel of some 14,000+ tons gross tonnage (1 gross ton = 100 cubic feet of cargo space) and 20,000+ tons displacement tonnage. b. No other vessel this large is known to have been built until the middle 1800's. c. Hydrological studies have demonstrated that these proportions make for an extremely stable and durable ocean-going vessel. But Noah needed not a scientific verification of the ark’s potential: he trusted God. d. The ark was to have three stories (v. 16). This framework would have increased the rigidity of the vessel. (1) Whereas all that were in the ark were saved, not all had the same position. So it is in Christ. 1CO 12:28-30. (2) The eternal state has variety in its structure also. HEB 12:22-23; LUK 19:17-19; 1CO 6:3 c/w HEB 1:14. e. NOTE: If the cubit be a measure of a man's forearm, consider the overall size of the ark if men were of a larger stature in the antediluvian age (as some have surmised). 3. “A window shalt thou make to the ark...” (v. 16). There was provision for light. a. Light was “...sown for the righteous...” (PSA 97:11). c/w 1CO 1:18. b. The figurative “tomb” was not without light. This principle of the grave not implying utter darkness was Christ’s hope in death. ACT 2:26-27. c. Christ was the light of this world (JOH 9:5) and is the light of the world to come. REV21:23-24. 4. “...and THE door of the ark...” (v. 16). Christ is the only door of salvation. JOH 10:7. D. Noah stuck to the commandments given him in the project. GEN 6:22. 1. He kept the ordinances as delivered. c/w 1CO 11:2. 2. He truly trusted that God knew best how the ark should be built and with what it should be laded. HEB 11:7. 3. Bless Christ that He did likewise! JOH 17:2-4. 4. This is what faith is all about: taking God at His word and acting accordingly. 5. Thus, by faith, Noah not only survived his world; he overcame his world. 1JO 5:4. The Ark and Its Preparation 6-24-18 Page 2 of 2