The craft built at God's command by Noah and his family as a means of escape from the flood. The ark is seen as corresponding to the redemption offered to believers through Jesus Christ.
The building of the ark
The command to build
Genesis 6:14 See also Genesis 6:1–13, Genesis 6:15–16
Make for yourself an ark of gopher wood; make rooms in the ark and coat it with pitch inside and out.
Its purpose for Noah and his family
And behold, I will bring floodwaters upon the earth to destroy every creature under the heavens that has the breath of life. Everything on the earth will perish. But I will establish My covenant with you, and you will enter the ark — you and your sons and your wife and your sons’ wives with you.
Its purpose for the animals
Genesis 6:19 See also Genesis 6:20–22
And you are to bring two of every living creature into the ark — male and female — to keep them alive with you.
The ark and the flood
Noah obeyed God
Genesis 7:5 See also Genesis 7:1–4, Genesis 7:6–16
And Noah did all that the LORD had commanded him.
The ark served its purpose
Genesis 7:17 See also Genesis 7:18–24, Genesis 8:1–19, Genesis 9:1–17
For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and the waters rose and lifted the ark high above the earth.
The significance of the ark elsewhere in Scripture
An instance of judgment
Matthew 24:38–39 parallel Luke 17:26–27 Judgment clearly divides humanity into the saved and the lost. See also 2 Peter 2:5
For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. And they were oblivious until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.
An example of faith
Hebrews 11:7 Noah took God at his word in circumstances which must have appeared ridiculous.
By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.
A symbol of salvation
1 Peter 3:20–21 The link between the ark and baptism is in the twin ideas of water and salvation.
who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water. And this water symbolizes the baptism that now saves you also — not the removal of dirt from the body, but the pledge of a clear conscience toward God — through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Related themes
Dictionary of Bible Themes © 1999 Martin Manser, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0, via Bible Aquifer. Formatted for this site, with Scripture from the Berean Standard Bible.