Noah's Ark (1846), by the American folk painter Edward Hicks Noah's Ark (Hebrew: תיבת נח; Biblical Hebrew: Tevat Noaḥ) [Notes 1] is the boat in the Genesis flood narrative through which God spares Noah, his family, and one pair of every animal species in the world from a global deluge. [1] The story in Genesis is based on earlier flood myths originating in Mesopotamia, and is repeated. God instructed Noah to build an Ark.
It was to be built out of gopher wood and be divided into cells, needed for man, the many animals, and food storage. When we picture Noah's ark, we often think of the nursery décor version - a tiny, round boat bobbing along with giraffe heads poking out the top. God's blueprints for the ark, laid out in Genesis 6:14-16, describe something a bit different.
Overview of Noah's Ark Noah's ark was a massive ship, built at God's command, that saved Noah, his family, and representatives of every kind of land-dependent, air-breathing animal from the global flood that took place over 4,300 years ago. The ark was 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet high and it housed the several thousand animals God brought to Noah. The global flood lasted.
4. Reliance on God's Word: The precise instructions for Ark-building and the promise of the rainbow underscore the foundational importance of God's guidance and promises. By its ancient context, scriptural references, and recurring allusions throughout Christian teaching, Noah's Ark remains a cornerstone narrative.
Noah's Ark: Overview Noah's ark was the vessel by which God spared a righteous man, Noah, and his family from God's judgment against humanity's wickedness. God commanded Noah to build an ark of specific proportions that would protect and preserve Noah, his family, and the animal kinds that would then repopulate the earth once the global flood event ended. Noah faithfully followed God.
Noah's Ark is the boat that saved a generation of humans and animals when the God of Israel decided to destroy the human race by sending a great flood upon the earth. The story shares many elements with ancient, neighboring civilizations of Israel, all of whom utilized concepts of a universal flood, sent by divine elements for various reasons. Noah was 600 years old by the time everything was ready.
God told Noah to go into the ark with his wife, his three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives. Then it started to rain. It rained without stop for forty days and nights! The water got so deep that even the mountains were covered.
Every living creature on earth died in the flood. The story of Noah's Ark prompts us to consider themes of obedience, trust, redemption, and the promise of new beginnings. Building the Ark God's building plans for the Ark in the Bible are so precise that biblical scholars often use them to argue the veracity of Scripture.
CHARACTERISTICS OF NOAH'S ARK So, what did Noah's ark look like? The most complete description of it in the Bible comprises only three verses (Gen. 6:14‐16), and it's not precise enough for a detailed reconstruction. But this handout focuses on some of the basic questions people ask about the ark.