The First Level of Noah’s Ark

Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it. (Genesis 6:14-16)

Noah's Ark symbolizes safety in the Day of God's judgment. The expression "saved" refers to protection in the Day of Wrath so that one comes through judgment safely and is not destroyed. Noah, his family, and selected animals were "saved" and the Ark was the means of their salvation.

Although we may not always think about it as such, it is true that the world came to an end during the life of Noah. Every creature was killed, including the fish that apparently were forced into unfamiliar and harmful waters by upheavals in the floor of the oceans. The destruction was total.

The earth on which we live will experience three periods of Divine wrath, the final one resulting in the dissolution of the planet Earth and the starry heavens.

The first occurred during the life of Noah.

The second will occur at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The third will take place at the end of the thousand-year Kingdom Age, at which time the physical universe will be folded up and tossed aside by the Lord, just as one might discard old, worn-out clothes.

The Ark of Noah represents the limits of the area of salvation, the boundary beyond which salvation does not occur, and is equivalent in symbolism to the linen fence that surrounded the Courtyard of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. Every creature in the confines of the Ark was saved. Every person "within the fence of the Tabernacle" is saved because that area is dominated by the bronze Altar of Burnt Offering that represents the cross of Christ.

Every creature not in the confines of the Ark was lost, was destroyed by the judgment of the Lord. Every person outside the linen fence of Christ's righteousness will be destroyed because he or she has not been protected by the blood of Christ.

Waters of judgment—then and now. The flood of Noah is a type of the destruction that will take place on the earth at the time of the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ (Matthew 24:37). The Day of Wrath is at hand, and we can observe even now the signs of the times as we see that both evil and righteousness are increasing on the face of the earth. We know from the Scriptures that godliness and sin (wheat and tares) will come to maturity side by side on the earth, and then the Lord Jesus Christ will appear in flaming fire, executing vengeance on those who disobey God.

The "flood" is coming, and the ark we are building is that of the protection of Christ. We enter the protection by receiving the blood of the cross as the covering on our life. When God sees the blood He will pass over us and we shall be saved. Therefore we warn all people of the wrath to come and of deliverance from wrath through the blood of the Lord Jesus.

Notice that as the water of judgment rose the Ark was lifted up. The water that destroyed all life outside the Ark was the force that buoyed up the Ark and kept Noah and his family safe. The greater the flood of waters the higher went the Ark.

God did not use one force to destroy the creatures of the earth and a different force to save His elect. The waters of judgment lifted up the saved so they could continue to breathe air. So it will be in the Day of the Lord. There is no reason for God's elect to fear the judgments of God that will fall on the earth in the last days. The greater the outpouring of judgment the higher in God the saints will ride. The force of the judgment will lift the disciples ever higher so they can "breathe good air" of God's Holy Spirit.

All we are required to do in order to be preserved in the Day of Judgment that soon is to come is to remain "watertight." God did not remove Israel from Egypt before He rained down judgment on the Egyptians, He merely placed His hand over the land of Goshen. "A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee" (Psalms 91:7).

The Ark was made watertight with pitch, which is asphalt. The word pitch is related in the Hebrew language to the word atonement. This reminds us that the blood of Jesus is the "pitch" that makes our life "waterproof" (Genesis 6:14). The waters of judgment cannot harm us provided we remain in Christ and His blood is protecting us.

The force of judgment lifts us to safety as long as the water cannot get into our personality. If we do not have the protection of the blood of Christ the water of judgment will seep into our soul and we will die. Any sin or disobedience we habitually practice will permit the water to "leak into us."

The numbers of the ark. The numbers of the Ark are symbolic. Those with which we are dealing are eight, three hundred, fifty, thirty, and three. The fact that there are five numbers is interesting in itself because five is the number that typifies the coming of the Kingdom of God. Noah's Ark marked the end of one age and the beginning of another.

There were eight people saved in the judgment. Eight is the number of our covenant with God. Every Hebrew male was circumcised on the eighth day after his birth, thereby affirming the covenant of blood with God (Genesis 17:12). Milcah bore eight children (Genesis 22:23). Rebekah, a type of the Bride of the Lamb, came through Milcah. Jesse had eight sons, and one of them, David, is associated in the Scriptures with the Lord Jesus.

The firstborn of animals were presented to the Lord on the eighth day (Exodus 22:30). The person cleansed from leprosy was brought before the priest on the eighth day (Leviticus 14:10). The eighth day of the feast of Tabernacles (Leviticus 23:36,39) portrays the new heaven and earth reign of the Lord Jesus Christ, which is the eternal age.

The Holy Spirit employs the number eight as a symbol of the whole realm of the saved—those who enter eternal life because of having made a covenant with God by blood.

The Ark was three hundred cubits in length. Three hundred is the number that represents the salvation of the elect at the appearing of the Lord Jesus.

Gideon's army consisted of three hundred men (Judges 7:7). The overcoming of Midian at the hand of Gideon is one of the most remarkable portrayals of the appearing of Christ to be found in the Scriptures. This story reveals to us that the Day of the Lord will be a time of victory for the Church, not a whisking away from the earth of a defeated, weak Church in order to avoid harm at the hands of Antichrist.

The linen fence of the Tabernacle of the Congregation was three hundred cubits in length (100 + 50 + 100 + 50—Exodus 27:18). The linen fence portrays the fact that all the saved will possess eternal life in the Kingdom of God but the unsaved will abide in outer darkness.

The Ark was fifty cubits wide. The number fifty is the number of Pentecost (a word that signifies fifty.) The Year of Jubilee, which was celebrated every fiftieth year, was the year of redemption, of freedom, of restoration (Leviticus, Chapter 25).

We learn from this that the Day of the Lord will be a period of an unparalleled outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the earth through the ministry of the Church of Christ; an era of redemption through deliverance from the yoke of Satan; a release into freedom for all God's creatures (except those who resist Christ) including the created universe (Romans 8:21); and a time of restoring to mankind all of its inheritance, including every good thing that was taken by trickery from humans in the Garden of Eden.

The Day of the Lord will include protection from wrath (the buoying up of the Ark on the face of the waters); the salvation of all who have made a covenant by blood (eight people) and their separation from the remainder of the people of the earth; the destruction of all evil in the earth; and salvation and eternal life for all who lay hold on Christ and endure to the end (three hundred cubits long).

Notice that the Ark had one window constructed in it (Genesis 6:16), and also one door that the Lord Himself shut (Genesis 7:16). There was but one window because God does not want us to gaze about at every sight on earth. He desires that our eye be "single," that we fasten our vision on His workings in the Lord Jesus Christ. When we look through God's "window" we observe His Glory in the earth. The earth is filled with God's Glory when we look with the eyes of the Spirit of God.

"There is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God" (Romans 13:1). We may behold the power of God's destruction fall on the wicked of the earth, but it cannot touch us provided we abide in Christ, in the Ark of protection. "Only with thine eyes shalt thou behold and see the reward of the wicked" (Psalms 91:8). Judgment cannot harm us as long as we remain "in the secret place of the most High."

We enter through the one door (Christ) and find safety. The day will come when the Lord shuts that door (Genesis 7:16).

In the ages to come God may show us the past scenes of earth's history so that these eternal lessons can be stamped deeply into our personality.

Can you imagine the panic that gripped the millions of people on the earth as the oceans and seas rose steadily because of the influx of water from within the earth and as the greatest rain of all history began to pour down on them? They realized suddenly that Noah truly had been speaking with the voice of the almighty God.

Satan, the cherub who had deceived them, now began to accuse them, scorn them, mock them, laugh at their terror in hideous delight, just as he will do to us if we ever turn away from Christ and are assigned to the regions of darkness for eternity.

The icy chill of death's horror pierced through the violence and merrymaking of the inhabitants of the earth. People ceased their buying and selling, their marrying and giving in marriage, and stared numbly, panic-stricken as the impossible began to take place.

Up and up rose the waters. Soon there was not enough room for everyone on the high levels of ground, and the people, accustomed to violence, began to fight each other for a place to stand in order to keep their heads above the water.

Those near to the Ark pounded on the sides, screaming with fright. To no avail. God Himself had closed the door. Noah would have opened it but God had closed it. The wail of the millions of dying people rose from the ground to be lost in the clouds. The Ark lifted from its platform and was driven before the winds.

Finally the waters closed over the heads of the strongest. The last fist was shaken at God. The obscenities and shrieks of rage and despair died away. Quietness reigned over the face of the earth. The world had been destroyed by Divine judgment. Man had met his deserved doom and had brought with him to destruction all other living creatures.

The silence that followed this most terrible of scenes was broken only by the howling of the winds and the swirling of the debris-laden waves. Soon the surface of the water was covered with millions of bloated bodies of people and animals. The grim scene bore to eternity a true testimony to the Character of God and the integrity of His Word. The soul that sins shall die.

The flood was tragic! Horrible! Sometimes our preaching today leaves people with the false idea that God has changed and no longer is capable of such an action. The Apostle Paul knew the terror of the Lord. "As it was in the days of Noah . . . "

We who teach are directed by the Holy Spirit to bring the love of God gently to people and to assure them that His mercy abounds and endures forever. If we do not reveal also the awful finality of God's judgment we have become false prophets and the blood of the sinning Christians is on our hands. We have been charged to instruct people in both the goodness and severity of God (Romans 11:22).

The sights and sounds of the violent, sinful peoples of the earth as the fountains of the deep were broken up and the windows of heaven were opened were terrifying enough. But they appear as child's play when compared with the sights and sounds that will occur when the Lord shuts the door of salvation. There will come a day, and we believe it is not far off, when God will say, "It is enough. Let the holy remain holy and the wicked remain wicked" (Revelation 22:11).

As soon as the dreadful edict is issued, Heaven will be closed to prayer. No more will people be able to enter the covenant with God through Christ. The period of salvation, of covenant, of redemption, will have been brought to an end.

The massive gates of the Kingdom of God will begin to close. The multitudes standing outside in outer darkness will realize that the opportunity for salvation has ended. They will rush to the door and pound on it, so to speak, just as the doomed pounded on the door of the Ark. God is the One who is closing the gates and His warrior angels are standing guard.

People will gnash their teeth in an agony of soul and mind as the blackness of a hopeless eternity closes in on them. The hosts of Hell, who are doomed already, now will have company to share their misery. The demons will mock, scorn, and terrorize the lost of mankind. They will express their rage against God by tormenting the lost souls who were created in God's image.

As the exiles see the city of God for the last time, the light, the peace, the joy, the children playing in innocence with the angels, they will realize that these scenes and experiences are denied to them forever. Adding to their torture will be the knowledge that God has been just and compassionate with them and that they knowingly have turned their back on the love of God in Christ.

When the gates of the city finally have closed and no more light can be seen, the lost will turn to the future that awaits them. When they look at the creatures with whom they have chosen to be associated for eternity, the lustful, the vicious, the murderous, the avaricious, the drunken, the liars, the witches, the fearful, the unbelieving, the perverse, the spiteful, understanding that never again will the righteous be available for prayer and counsel, their despair will be total.

The men and women of the days of Noah were certain that God never would destroy the earth. For one hundred years the righteous Noah warned them of the wrath of God to come. The people of those days scorned and mocked Noah and continued their pursuit of the pleasures of the world. The water came and the "impossible" turned into nightmarish reality. Then it was too late.

Mankind today is certain God never will destroy the world or eternally close the gates of Paradise against those who reject Christ as their Lord and Savior. People "know" that there is no Lake of Fire. Satan, a cherub who is in rebellion against God, has convinced the world that God will not do what He has said, and that if people serve God He will deny them what is good.

Satan has convinced the church people that they can keep on sinning and Jesus will keep on forgiving them. The lukewarm have never read and believed Jesus' teaching concerning the branch that does not bear fruit. They have never pondered the parable of the ten virgins. In spite of the numerous New Testament passages that warn us that the believers who continue in the works of the flesh shall reap corruption, today's pastors and their followers continue to teach and believe that every believer will ascend to Heaven in a "rapture" whether or not he or she has been a faithful and true servant of the Lord Jesus. This is a deadly error and those who are preaching and believing it stand in danger of an unbelievably dreadful future. Let the reader be warned!

The hour is coming when Divine judgment will be poured out and the words of the prophets will be fulfilled in terrifying reality. Then it will be too late for repentance. It will be eternally too late. God will not be mocked. Let us take heed to the salvation that He offers so lovingly and faithfully.

The Ark of Noah was thirty cubits in height. Thirty is the number that signifies the beginning of ministry. Joseph was thirty years of age when he stood before Pharaoh (Genesis 41:46). It is our understanding that Joseph typifies the Lord Jesus Christ who was thirty years of age when He began His ministry (Luke 3:23).

The Levites began their service of ministry in the Tabernacle of the Congregation when they were thirty years of age. The Tabernacle building was thirty cubits in length. The number thirty is common to the Tabernacle building and Noah's Ark, indicating that these two structures are related in symbolic significance.

The children of Israel wept for Moses thirty days (Deuteronomy 34:8). The change of ministry from Moses to Joshua occurred when Israel entered the land of promise. Our Lord Jesus has appeared, through the ministries and gifts given to His Body, as Moses. He calls His flock out from the spirit of the world and nourishes them during their discipleship "in the wilderness." In the future, the same Lord Jesus will appear in and with His Body as Joshua and will bring His army out of the wilderness and into the land of promise.

David was thirty years of age when he began his reign (II Samuel 5:4). David ruled in Hebron over Judah for seven years and six months, and then he governed in Jerusalem over all Israel, including Judah, for an additional thirty-three years. As we will see in a subsequent section, there is much of prophetic significance associated with the three anointings of David and with his capture of fortress Zion, his bringing of the Ark of the Covenant to Zion, his mighty men, and his gathering of materials for the building of the Temple of Solomon. Many aspects of the Kingdom of God that have been presented in symbolic form in David's career will be brought to pass when our Lord Jesus Christ appears from Heaven with His "mighty men."

There were three stories, three levels, in Noah's Ark, and three areas of the Tabernacle of the Congregation. The three levels and areas portray the three areas of redemption that are the subject of this book. We shall be examining the three areas further in later chapters.

We have seen that Noah's Ark and the flood are rich in prophetic meaning, having to do especially with the wrath of God that soon is to fall on the world, and with the redemption that God has provided in Christ. The Ark of Noah portrays the realm of the saved. Everyone who truly receives Christ as Lord and Savior, repents, and is baptized, shall be saved.

Salvation, and the first level of the Ark. All three levels of the Ark were saved from destruction. The first level was submerged in (although protected from) the waters of judgment, while the second and third stories were closer to Heaven, so to speak. Lot is an example of the lower level of redemption, of a soul who is saved by the fires of judgment. Lot was a righteous man, the Scriptures inform us, but he chose to pitch his tent toward the well-watered, sinful Sodom.

Lot was saved "so as by fire" (I Corinthians 3:15). He lost his wife, symbolizing the destruction of his power to be fruitful and to possess dominion—the power assigned to men when they were created by the Lord God. Lot did not have an abundant entrance into the Kingdom of God. He himself was saved but by a narrow margin of safety, and only because the Lord remembered the prayers of Abraham.

Abraham, on the other hand, gained an abundant entrance into the Kingdom of God. He inherited the fruitfulness and rulership promised to mankind (Genesis 1:28; 22:17). Abraham witnessed from a distance the smoke rising from the ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah, but the fires of Divine judgment did not come near him. Lot lost everything, including his wife and sons-in-law, to the burnings of the eternal fire (Jude 1:7).

Many Christians will be saved by Divine fire that will burn away from them the works of their flesh and soul. They have chosen to remain in the lower level of the Ark rather than to press upward toward their heavenly calling in Christ. They may be saved into eternal life when Jesus appears because they have relatives who are interceding for them before the Throne of God. They will not receive the opportunities for authority and service that will be assigned to God's "Abrahams."

A person first must be saved or he or she will suffer the wrath of God. Then he has the choice of pressing upward in Christ into greater areas of redemption. Taking a chance on being saved "so as by fire" is risky. Lot came close to being destroyed along with his wife and sons-in-law, and would have been destroyed were it not for the intercessory prayers of his uncle, Abraham.

If we choose to remain at the borders of redemption after we believe in Christ we may be drawn back into the world and lose our salvation altogether. It is better to move along each day, following after and seeking the Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength.

There are many "Lots" today in Christianity and many "Abrahams" praying for them. Hopefully each soul who begins in Christ will attain Paradise with Christ, as did the thief on the cross.

We must not cease pressing forward and upward in Christ. It is dangerous to abide in the hope that we will be saved anyway even though we are making no effort to serve the Lord. Both Hebrews, Chapters Three and Six, and John, Chapter Fifteen, warn us concerning the end of the branch in Christ that does not bear fruit. Let us be counted among those who follow on to know the Lord and who obtain an abundant entrance into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour, Christ.

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