We begin our journey and exploration of scripture, in a feeble attempt to draw out various allegories and typologies of the gospel, in Genesis. Those truths and glories, which have been carefully and wisely carved into Israel’s history by God The Father, and which have been thoughtfully brought to man’s remembrance and pen by The Holy Spirit, are contained in the eternal scriptures as gems among the deep rocks of earth. Though the first of these precious pictures of Christ’s work found in scripture is not our topic for today, nevertheless, we shall begin our study with Noah’s Ark.

Long ago, long before Christ walked the earth, and before Abraham, it is written,

“The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. And God looked upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before me; for the earth is filled with violence through them; and, behold, I will destroy them with the earth.” [Gen 6:11-13]

As The Spirit relates it to us, as far as the plain text conveys, it was not long after Adam and Eve left the garden of Eden – relatively speaking – that “God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” [Gen 6:5] Furthermore, “there were Nephilim in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men…” [Gen 6:4] These men, “mighty men which were of old, men of renown,” [Gen 6:4] were what we commonly refer to as “giants.” They are, as the Hebrew word naphil, (נָפִיל), conveys, “rebels, apostates.” [Gesenius] These came about as plainly as The LORD writes through Moses: fallen angels, under the headship of Lucifer, (that wicked angel and apostate accuser, that dragon of old), took upon themselves the likeness of human flesh – as Jude writes, “the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation [body]” [Jde 1:6] – and had sexual relations with women, thus producing a foreign and perverse seed: of which seed came Goliath of Gath and his brethren, as well as Og and Sihon those ancient elders of the kingdom of the Amorites.

Truly, the wickedness of man was great. But it was not merely so – for do we not see the same today? Do we not concur with The LORD’s estimation of earth, at least in some part? That, “the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually[?]” [Gen 6:4] For it is written,

“There is none righteous, no, not one: there is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God: they are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” [Rom 3:10-12]

Dear reader, are you exempt? Am I? Do we think mankind’s doomed nature inherited from Adam to have somehow evolved and ascended above that wicked state of Noah’s day? Nay, but if then in Noah’s day, then so too today. For wherever the seed of fallen Adam spreads, so too wickedness and evil. It is the curse and the disease upon us all – a disease so tough and so deep, that only the blood of The Son of God, Jesus Christ can fully cleanse it. May we then see an important caveat: the mention of Nephilim is no accident, and it is this subject that we shall explore first. For in doing so, we shall hopefully come to a more reasonable conclusion regarding The LORD’s judgment upon earth. And it is His judgment here in Genesis, with the flood, which lays the foundation for our understanding of His latter judgments: mainly, His coming judgment and destruction of the earth with fire, and secondly, His judgment and damnation of those souls and bodies which did not believe in The Lord Jesus. For Peter writes,

“For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth was formed out of water and through water: whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.” [2 Pe 3:5-7]

It is plainly written for our understanding that Christ Jesus did not become an angel, but a man, so that He might redeem man. “Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, He also likewise took part of the same…” [Heb 2:14] And, “For verily He took not hold of angels; but He took hold of the seed of Abraham.” [Heb 2:16] When Christ shed His glorious form, (His heavenly body), not esteeming His life dear to Himself, He did shed it to obtain a far lesser form: as it says, “the likeness of sinful flesh.” [Rom 8:3] But He humiliated Himself even further, as it is written,

“Who, being in the form of God, did not esteem equality with God a prize to cling to: but emptied Himself [of that form], and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and being found in fashion as a man, He humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” [Phil 2:6-8]

Therefore, seeing that Jesus became a man, and not an angel, what of Nephilim, who are a hybrid of the two? Neither fully man nor fully angel. What of them and their candidacy for redemption? We must frankly conclude, based on The Holy Spirit’s logic in Hebrews, that as angels are irredeemable – for Christ became a man not an angel – so too Nephilim. Therefore, this wicked lineage and hybrid race: a corruption of man’s seed so engineered by satan to disrupt the lineage of The Messiah, for it had been prophesied to satan, “I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; He, [The Messiah], shall bruise thy head, [Satan], and thou shalt bruise His heel,” [Gen 3:15] must therefore be destroyed. Even as satan knows not the mercy of God, having never tasted it nor ever having a shred of hope to taste it, so too the Nephilim race.

We must see, dear reader and good Christian, that our God is a merciful and good God. Let us conclude therefore that the destruction of the earth, and those inhabiting it, in large part and in addition to the righteous judgment of sin, was to purge the world of this Nephilim corruption and so preserve an avenue for the Seed, for Jesus Christ – mainly, an unblemished bloodline. Not a bloodline unblemished by sin, God forbid! for then we should all have perished by now, but a bloodline unblemished by the genealogical corruption of satan’s seed. For the Nephilim bloodline is destined unto corruption and death: an irredeemable hybrid of sorts between angel and man. Therefore, in part to stop the spread of this disease, God did choose to flood the earth in a great display of His sovereign power and righteous judgment.

It may do us well at this point to revisit an important question. It is far easier to swallow the truth about God’s judgment upon the Nephilim race: an irredeemable race created by the wiles of satan’s evil; but what of mankind? What of the conceptually millions or billions of people inhabiting the earth during Noah’s time, who were not of the eight, and who were likewise destroyed? We should do well to burden our minds for just a few moments as we ponder these hard questions. It would be easy enough to pass over such things, and write them off to providence and sovereignty, but though that route be easy, it may not be satisfactory. Having done this then, we shall from there begin to inquire into the glorious picture of Christ which runs deep beneath the text and the reality of this story.

The Apostle Peter once wrote of Noah, saying that he was “a preacher of righteousness.” [2 Pe 2:5] It was during those days, one hundred or so years, “when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing,” [1 Pe 3:20] that Noah, that man whose merit and works did not merit salvation but who, as it is written, “found grace in the eyes of The LORD,” [Gen 6:8] yes, it was in those days that Noah was a proclaimer of righteousness. And what is righteousness, dear reader? What do the scriptures say? Why, they say nothing but this, again and again: “the just shall live by faith.” [Rom 1:17] We see then that Noah preached faith, for he preached righteousness. And did God ever preach faith which was unattainable and far off? No. As it is written,

“But the righteousness which of is faith speaketh on this wise, say not in thine heart, who shall ascend into heaven? (That is, to bring Christ down from above:) or, who shall descend into the deep? (That is, to bring up Christ again from the dead:) But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth, and in thy heart: that is, the word of faith, which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth The Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” [Rom 10:6-9]

Therefore, we can safely conclude that Noah, a preacher of righteousness and faith, was so sent and commanded of God for the salvation of those around him. For again, “…[The Lord] is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” [2 Pe 3:9] Just as in Noah’s day, God’s longsuffering waited, [1 Pe 3:20] so too God’s longsuffering waits now: urging those who are unsaved to believe and be saved, for He takes no pleasure in their death. “As I live, saith The Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live…” [Ezek 33:11] And what exactly was the faith? The faith Noah exercised and which he no doubt preached was that of faith in God’s salvation against a certain judgment to come. It is the same faith that we have, as we shall see. That just as Noah, as it says in Hebrews, “being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of His house,” and by such “became heir of the righteousness which is of faith,” [Heb 11:7] so too we are warned of judgment to come, and through a healthy fear, are provoked to put our trust in Christ, even as Noah trusted in God’s provision of the Ark.

Let us remember that our God is just. And as it says regarding a just man and what is correct, “withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it,” [Prov 3:27] shall not The LORD save those who exercise faith in Him? Even if they were not apart of Noah’s family and had wicked thoughts and imaginations? For I would think that all of us, if we are honest and careful to admit it, fell into quite the same category before our redemption, even as it says, “but God demonstrates His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” [Rom 5:8] Our LORD is not one to boast of salvation, saying, “turn unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God, and there is none else,” [Isa 45:22] and to then not act on His promise, even if that be in Noah’s day. I doubt then, that God, who is just, would offer up salvation – indeed a good thing – to mankind by faith, and then fail to grant them such a deliverance upon their pleas and cries of faith, even if those pleas and cries be provoked on by the coming waters. For was this not partly motivation for the thief on the cross, who in the last moments of his life, faced with death and finally coming to his right mind, cried out to The Lord, “Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom,” and was so accepted of Christ? [Lk 23:42] Should we think those upon the earth after the doors of Noah’s Ark shut unworthy of redemption? Why so? Because they did not act without any evidence whatsoever? Because they did not believe Noah’s preaching? Good Christian, is there not a man among us, who has not resisted The Lord and then, having tasted of the fruit of our wickedness or unbelief, come to The Lord at the last, after we had come to our senses and perceived things more correctly? Why then should we flatly condemn those upon the earth in that day, as if God would smite them all to hell without another chance? For I would think then we should all be in hell: for again, there is hardly a man saved among us who did not require some stiff motivation from The Holy Spirit in order to get saved.

And furthermore, lest we think our God unjust and unfair, unrighteously and haphazardly condemning all those dwelling upon the earth without any chance of repentance or salvation, may we also see that salvation and redemption – though not resulting in a deliverance from physical death – was still open to those who did not get on the boat with Noah. Some may say to this: “how so? For surely those who tarried until the floods commenced failed then to act in faith; and moreover, is it not written, ‘all flesh died that moved upon the earth[?]’” [Gen 7:21] But in response, may we remember Thomas, who though surely he was saved, yet Jesus says, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet believed.” [Jn 20:29] Was Thomas less-than-saved because he had to see Christ risen bodily? Hardly. Though it be a less blessed state as Jesus says, yet Thomas was saved. And furthermore, what of those during the Great Tribulation, who though having seen the Rapture and having seen and understood the judgments of God, yet are welcomed nevertheless if so be they believe? For John writes,

“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number…stood before the throne, and before the Lamb…These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” [Rev 7:9, 14]

To say that only Noah and his family were saved – in the purely spiritual sense – and that there could not have been, nor was, any soul that cried out to God and experienced spiritual salvation after the waters began to pour down, is to say that only those who have not experienced or seen God work in any powerful way, are eligible to believe and have faith; and that those who have seen Him work in any case have passed into a category which marks them as irredeemable, for having been given good evidence of truth, they cease to be able to act in faith and be saved. But, good Christian, having read this logic, you should immediately see the flaw in it. For if those who did not get on the boat were thus eternally damned without recourse, then verily we should all be dead likewise. For does not scripture say, “O taste and see that The LORD is good;” [Psa 34:8] and, “then went in also that other disciple, which came first to the sepulchre, and he saw, and believed;” [Jn 20:8] and yet again, unto all of us is given “the sign of the prophet Jonah,” for Jesus says, “as Jonah was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” [Mt 12:39-40] The LORD invites us to come and reason with him: to see Christ dead and risen, to see the evidence and choose to believe. As the angel said to the disciples, so too to us, “come, see the place where The Lord had been lying.” [Mt 28:6] Is our faith then, not faith, since we have in measure seen good evidence for Christ’s Lordship and resurrection? God forbid. But let us see clearly that just because the flood waters came, and the truth of Noah’s preaching would have become immediately obvious, so too there are times, (and will be a time during the Great Tribulation), where God manifestly shows us tangible evidence of His reality – and this is not an exclusion to salvation, but rather a catalyst.

And now, at last, let us come to the cross; for that is why we have undertaken to study the story of Noah’s Ark. The first and most important point is the openness of God’s salvation. We have spent great lengths to defend the righteous judgment of God upon wicked men and upon the earth. But we have also shown undoubtedly that salvation was open to all. The Ark was in building for around a hundred years: an incredible testimony to coming judgment and to God’s promised deliverance. A physical and tangible proof of God’s active presence in the life of men. It stood there, ever-growing larger and larger until that day when the waters came. It stood there, an open testimony to all who would, of not only the promised wrath to come but also the promised salvation for those who would believe. And the Ark remained open: open and available to all men, and such it remained until that day that the door was closed, in which “The LORD shut [them] in.” [Gen 7:16] In a very similar manner, the salvation offered to men through Jesus Christ remains open. It is open to all who believe; to all who will of their own accord turn unto Christ. For it is written,

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His One-and-only Unique Son, [Jesus Christ], that whosoever is believing in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” [Jn 3:16]

And again,

 “Whosoever shall call upon the name of The Lord shall be saved.” [Rom 10:13, Joel 2:32, Acts 2:21]

See here, dear reader, that this promise is fully and clearly open to “whosoever.” Whoever desires may come, and Jesus says, “…him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out.” [Jn 6:37] The LORD “[has] no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but [desires] that the wicked turn from his way and live” [Ezek 33:11] And as such, Christ turns no one away, gladly accepting all who would call upon Him and look to Him for salvation, saying again as a free invitation to all, “come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” [Mt 11:28] This is in direct alignment with The Father as well, who says through Isaiah, “ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters…incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you…” [Isa 55:1, 3] Just as the Ark stood in that day, a testimony for mankind, so too Christ stands today. And just as the Ark remained open before judgment, so too Christ remains open for “whosoever.”

For our second point, let us then look to the Ark, which is a great picture of Christ. The LORD had given very specific directions to Noah. He gave dimensions of the boat: so many cubits here, and so many there, a singular door, and then He also said, “and [thou] shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.” [Gen 6:14] Think upon the dimensions of the boat for a moment. The LORD had said, “the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.” [Gen 6:15] What if Noah had become lazy? What if he had, or so he thought, a better idea for dimensions? What if Noah quite liked the look of a skinny boat versus the rather wide Ark? We have probably all come to the same conclusion by now: Noah and his family would have died. The LORD, whose “understanding is infinite,” [Psa 147:5] gave very precise measurements so that Noah might bring himself, his family, and animals upon the Ark as God had said: “to keep them alive.” [Gen 6:19] The vessel given, along with every dimension, had been carefully thought about by The LORD: given precisely to Noah as a pattern to be followed exactly, not as a rough sketch where liberties could be had. If Noah had not believed God, and made the Ark according to his own image, his own fashion, then both he and his family would have perished in the global flood. As it was with the Ark and its dimensions, so it is with Jesus. The Jesus who brings salvation is a very specific Jesus; a Jesus who has been described to us in great detail even as Noah was given a specific pattern. Paul speaks of those who “preach another Jesus,” [2 Cor 11:4] and Jesus Himself warned, “many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ, and shall deceive many.” [Mt 24:5] There are many Christs and many Jesuses. But there is only one who can save; He is that Jesus who says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” [Jn 14:6] And He is described to us through God’s word, for “His name is called The Word of God.” [Rev 19:13] Just as Moses was “admonished of God…that [he] make all things [regarding the tabernacle] according to the pattern shewed to [him] in the mount,” [Heb 8:5] and just as David had “the pattern of all that he had [for the temple] by The Spirit,” which he said “The LORD made me understand in writing by His hand upon me,” [1 Ch 28:12, 19] so too God’s Word, of which Christ says, “in the volume of the book it is written of me,” [Psa 40:7] lays out a specific pattern of the one, true Jesus.

It is imperative that we believe in the true Jesus: in that Jesus who is described for us in God’s word. Even as Noah’s life depended on the exact creation of God’s revealed Ark, following His divine dimensions, so too our salvation is dependent upon us believing in the true Christ. For if we believe in a deception, in a false Christ, where shall we be? For we would not have then believed in Jesus, but a false Jesus, one not described in God’s scriptures, and we would be drowned as it were – destroyed in the judgment. There was one acceptable Ark design, and there is one acceptable Jesus. May we be those who cling to God’s word: for therein Jesus is revealed. As God said, “set your hearts unto all the words which I testify among you this day…for it is not a vain thing for you; because it is your life…” [Deut 32:46, 47]

There are two instructions regarding the building of the Ark that we shall turn to now. The door and the pitch. Let us be careful to note that only one door was ordained by God. Even so, there is one way to salvation: Jesus Christ. Jesus Himself says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto The Father, but by me;” [Jn 14:6] and,

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep. All that ever came before me are thieves and robbers: but the sheep did not hear them. I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.” [Jn 10:7-9]

As there was one door, and only one way to enter into the Ark and find salvation from wrath, so too there is only one acceptable avenue to find salvation: Jesus Christ. “Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, [save Jesus Christ], whereby we must be saved.” [Acts 4:12] No other Jesus will do; no other Messiah; no other Savior. “He that hath the Son hath life: and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.” [1 Jn 5:12] Every other avenue, every other option, every other pattern, save Jesus Christ as found in The Bible, is false and erroneous: a perversion of truth and a pathway to hell. “He that is believing on The Son hath everlasting life: and he that is not believing the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.” [Jn 3:36] And so in this we see that just as there was one Ark, and one door, and one set of specific directions – none other sufficing – so too there is but one Christ: one way to God The Father: Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Having now spoken of the door, let us look at the pitch.

The LORD had commanded Noah to cover the Ark with pitch, both within and without. The pitch was to waterproof the Ark. But what is encouraging and thought provoking is the Hebrew word used for the verb, “pitch.” The word used is the same for atonement, kawfar: כָּפַר. It is the same word used when The Lord instructed, “and Aaron shall make an atonement upon the horns of it once in a year with the blood of the sin offering of atonements…” [Ex 30:10] And again, “and he shall put his hand upon the head of the burnt offering; and it shall be accepted for him to make atonement for him.” [Lev 1:4] The reason these words are the same is that at their root they mean the same thing: to cover. Just as we are atoned for by blood, the blood of Jesus Christ covering us: so too Noah covered the Ark with pitch. And therein is our picture. Just as Noah covered the Ark with pitch and was therefore protected from the wrath of God: that is, the flood: so too because we are covered in the blood of Jesus and atoned therewith, we are protected from the wrath of God against our sins. As Paul writes, “much more then, being now justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him.” [Rom 5:9] Atonement has been made for our sins. They have been covered over by the blood of Jesus, poured out for us. God “set forth [Jesus] to be a propitiation through faith in His blood…” [Rom 3:25] And, “how much more shall the blood of Christ…purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?” [Heb 9:14] And again, “…without the shedding of blood [there] is no forgiveness [of sins].” [Heb 9:22]

Without the pitch, Noah’s salvation was for naught. For without it, the water would seep in and ruin the Ark and all the provisions therein contained. Likewise, without the blood of Jesus: without His precious, innocent blood we would all be sunk: doomed to condemnation and wrath. But now, through the blood of Jesus we are cleansed from all sin.

“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin.” [1 Jn 1:7]

It is fascinating and rewarding to see these pictures displayed for us. Through them, we can better understand what Jesus did for us, and more easily remember them. But out of all the analogies one might draw in comparing Noah and the Ark to our salvation found in Jesus, there is perhaps no greater and more important than this:

“But Noah found grace in the eyes of The LORD.” [Gen 6:8]

It is of upmost importance that we see and understand this clearly: Noah was not saved because he was good. He was not saved because he was better than anyone. He was not saved because he worked harder. No, but as it is written, “Noah found grace in the eyes of The LORD.” And with us it is the same. As The Spirit writes,

“Even when we were dead in sins, [God] hath made us alive together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast.” [Eph 2:5, 8-9]

If the account of the Ark should teach us anything, if it should add anything to our understanding of Jesus’ love, if it should deepen our love and appreciation of our God – then let it be at least this: because of God’s grace, (and by no addition or work of our own), through believing in the one-and-only, unique Jesus, and by His shed blood, we are saved from God’s wrath. As Noah found grace, and was invited to live by faith by God, putting his trust in the provided design, so too we are invited to partake of Christ and be saved. So too we are invited to come and taste of The One, True God, to have His blood cover our souls, and so be saved from judgment and condemnation. It is not the law, nor our works, but God’s grace which saves us.

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