I’d venture to guess that for most of us, one of our childhood’s most memorable Bible stories is Noah’s Ark. I close my eyes and picture those cartoonish animals traveling two by two up the ramp to the ark. I can see them on the deck of the Ark, surrounded by a vast ocean, looking as if they don’t have a care in the world. While most adults now recognize the reality of that childhood story, we may not so readily see that the ark is more than an ark; Noah’s Ark is a prophetic symbol of Jesus.
Throughout the Old Testament, God uses prophetic symbols to foreshadow people and events in the New Testament. These symbols reveal who God is and give us pictures of His future salvation. The ark that Noah built is one of these prophetic symbols.
Last time, in “Sunk in Sin,” we examined Moses’s faith and how God showed him grace in a world immersed in sin. Now, we will examine the flood story as an image of God’s redemptive plan for mankind.
Jesus Is Our Ark: How Genesis 6-8 Reveals God’s Salvation Plan
God sent the flood as both a judgment on sin and a fresh start for creation. Only 8 or 9 generations passed between Adam and Noah. Yet, sin ravaged God’s beautiful creation so completely that when God looked at it, He saw that every intent of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil continually (Genesis 6:5). Instead of wiping out humanity, God provided a way out—an ark of salvation.
Because Noah found favor with God, God presented Noah the way to be saved from the wrath He was about to rain down on earth. Through Noah, God gave the world a witness of righteousness (2 Peter 2:5), warning them of judgment. Yet, the people ignored the warning, continuing in their wickedness until it was too late (Matthew 24:37-39).
Noah’s Ark provided temporary salvation from physical death, but Jesus offers eternal salvation from sin and judgment. The ark saved Noah and his family from destruction, but Jesus is the greater ark—rescuing all who trust in Him from the final judgment to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10). Just as Noah had to enter the ark to be saved, we must be in Christ to receive eternal life.
There are many ways the ark is a shadow of Jesus, a better version of the ark to come.
Noah’s Ark: A Picture of Salvation and Jesus
God commanded Noah to build just one door in the ark (Genesis 6:16), the only entrance to salvation for his family. In the same way, Jesus is the only door to the Father, our salvation (John 14:16). Jesus himself said, “I am the door; if anyone enters by Me, he will be saved…” (John 10:9).
Jesus, Our Refuge in Life’s Storms
The ark was Noah’s refuge from the storm (Genesis 6:17-19), just as Jesus is our refuge from God’s wrath (Romans 5:9).
Finding Rest in Jesus, Our Ark of Salvation
God did not command Noah to go on the ark but invited him to “come” on it instead (Genesis 7:1). Noah’s work was over, and now he could rest. Jesus also invites us to come to Him where we can find rest (Matthew 11:28). The choice is ours: Do we go to Him and be saved, or do we run from Him and be condemned?
Eternal Security in Christ: Sealed Like Noah in the Ark
Once Noah was in the ark, he was secure. The Lord shut him in (Genesis 6:17). We can also be confident that we are secure in Christ. God, through the Holy Spirit, has sealed us as His own, guaranteeing our salvation to come (Ephesians 1:13).
Jesus: God’s Gift of Salvation, Foreshadowed in the Ark
God gave Noah the ark as a gift. Without it, Noah would have perished like the rest of the world. God also gave us Jesus, His only Son, so that if we believe in Him, we will not perish (John 3:16).
God’s Covenant With Noah and His Promise to Us
As the waters rose above the mountains, so did the ark. It continued to float on the water’s surface until it rested on Mount Ararat. Some scholars note that this event aligns with the Hebrew month of Nisan, the same month Jesus would later rise from the dead—showing yet another way the ark foreshadows Christ’s salvation.
The ark’s work was done, and Noah emerged from it to a clean world with new possibilities. God blessed Noah and gave him dominion over the new earth as Adam and Eve did ten generations earlier. He told Noah and his family to be fruitful and increase in number across the earth (Genesis 9:7). God then made a covenant with Noah that He would never again destroy the world with water (Genesis 9:8-11). This covenant pointed forward to the greater covenant in Christ, where God provides eternal salvation, not just temporary rescue. Just as the ark delivered Noah through the waters, Jesus delivers us through the waters of judgment, sealing us in a covenant of grace (Luke 22:20, Hebrews 9:15).
God remembered Noah, and He remembers us, too. Noah didn’t deserve to be on the ark, and we don’t deserve Jesus either. Despite our unworthiness, God offers us a way to salvation through His Son, Jesus Christ.
When the rains of life pour down, when the waters begin to rise, Jesus offers us refuge and rest. We need not fear the rising waters because we are secure in Him. Just as Noah and his family were safe in the ark, we are safe in Christ. No storm can shake us, no flood can overwhelm us, because our salvation is sealed in Him. We have a better version of the ark; we have Jesus!
What do you think about Noah’s Ark as a foreshadowing of Jesus? Share your thoughts in the comments!
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Making Him Known February 28, 2025 9:13 am