Tebah

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. Make thee an ark....
-- Genesis 6:11-14a

The Hebrew word translated as "ark" is tebah, and it is used only in reference to the vessel that Noah built and the much smaller one built for baby Moses as recorded in Exodus chapter 2. What these two arks had in common is intriguing: for one thing, they both saved their passengers from certain death; and for another, the builders of both arks had to place their faith in God and His word to benefit from them.

Let's take a closer look at Noah and his ark. One thing you may want to note from the start is that up until the flood rain had never fallen on the Earth. Genesis 2:5-6 states, "And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground."

Now if God told you or me to build an ark because there was a flood coming, we would most likely not follow through because of our unbelief despite the fact that we are familiar with rain, floods, and other such things. Imagine, if you will, the level of faith Noah exercised in obeying God and building an ark for an event never yet witnessed to even the slightest degree. It would be roughly comparable to God giving us some monumental undertaking to prepare for global destruction from fire or stone raining down from the sky. I think we can agree that God's grace was still working in Noah's life.

Although it took about a century (One must remember that Noah and his contemporaries enjoyed a very generous lifespan.), Noah finished building the ark. One can scarcely imagine the mockery and scoffing he endured from others of his time while he was building the ark. However, once he was done the ark stood as a truly massive testament to God's love and grace. Although it's exact size and shape are open to some debate, the ark was a rather large project to say the least. It was probably about the same size as a W.W. II aircraft carrier. It may be the biggest structure ever built by an individual.

Well, you are probably familiar with the rest of Noah's history. He, his wife, his three sons and their wives were the only representatives of humanity to place their faith in God and enter the ark. Additionally, God arranged for mating pairs as well as extras of certain kinds of non-aquatic animals to board the ark. Finally, Noah had loaded the ark with food and other supplies at God's command. Once all were aboard the ark with Noah "...the LORD shut him in" (Genesis 7:16b). According to Genesis 7:11a the same day that Noah entered the ark "...were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened."

What followed was a disaster that was uniquely destructive in both its intensity and scope. To say that people were inundated in the Deluge is to engage in gross understatement. Not only did it rain for forty days, but vast reservoirs of water under the seabed broke open like fountains likely resulting in earthquakes and tidal waves around the world. The resulting destruction and salvation happened just as God had told Noah:

And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth. And the waters prevailed, and were increased greatly upon the earth; and the ark went upon the face of the waters. And the waters prevailed exceedingly upon the earth; and all the high hills, that were under the whole heaven, were covered. Fifteen cubits upward did the waters prevail; and the mountains were covered. And all flesh died that moved upon the earth, both of fowl, and of cattle, and of beast, and of every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth, and every man: All in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land, died. And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground, both man, and cattle, and the creeping things, and the fowl of the heaven; and they were destroyed from the earth: and Noah only remained alive, and they that were with him in the ark. And the waters prevailed upon the earth an hundred and fifty days.
-- Genesis 7:17-24

Aside from recording the historical account of a singular event in the world's history, the story of Noah is meant to impress upon us an important truth for us today:

But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
Hebrews 11:6-7

The Lord Jesus Christ is our ark to save us from condemnation and destruction. However, we only enter into a relationship with Him by faith in Him alone for our salvation. Just as there was only one way to escape the flood in Noah's day, Jesus is the only way to escape our rightly deserved sentence of eternal death in hell because of our sin. In both instances God has been gracious and provided a way of salvation, but will you believe God and be saved?