Similarities between Jesus and the Ark:

The Central theme of the entire Bible is the person of Christ. Jesus taught this in Luke 24:27…it was all about the Redemptive plan of God…and Jesus is that plan! The passage in Luke 24 is the only place were we see the overall pattern as to how Jesus approached teaching the written Word.

So, as we are looking for the Person of Christ, all the way through Genesis, we see a variety of “pictures” of the Lord. The Ark is one of them.

The following is an excerpt from the Commentary on Genesis which is currently underway. (It is a long book, so it will take me a while to complete it, but it will be offered on Amazon, as are my earlier commentaries.)

Similarities between Jesus and the Ark:

But, what about the flood—was that a picture of Christ? No, of course not—it was a picture of God’s judgment on all sin…and the Ark was the picture of Christ—God’s Grace to mankind; God’s power to save those who believe him. (Read Genesis 6:5-22– compare Romans 1:16)

In the account of the Ark (please remember that Jesus treated this as history, not legend: this is fact, not fiction) we see that, ultimately, there are only two places one can be in relation to God; inside the ark or outside it. (One can be in Christ, or in Adam. 1^st Corinthians 15:22)

1. Everyone started off outside the Ark…including Noah and his family. (We all start off in Adam…outside Christ…we are born that way.)
2. Only Noah and his family looked forward to the completion of the Ark. (Only believers looked forward to the coming Messiah)
3. Only Noah and his family saw it as God’s means of deliverance. (Only believers see Jesus as their hope for salvation.)
4. Only Noah and his family responded to the call to repentance. (Only believers respond to the Gospel call.)
5. Only Noah and his family responded to the call to enter the Ark. (Only believers heed the call to enter into Christ.)
6. Noah and his family entered by faith—God revealed that they were to get on board, and they believed, and entered by faith. (We do too!)
7. I think it is interesting that God said, “Come into the Ark.” not “Go into the Ark.” (KJV)
   1. God was there among them. His hand guided that craft, as it had no sails, no oars, no rudder…He controlled its destiny from beginning to end. (This is also, even more, true for the believer. Jesus said, “Come unto me.” and God controls our destiny in Christ—and, beyond comprehension or imagination, we are already seated with Him in the Heavenlies. Ephesians 2:6)
8. Everyone who was aboard the Ark was safe with God. All outside were lost without him. (All in Christ have been made alive…all still in Adam are lost…though in our case, the door is still open for them to enter.)
9. The Ark was sufficient to save all who trusted in it. (Jesus saves all who call upon His name.)
10. The Ark was built according to the Word of God…(Jesus came in full accord with the Prophecies, fulfilling them all to the letter.)
11. The Ark took the brunt of the judgment that fell on the earth (the flood) but rose above it. (Jesus took upon himself at the Cross the full weight of the wrath of God for the sin of the World, but rose from the dead, in triumph over the grave.)
12. The Ark was coated with pitch, outside, to make it immune to the judgment without, and coated with pitch inside, to make it immune to the contamination within. (Well? What would you expect to happen in a 450-foot floating barn full of animals, with no way to clean the stalls, on a yearlong cruise??)—(Jesus’ righteousness made him ultimately immune to the judgment, and also makes Him immune to our continuing sin as well…we cannot “torpedo the Ark” through our unworthiness… we were unworthy before He saved us, and guess what? We still are! Our sins were all paid for in full at the Cross…the fact that ALL of them were still in the future when he died should tell us something about the completeness of his redemption.)
13. The one window of the Ark, possibly for ventilation, either looked upward, or was positioned in such a way that Noah could not really see out—he could not see the destruction that was all around him, nor could he tell when it was time to get back out onto the land. He could only look up and wait on God. (Does that sound familiar? Look up, and wait on God.)
14. All aboard the Ark were there for the duration. Nobody got off before the Ark was safely aground and the earth was dry enough to be safe and habitable. (No one gets out of Christ, either.) In some ways this could seem to be a parallel to the Tribulation as well, though not a very tight parallel…Only Noah and his family survived the flood, but there will be many who survive the Tribulation, who are saved during the Tribulation, and live through its horror. BUT—it does seem to me that the Church having been taken away for the duration, will come back to a cleansed world, just as Noah and his family exited the Ark to enter a cleansed world.
15. Finally, when the only ones left alive were Noah and his family, God said “the imagination of Man’s heart is evil from his youth.” (Don’t get the idea that Christians are not sinners. They are sinners who admit it and want to do something about it. Christians are saved sinners. They are beggars who have been fed, and who found themselves reborn as children of the King. They are the recipients of Grace, and Grace cannot be earned.)
16. Grace was the thing that saved Noah—and it is what has saved every person who was ever saved in the history of this planet. God offers Grace—we respond by faith. From Genesis to Revelation, that is the message. Notice, too, that when Noah was on dry land again, he offered that seventh animal of every clean variety, as a sacrifice. God’s chosen sacrifice is always blood, for a sin offering. We come by the Blood of Jesus. In reality, so did Noah, Abel and Adam.
17. To “stretch things,” just a bit: when God gave the rainbow as a sign, it was a promise that He would never again destroy the world by flood. We look back to the Cross as God’s promise that he will no longer condemn us for our sins. Romans 8:1 states that “there is now therefore no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” And it is because of the Cross. I do not think the rainbow is “a picture of the Cross,” but I do think the promise in the rainbow is a picture of the “security of the believer” today.
18. The Ark was God’s only provision for salvation from the Flood. (Jesus is God’s only provision for the salvation of the human race from eternal damnation.)