📖 Biblical Definition
The Ark of Noah was the three-decked wooden vessel God commanded Noah to build for the salvation of his household and the animals during the deluge (Genesis 6:14-22) — 300 cubits long, 50 wide, 30 high (roughly 450 × 75 × 45 feet), with one door which God Himself shut behind Noah and his family (7:16). Built of "gopher wood" and sealed with pitch within and without, it housed Noah, his wife, his three sons and their wives (eight souls in all), and pairs of every kind of land animal and bird (with seven pairs of clean animals). It rested on the mountains of Ararat after 150 days. 1 Peter 3:20-21 draws baptism’s typological parallel: salvation by water through the appointed ark. Christ is the true Ark; outside Him there is no shelter from coming judgment.
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
ARK, n.
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1. A small close vessel, chest or coffer. 2. The vessel built by Noah for the preservation of himself, his family, and animals from the flood. 3. The ark of the covenant — among the Jews, the chest in which were kept the tables of the law.
📖 Key Scripture
Genesis 6:14 — "Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch."
Genesis 7:16 — "And the Lord shut him in."
Hebrews 11:7 — "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."
1 Peter 3:20 — "Wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
Noah preached 120 years and saved 8; modern metrics would have called him a failure.
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Noah preached for 120 years (the span of the ark's construction, Gen 6:3) and saved eight people. Modern church-growth metrics would have written him off long before completion. Yet Hebrews 11:7 names him in the hall of faith, and 2 Peter calls him a preacher of righteousness. The fruit of his ministry was small; the obedience of his ministry was perfect; God Himself shut the door.
The ark is one of the richest types of Christ in Scripture. One door. Made of wood. Pitched (Hebrew kaphar, the same root as the word for atonement) inside and out. Three levels. Salvation by entering, not by working. The Lord Himself sealed it shut. Every detail prefigures the Savior. Get in the ark; the Lord still shuts the door at the right time.
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
Hebrew tevah (H8392).
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H8392 — tevah — ark, chest, box
H3722 — kaphar — to cover, atone (the pitch)
G2787 — kibotos — ark (NT, Heb 11:7)
Usage
"Noah preached 120 years and saved 8; modern metrics would have called him a failure."
"Pitched inside and out with the same Hebrew root as “atonement” — the gospel was already in the wood."
"Get in the ark; the Lord still shuts the door at the right time."