Noah’s Ark Genesis 6:9-22

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1 When God observed that

all mankind was vicious
and depraved, He
decided to send a flood
to destroy them. Noah
was the only truly
righteous man living on
the earth at that time,
so God instructed him to
build a boat, an Ark, to
save him, his family and
the animal population.

2 The Biblical word for Ark

is ‘tebah’. It is used 28
times in the OT and is
only used of Noah's Ark
and for the container in
which Moses was hidden
among the bulrushes. As
a similar Egyptian word
means ‘box’, the Ark
was not like a
streamlined vessel
designed to easily glide
through the water. In
this picture the size of
‘the Ark’ shown
alongside a soccer pitch.
3 God instructed Noah to
build the Ark 300 cubits
long by 50 cubits wide
and 30 cubits high. A
cubit is the distance
from a man’s elbow to
the tip of his middle
finger, typically between
45-54 cm 1(18-21
inches) That makes the
Ark around 135m (440ft)
long, 22.5m (74ft) wide,
and 13.5m (45ft) high.

4 The Ark was to be built

of ‘gopher wood’.
‘Gopher’ is a Hebrew
word whose meaning is
unknown so it was left
untranslated. The NIV
translates it ‘cypress
wood’, as this wood is
highly resistant to rot.
Other translations
describe it as ‘resinous
wood’. Gopher could
have been a pre-flood
wood with which we are
not familiar.

5 The Ark had three

stories with only one
door.

6 At 300 cubits long, 50

cubits wide, and 30
cubits high, the volume
of the ark is estimated
at about 1.5 million
cubic feet, which is
about a third of the
volume of the Titanic.
7 The Ark had a ratio
(length x width x height)
of 30 x 5 x 3. According
to ship-builders, this
ratio represents an
advanced knowledge of
ship-building since it is
the optimum design for
stability in rough seas.
The Ark, as designed by
God, was virtually
impossible to capsize! It
would have to have
been tilted over 90
degrees in order to
capsize.

8 The Ark was to be

coated inside and out
with pitch to make it
watertight.

9 The Ark had a roof with

a small opening, one
cubit high, below it – but
no steering wheel. It was
made to float, and God
steered the ship at will.

10 The inside of the Ark had

a space that could fit
about 1,300 of the
standard 7m (20ft)
shipping containers you
see on cargo ships.
There was over 100,000
square feet of floor
space.

11 The Ark was to hold two

of each ‘kind’ of land
animal. The biblical
‘kind’ is a ‘family’ level
of classification.
Recent studies estimate
the total number of
living and extinct ‘kinds’
of land animals and
flying creatures to be
about 1,500.
12 This would mean that
Noah cared for
approximately 7,000
animals. (Source: Ark
encounter website).
There was room on the
Ark for 40,000 animals
with the average size of
a sheep.

13 Noah obeyed God’s

instructions in building
the Ark. God closed the
door when all to be
saved were onboard and
protected them during
the flood.

14 Noah and his family

were aboard the Ark for
one year and ten days.

15