The Ark - Genesis 6:14-22

6:14-16 - Genesis picks up where Moses ended in the middle of chapter 6 with some pretty specific instructions about the flood that is coming. The Lord commands Noah to “make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.” The IM notes, “The ark: the Hebrew word means ‘box’ or ‘chest.’ It is used elsewhere only for the watertight ‘basket’ in which the baby Moses floated on the Nile- an interesting parallel. The ark is vast, designed to float, not sail- and there were n launching problems! An 18-inch cubit gives the measurements as 450x75x45 feet.” That is a huge vessel, by contrast, the Titanic was 882x92 feet, so about twice the length and just a little bit wider. The “pitch” I assume was some sort of tar waterproofing type of mixture, so it’s interesting that the Lord told Noah to put it on both the outside and inside of the boat. Interestingly, the Lord continues stating “a window shalt thou make to the ark.” The footnote is the interesting part because it says, “HEB tsohar; some rabbis believed it was a precious stone that shone in the ark. Ether 2:23-23.” It’s significant that these rabbis had come to the conclusion that some type of illumination device might have been used that was only accessible via the power of God. Ether had an account just like that, but almost certainly the rabbis wouldn’t have gotten the idea from an in depth study and acceptance of the Book of Mormon. Whether it was an actual glass window or a bright stone, it’s hard to say either way because there are also such differences in the design of the ark vs. the Jaredite barges, so an argument for either can be made, but isn’t it fascinating to think about the significance of the rabbis’ conclusion? 6:17-22 - The Lord again promises “to destroy all flesh,” but offers Noah “with thee will I establish my covenant.” The covenant consists of Noah, his wife, and his sons and their wives to go into the ark “and of every living thing of all flesh, two of every sort shalt thou bring into the ark, to keep them alive with thee; they shall be male and female.” I always imagined Noah running around the whole world, chasing these little animals, trying to put them in a box for the ark, and I imagined hilarious antics and zany adventures. But eventually I saw a picture or a cartoon somewhere of the animals coming to Noah, and while there weren’t as many funny outtakes, this makes more sense and honestly is much more powerful. Imagine the assurance that Noah would have gotten when he saw animals coming to him in pairs to be put on the boat. It’s so unlikely to happen spontaneously that if it did, the power and affirmation brought by these animals would have been substantial. Noah is also commanded the get enough food for him and for all the animals, and “thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him, so did he.”