A Noonday to the Ark - HEAR, O EARTH

> [!title|noicon] **A Noonday to Noah's Ark** ^top *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 of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch....A window shall you make to the ark, and in a cubit shall you finish it above; and the door of the ark shall you set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.* ([Gen 6:13](Genesis%206.md#^13) - [14](Genesis%206.md#^14), [16](Genesis%206.md#^16)) ~ In Genesis chapter 6, God instructs Noah to build an ark to prepare for the coming flood that would blot out all land-dwelling flesh on the earth that did not find safety with him in the ark. And within that context, God instructs Noah to pitch (cover or coat) it with pitch, to make rooms, a window, a door in the side and three stories or levels. The word *pitch* refers to some kind of seal or covering. There is the verb form and then the noun -- pitch it with pitch. The verb form is actually a Hebrew word that mean *to atone, to reconcile or to purge*. The noun refers to a *ransom, satisfaction*. So we can already see that this points to God's salvation program, to the Gospel. Christ was made a Ransom, an Atonement for us that we might be reconciled to God and purged of our sins. And the entire ark, inside and out, was to be "atoned, purged, reconciled" with "a ransom, a satisfaction." You can't get much clearer that the ark represents those who are saved by Christ's atoning work, even in the very pitch used in its construction. In this vein, must remember that God is *Spirit*, and the Word of God is Spirit-breathed so it has a spiritual nature to it. It is not just a literal book written for our carnal understanding, it conveys a spiritual message. It is only when we understand that Noah and the command for him to build the ark, calling his family and the animals into it for safety from the flood (that is, from God's wrath upon the wickedness of humanity of that day) represent Christ and the Gospel of salvation, that this word "noon" or "noonday" (translated as window) makes any sense. In other words, we can only understand the sense and placement of this word on a spiritual level. It would not make any sense historically to say, "and shalt atone it within and without with a ransom....A noonday shall you make to the ark." But that is, in fact, that this verse is teaching. The Bible itself directs us to see that Noah and the ark represent Christ and salvation. We read in 1 Peter 3:18-22: > *For Christ also has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened [that is, made alive] by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. The like figure whereunto [even] baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ: Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.* As Noah was building this great ship, the ark, it represented Christ as He builds His eternal church into which we come for safety from the judgment of God. We know that at times Christ taught from a ship ([Mt 13:2](Matthew%2013.md#^2); [Mk 4:1](Mark%204.md#^1)). And once we become saved, we become fishers of men, casting the net of the Gospel to bring fish into the ship ([Mk 1:16](Mark%201.md#^16) - [17](Mark%201.md#^17)). And, according to the Bible, those who fall away make *shipwreck* of the faith ([1 Ti 1:19](1%20Timothy%201.md#^19)). Likewise, Jonah, a great type of Christ, had to be tossed overboard from a ship in order to calm the stormy waves of the wrath of God for those onboard, as he was then swallowed by the fish into its "belly of hell -- which Jonah describes as being in the deep, under the wrath of God ([Jonah 2:1](Jonah%202.md#^1), [2](Jonah%202.md#^2), [3](Jonah%202.md#^3)...[5](Jonah%202.md#^5), [6](Jonah%202.md#^6))" And just as Jonah was 3 days and 3 night in the belly of the fish, so Christ was 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth ([Mt 12:40](Matthew%2012.md#^40)), representing the fact He suffered the wrath of God as He paid for the sins of His people. So Jonah being thrown overboard to calm the stormy seas against the mariners in the ship points to Christ as He causes the wrath of God to cease against His people. Yes, every detail and every aspect of Noah building the ark represents something of the Gospel. Even the very pitch and the window that God instructed him use represents the Gospel. The Hebrew word translated "rooms" in Genesis 6:14 is actually the Hebrew word for "nest", as we see in Deuteronomy 32:11-12, which has to do with God's leading: > *As an eagle stirs up her nest, flutters over her young, spreads abroad her wings, takes them, bears them on her wings: [So] the LORD alone did lead him, and [there was] no strange god with him.* So what about the window that Noah was to make for the ark? You might remember that Noah opened the window to the ark after the rains ceased and sent forth the raven and the dove to see if the waters had abated. We read in Genesis 8:6-9: > *And it came to pass at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made: And he sent forth a raven, which went forth to and fro until the waters were dried up from off the earth. Also he sent forth a dove from him to see if the waters were abated from off the face of the ground; But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters [were] on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.* (Genesis 8:6-9) However, God does not use the same Hebrew word in Genesis 6:16 as in Genesis 8:6. The word translated "window" in [Genesis 8:6](Genesis%208.md#^6) is indeed the normal Hebrew word translated "window" elsewhere. But the Hebrew word translated "window" in [Genesis 6:16](Genesis%206.md#^16) is normally translated as "noon / noonday / noontide / midday" elsewhere in the Bible. Some translations instead use the word "roof" or "light" in place of window in Genesis 6:16, indicating that this Hebrew word does not really specify a window because it is actually "noonday" and they didn't exactly know what to do with it. Here are just a few verses to illustrate how this relates to the Gospel: > *And he shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, and your judgment as the noonday.* (Psalm 37:6) > > *Tell me, O thou whom my soul loves, where you feed, where you make [your flock] to rest at noon: for why should I be as one that turns aside by the flocks of your companions?* (Song of Solomon 1:7) > > *And [if] you draw out your soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall your light rise in obscurity, and your darkness [be] as the noonday:* (Isaiah 58:10) In fact, this same Hebrew word for "noonday" that is translated "window" in Genesis 6:16 KJV comes from a root that means to "press oil." This points to the oil that was used to keep the light of the lamps burning. So this same Hebrew word meaning "noon/noonday" comes from a root word that means to press the oil for the light. And the oil for the light points to the anointing of the Holy Spirit and altogether relates to the Gospel meaning of the noonday. So in every way this Hebrew word points to the Gospel in its original intent. It effectively has no relationship to a physical, historical roof, which was the choice of word for many a translation. Then, of course, we see that God instructed Noah to add a *door* to the side of the ark. And we should immediately recognize that this door represents Christ and relates to the door of salvation. He is our sole entryway into the ark, into redemption, into having our sins purged that we might escape the wrath of God, the raging flood waters, for our sins. Just as He is our Light and our Noonday, so He is our Door: > *And he from within shall answer and say, Trouble me not: the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot rise and give thee.* ([Lk 11:7](Luke%2011.md#^7)) > > *When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us; and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence ye are:* ([Lk 13:25](Luke%2013.md#^25)) > > *Then said Jesus unto them again, Verily, verily, I say unto you, I am the door of the sheep....I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture.* ([Jn 10:7](John%2010.md#^7), [9](John%2010.md#^9)) > > *And when they were come, and had gathered the church together, they rehearsed all that God had done with them, and how he had opened the door of faith unto the Gentiles.* ([Acts 14:27](Acts%2014.md#^27)) > > *For a great door and effectual is opened unto me, and [there are] many adversaries.* ([1 Cor 16:9](1%20Corinthians%2016.md#^9)) > > *I know thy works: behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name....Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.* ([Rev 3:8](Revelation%203.md#^8), [20](Revelation%203.md#^20)) > > *After this I looked, and, behold, a door [was] opened in heaven: and the first voice which I heard [was] as it were of a trumpet talking with me; which said, Come up hither, and I will show thee things which must be hereafter.* ([Rev 4:1](Revelation%204.md#^1)) Then we find that the ark was to be built with 3 stories or 3 levels. Now the word "stories" isn't in the original Hebrew. It simply reads, "with lower, second, and third shalt thou make it." And that word *three* here is sometimes translated *third part*. In Zechariah 13:8-9 we read that this *third part* relates to those who become saved: > *And it shall come to pass, [that] in all the land, saith the LORD, two parts therein shall be cut off [and] die; but the third shall be left therein. And I will bring the third part through the fire, and will refine them as silver is refined, and will try them as gold is tried: they shall call on my name, and I will hear them: I will say, It [is] my people: and they shall say, The LORD [is] my God.* ([Zec 3:8](Zechariah%2013.md#^8) - [9.](Zechariah%2013.md#^9)) Likewise we read where King David spared a third of the conquered Moabites to be His servants, while slaying the other 2 lines. Again this 3rd line that was spared represents those whom Christ saves that we might become His servants: > *And he [David] smote Moab, and measured them with a line, casting them down to the ground; even with two lines measured he to put to death, and with one full line to keep alive. And [so] the Moabites became David's servants, [and] brought gifts.* ([2 Sa 8:2](2%20Samuel%208.md#^2)) We also read that the inner temple and its chambers in Ezekiel 41-42, which represents those who become saved and part of the eternal temple of God, or the New Jerusalem, were constructed with three [stories]: > *The door posts, and the narrow windows, and the galleries round about on their three stories, over against the door, cieled with wood round about, and from the ground up to the windows, and the windows [were] covered;* ([Eze 41:16](Ezekiel%2041.md#^16)) > > *Over against the twenty [cubits] which [were] for the inner court, and over against the pavement which [was] for the utter court, [was] gallery against gallery in three [stories]....For they [were] in three [stories], but had not pillars as the pillars of the courts: therefore [the building] was straitened more than the lowest and the middlemost from the ground.* ([Eze 42:3](Ezekiel%2042.md#^3), [6](Ezekiel%2042.md#^6)) The ark was also 300 cubits long and 30 cubits high ([Gen 6:15](Genesis%206.md#^15)), while 50 cubits wide. The number *three* represents the purpose of God, and we commonly see it in the context of Christ's crucifixion: - Christ prayed three times in the Garden of Gethsemane - Peter denied Christ three times - Christ was crucified with 2 others for a total of 3 - There was darkness over the earth for 3 hours when Christ was crucified - Christ was 3 days and 3 nights in the heart of the earth For an added bonus, we might remember that once the flood had abated, God placed His bow in the cloud as a token of His promise or covenant. This rainbow in the cloud also represents Christ, He is the sign or token regarding the eternal covenant of God: > *And God said, This [is] the token of the covenant which I make between me and you and every living creature that [is] with you, for perpetual generations: I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth. And it shall come to pass, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the bow shall be seen in the cloud: And I will remember my covenant, which [is] between me and you and every living creature of all flesh; and the waters shall no more become a flood to destroy all flesh. And the bow shall be in the cloud; and I will look upon it, that I may remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that [is] upon the earth. And God said unto Noah, This [is] the token of the covenant, which I have established between me and all flesh that [is] upon the earth.* (Gen 9:12-17) The rainbow is seen also in Revelation 4 and 10: > *And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and [there was] a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald.* ([Rev 4:3](Revelation%204.md#^3)) > > *And I saw another mighty angel come down from heaven, clothed with a cloud: and a rainbow [was] upon his head, and his face [was] as it were the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire:* ([Rev 10:1](Revelation%2010.md#^1)) This angel, or more accurately, messenger, is Christ. He is the Messenger of the covenant ([Mal 3:1](Malachi%203.md#^1)) whose face shines as the sun and whose feet are like pillars of fire, as we see in Revelation 1: And in the midst of the seven candlesticks [one] like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle....And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters. And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shines in his strength. ([Rev 1:13](Revelation%201.md#^13), [15](Revelation%201.md#^15), [16](Revelation%201.md#^16)) And the rainbow cannot exist without the light of the sun, and Christ is typified as the Sun or the Light of the world: > *Then spoke Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that follows me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.* ([Jn 8:12](John%208.md#^12)) > > *As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.* ([Jn 9:5](John%209.md#^5)) > > *I am come a light into the world, that whosoever believes on me should not abide in darkness.* ([Jn 12:46](John%2012.md#^46)) He is typified by the sun in this world, and the need for no sun into eternity: > *But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.* ([Mal 4:2](Malachi%204.md#^2)) > > *And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.* ([Mt 17:2](Matthew%2017.md#^2)) > > *And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp twoedged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shines in his strength.* ([Rev 1:16](Revelation%201.md#^16)) > > *And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb [is] the light thereof.* ([Rev 21:23](Revelation%2021.md#^23)) 3.18.2023, Reworked 6.19.2025 Tags: #Bible_is_spiritual #Gospel_meaning #redemption #library