Of Arks and Arks

Just some random facts, figures, thoughts, and musings on Noah's Ark, the Ark of the Covenant, and related topics ...

An editor recently published an article in the Opinion section of our newspaper mocking the Creation Museum and Young-Earth Creationism in general. Among other things, he said, "If [Noah brought dinosaurs on the ark], it must have been a much bigger ark than even the Bible claims. Loading the Apatosaurs alone would have been quite a fete." Aside from the obvious misspelling at the end (a fete, or fête, is a party; a feat is a grand accomplishment), he displays an obvious wilfulness to overlook Answers In Genesis' full claim. I sent him an email to inform him of his error and advise him that I found his conduct highly unprofessional. But he did get me thinking ... do we really understand how massive Noah's ark really was?

The Biblical dimensions are 50 cubits wide, 30 cubits tall, and 300 cubits long. So? That doesn't make any sense to our Western measurements. Well, that translates to about 75 feet wide, 45 feet tall, and 450 feet long. Having trouble figuring out the size? That's about the height of a four-story building, nearly twice as wide as it is high (a 5:3 ratio, to be exact), and the length of one-and-a-half football fields. By the way, the Hebrew word for "ark" (as in Noah's Ark) seems to be a derivative form of a word for "box". Starting to get the picture? We're talking a massive three-decker barge the size of a giant warehouse! So forget that tiny, rounded, tippy ark you see in most Noah's Ark pictures; the Bible gives us the picture of a giant box nearly 1/10 of a mile long!

Now, what about the other ark mentioned in the Bible, the Ark of the Covenant? Is there anything special about that? The short answer is, of course, yes. The Hebrew word essentially means "chest" or "coffin"; and this was no ordinary chest.

Inside the Ark of the Covenant were a golden urn of manna, Aaron's budded staff, and the two tablets of the 10 Commandments. What is so significant about these? How do these stand for the Covenant?

The manna was God's gracious provision to the Israelites when they grumbled against Him, a crime that merited — and usually earned — severe punishment. Aaron was chosen to be the high priest of the Israelites, though he was the man in charge when Israel made their golden calf. And the two tablets were a replacement for the two that Moses broke in his anger at the golden calf. The covenant was a covenant of grace, and every one of these items was a stark reminder of God's undeserved mercy.

Now consider the symbolism of the angels on either side of the mercy seat. The mercy seat was where God's tangible presence would appear before Moses and the priests (Ex. 25:22). The cherubim on either side faced each other, but with their faces turned toward the mercy seat; they did not look upwards towards God's face, but downwards toward the place where the blood of the sacrifices would be sprinkled, and toward the items inside the ark. Peter talks about God's grace as "things into which angels long to look". The angels know well God's glory and holiness. As ministers of His justice, they understand His justice. Yet even they cannot comprehend the mystery of grace. Salvation was not offered to the angels. Jesus came as a man, not as an angel. He died for men, not for angels. Though they may know far more about His glory than we do now, we have something at which they can only marvel. And we mortals cannot comprehend this mystery, either. We should marvel, as well.

The Panther