Construction Duration and Purpose of Noah's Ark
Noah's Ark, constructed from gopher wood and sealed with pitch, was an oblong, floating structure designed to preserve life during the biblical Deluge [1, 4]. The dimensions specified in Genesis 6:14-16 were 300 cubits long, 50 cubits broad, and 30 cubits high, featuring three stories, a door in the side, and a window in the roof [1, 6]. While the precise length of a cubit can vary in interpretation, a common understanding places it at approximately eighteen inches, making the ark roughly 450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high [10]. Some scholars suggest the cubit might have been longer, as demonstrated by Mr. Greaves's research in ancient measures [10].
The primary purpose of the Ark was to shelter Noah, his family, and a selection of animals from the global flood that God intended to bring upon the earth [1, 2]. This judgment was a response to the widespread corruption and violence that characterized humanity in the ninth generation from Adam [2]. Amidst this pervasive wickedness, Noah was distinguished as a "just man and perfect in his generations," and his household remained faithful to God [2]. The Ark was thus a vessel of salvation for "certain persons and animals" [1]. Specifically, it housed eight people—Noah, his wife, his three sons (Shem, Ham, and Japheth), and their wives [1, 8]. Of clean animals, seven pairs of each kind were taken, and of unclean animals, one pair of each, along with seven pairs of every kind of bird [1].
The construction of the Ark was a monumental undertaking, lasting 100 years [1]. This extended period of building is understood by some as a testament to Noah's faith and diligence in obeying God's command [11]. During this time, Noah received specific instructions from God regarding the Ark's design and purpose [5]. The long construction period also served as a period of grace, allowing humanity time to repent before the impending judgment [5]. Matthew Henry notes that Noah's commitment to building the Ark, despite the apparent unlikelihood of a global flood, demonstrated his faith in God's word and the seriousness of divine threats against ungodliness [11].
The materials for the Ark were specified as "gopher wood" [1, 4]. While the exact species of gopher wood is debated, various interpretations suggest it could have been cedar, box tree, pine, fir, or even the Indian plane tree [4]. The Ark was not designed for navigation over long distances like a ship, but rather as a chest-like structure, flat-bottomed and ridged, intended to float on the waters [4]. This design emphasizes its role as a sanctuary rather than a vessel for travel.
After the Ark's completion, Noah received further instructions to enter it with his family and the designated animals [5]. This command came seven days before the onset of the flood [5]. The flood itself began when Noah was 600 years old [5]. The waters covered the earth for forty days and forty nights [5]. The entire duration Noah spent inside the Ark is calculated to be a complete solar year, or 365 days [9]. He entered on the 17th day of the second month in his 600th year and remained until the 27th day of the second month in his 601st year [9].
The flood waters began to recede, and Noah waited some time before removing the covering of the Ark on the first day of the first month of his 601st year to observe the earth [7]. Although the surface appeared dry, it was not until the 27th day of the second month—57 days after the covering was removed—that the earth was completely dry [7]. At this point, God commanded Noah and his family, along with all the animals, to leave the Ark [7]. This event marked a new beginning for humanity and the animal kingdom, with God renewing the blessing of creation [7].
Noah's role in this narrative is significant; he is considered the "connecting link between the old and the new world" and the "second great progenitor of the human family" [3]. His father, Lamech, prophesied at Noah's birth that he would bring "rest and comfort" from the toil of life, a prophecy that some interpret as foreshadowing Christ, the ultimate source of rest [3]. The narrative of Noah and the Ark underscores themes of divine judgment, human sin, God's faithfulness, and the preservation of life through obedience [2, 11].
Sources
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Ark — Noah's ark, a building of gopher-wood, and covered with pitch, 300 cubits long, 50 cubits broad, and 30 cubits high (Gen. 6:14-16); an oblong floating house of three stories, with a door in the side and a window in the roof. It was 100 years in building (Gen. 5:32; 7:6). It was intended to preserve certain persons and animals from the deluge which God was about to bring over the earth. It contained eight persons (Gen. 7:13; 2 Pet. 2:5), and of all "clean" animals seven pairs, and of "unclean" one pair, and of birds seven pairs of each sort (Gen. 7:2, 3). It was”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Deluge — The name given to Noah's flood, the history of which is recorded in Gen. 7 and 8. It began in the year 2516 B.C., and continued twelve lunar months and ten days, or exactly one solar year. The cause of this judgment was the corruption and violence that filled the earth in the ninth generation from Adam. God in righteous indignation determined to purge the earth of the ungodly race. Amid a world of crime and guilt there was one household that continued faithful and true to God, the household of Noah. "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations." At th”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Noah — Rest, (Heb. Noah) the grandson of Methuselah (Gen. 5:25-29), who was for two hundred and fifty years contemporary with Adam, and the son of Lamech, who was about fifty years old at the time of Adam's death. This patriarch is rightly regarded as the connecting link between the old and the new world. He is the second great progenitor of the human family. The words of his father Lamech at his birth (Gen. 5:29) have been regarded as in a sense prophetical, designating Noah as a type of Him who is the true "rest and comfort" of men under the burden of life (Matt. 1”
- Genesis (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Genesis 6:12: Make thee an ark of Gopher wood,.... It is not called a ship, for it was not made for sailing to any distant parts, but an ark or chest, being like one, flat bottomed, and ridged and sloping upwards, and was made for floating on the waters for a little way. So Lucian (c), and other Heathen writers, call it "an ark" or "chest": this was made of "Gopher wood", which all the Targums, and the more ancient Rabbins, understand of cedar wood; some the box tree, as the Arabic version; others, the pine; others, fir; the Mahometans say it was the Indian plane tree; and others,”
- Genesis (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 7:1: Gen 7:1-12 When the ark was built, and the period of grace (Gen 6:3) had passed, Noah received instructions from Jehovah to enter the ark with his family, and with the animals, viz., seven of every kind of clean animals, and two of the unclean; and was informed that within seven days God would cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights. The date of the flood is then given (Gen 7:6): "Noah was six hundred years old, and the flood was (namely) water upon the earth;" and the execution of the divine command is recorded in Gen 7:7-9. There follows n”
- Genesis (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Genesis 6:13: And this is the fashion which thou shall make it of,.... The form and size of it, its length, breadth, and height, as follows: the length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits; which some interpret of geometrical cubits, each of which contained six ordinary cubits; others of sacred cubits, which were larger by an hand's breadth than the common cubit; but the general opinion of learned men now is, that they were common cubits of eighteen inches long; and by the geometrical calculations made by th”
- Genesis (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 8:13: Noah waited some time, and then, on the first day of the first month, in the 601st year of his life, removed the covering from the ark, that he might obtain a freer prospect over the earth. He could see that the surface of the earth was dry; but it was not till the 27th day of the second month, 57 days, therefore, after the removal of the roof, that the earth was completely dried up. Then God commanded him to leave the ark with his family and all the animals; and so far as the latter were concerned, He renewed the blessing of the creation (Gen 8:17 cf. Gen 1:2”
- Sefaria (Jewish (Kabbalistic/Philosophical)) “Ramban (Nachmanides) on Genesis 7:1: COME THOU AND ALL THY HOUSE INTO THE ARK. Noah constructed the ark many days before the flood, and when the time of the flood arrived on the tenth day of the second month, He again commanded him that he and all his household come into the ark. This is why He said to him at first: thou, and thy sons, and thy wife, and thy sons’ wives with thee . 75 Above, 6:18. He thereby informed him that on account of his merit alone they will be saved since He did not say, “Ye [in the plural] I have seen righteous before Me.” And He commanded that he take and bring of the”
- Genesis (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Genesis 8:14: And in the second month, on the seven and twentieth day - From this it appears that Noah was in the ark a complete solar year, or three hundred and sixty-five days; for he entered the ark the 17th day of the second month, in the six hundredth year of his life, Gen 7:11, Gen 7:13, and continued in it till the 27th day of the second month, in the six hundredth and first year of his life, as we see above. The months of the ancient Hebrews were lunar; the first six consisted of thirty days each, the latter six of twenty-nine; the whole twelve months making three hundre”
- Genesis (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on Genesis 6:15: Thou shalt make - the length of the ark - three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits - Allowing the cubit, which is the length from the elbow to the tip of the middle finger, to be eighteen inches, the ark must have been four hundred and fifty feet in length, seventy-five in breadth, and forty-five in height. But that the ancient cubit was more than eighteen inches has been demonstrated by Mr. Greaves, who traveled in Greece, Palestine, and Egypt, in order to be able to ascertain the weights, moneys, and measures of ant”
- Genesis (Nonconformist/Puritan) “Matthew Henry on Genesis 6:22: Noah's care and diligence in building the ark may be considered, 1. As an effect of his faith in the word of God. God had told him he would shortly drown the world; he believed it, feared the threatened deluge, and, in that fear, prepared the ark. Note, We ought to mix faith with the revelation God has made of his wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men; the threatenings of the word are not false alarms. Much might have been objected against the credibility of this warning given to Noah. "Who could believe that the wise God, who made the world, s”