What is the ark?
The Bible employs at least four metaphors for Noah’s Ark and the Flood:
- The Ark — sea metaphor.
- A bulwark (wall) — Holy war metaphor.
- A net — Fishing metaphor.
- A snare — Bird-trapping metaphor.
Ark Specifications
…and what they convey:
| Specs | What | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Gopher Wood | Pocket Gophers Tree; framework; God | See Pocket Gophers. They’re rodents and rodents i.e. “rats” are that which turns on their own (people). |
| Rooms | Chamber; cave | A vaulted place in the face of a mountain. |
| Pitch within and without | Tar | Keeps water (i.e. the unknown) from coming into the ark and from those inside the ark worrying thereabout. |
| 300 cubits (Length) | Age (i.e. years) Enoch walked with God after begetting Methuselah. | This was the period of division in described in Genesis 14, KJV. |
| 50 cubits (Breadth) | Number of persons in a military company. A Company is also a band as in a tribe. Definitionally, “breadth” is the measurement from one side to another. See explanation and footnote about the door (below). | The “net” was meant to capture the tribes so it was built to a 50 cubit/person capacity. Consider this also the depth (or thickness) of the bulwark or wall. |
| 30 cubits (Height) | “The top of [something]”. Speaks to stature. The origin of “stature” relates to “statue” and statue relates to idol/image and consequently God. | The upper most space. The open firmament of the heaven wherein the fowl (e.g. eagles which are the upper most part of the Cherubim) can fly. 30/6=5 6 = days of creation of Adam 5 = nations of Mesopotamia which were between two minds. 30 = [uncertain] perhaps maily the product of 6 and 5. This noting the emphasis on “multiplication” in Genesis 1. |
| A Window | An opening for those on the outside to see in and consequently want in. | The ark was pitched; there need be a way to see so persons could be converted. |
| “In a cubit shalt thou finish it above” (Genesis 6:16, KJV) | To complete it; or in carpentry terms, square it. | To “finish it above” conveys that “above all [other faces]” i.e. faces of the Cherubim, there is to be the seeing eyes (see etymology of window) of the eagle. |
| The door in the side | The way into the ark. | The side is where “woman” was made from. The side is the access point for other intellectual capacities. Entering the ark requires knowledge which the side represents.[1] |
| Lower (story) | A lower, less dignified man i.e. a beast. | The face of the ox on the cherubim. See Enos (or Enosh) (the first born of Seth) which is given as mortal (and less dignified) man. |
| Second (story) | The pseudo of a man. | The second face of the cherubim. |
| Third (story) | The lion. | The third face of the cherubim. |
| stories (as above) | Levels of a multilevel construction. | The stages/levels of wisdom exercised by Cherubim from observation and inquiry to seeing the entire picture. [2] |
Notes
- See “What does Genesis 2 convey?” for context about what “woman” means in the bible.
- See “What are Cherubim in biblical literature?” to explore the cherubim concept.
