Let’s take a second look at one of the more familiar accounts from the Old Testament: the flood of Noah, and specifically the ark that the patriarch built.

The ark is often portrayed in storybooks, decorations, and toys as a small tugboat-like vessel. These depictions of the ark make it so tiny that there is barely room for the few animals on it. The giraffes, elephants, tigers, and a few other favorite zoo creatures are hanging out the window or over the sides. This visual description of the ark is nothing at all like what we see in scripture.

In Genesis 6:14-16, the Lord commands Noah to make an ark out of gopher wood. The size of that ark was to be 300 cubits in length, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits tall. A cubit would have been somewhere around eighteen inches. The picture below shows what that would look like if you used 17.5″ for your cubit measurement. As you can see, the ark dwarfs not only a 747 but also the largest land animals. John C, Whitcomb (The World That Perished) writes that the three decks of the ark would have been the equivalent of 20 basketball courts. Whitcomb and Henry M. Morris (The Genesis Flood) report the ark’s 1,396,000 cubic feet would have been equal to 522 railroad stock cars. Because the different kinds (note: not species!) were all represented, the math shows that there would have been plenty of room on the ark. John Morris and Time LaHaye (The Ark of Ararat) suggest that the animals would have only used about thirty-six percent of available floor space. Regardless, there would have been plenty of space in the ark. That is only true if we think of the massive real ark, not the miscast tiny one!

There are many more misconceptions in the account of Noah and the ark.

1. Miscast: Only two animals of each kind went aboard. Reality: Two of each unclean animal and seven pairs of each clean went aboard the ark (Gen. 7:2-3).
2. Miscast: All the animals were represented on the ark. Reality: Only land-dwelling animals went aboard (Gen. 7:8).
3. Miscast: Many try to explain the flood away as a local flood. Reality: Not only was all the earth covered with water, but the water was 15 cubits (about 22 feet) above the highest hill. This is important because it would keep the ark from dragging and being damaged (Gen. 7:17-20).
4. Miscast: All the animals not in the boat died. Reality: Only the land-dwellers died (Gen. 7:21-23).
5. Miscast: Often, the scene in the storybooks shows a steady rain, the floodwaters slowly rising, and the ark gently floating along. Reality: This was a day of judgment. Can you imagine the calamity as the skies above and the depths below emptied? The storms, thunder, tornadoes, lightning, earthquakes, and volcanoes would have been devastating. The cries from the perishing would have been gut-wrenching. The floating dead would have littered the waterways. Surely the smells of death and stagnant water would have been overwhelming.

Our first impression of the ark may have been miscast by the way the toys, storybooks, and decorations have pictured the ark and the scene around it. God’s word gives us a second impression which teaches us the love of God’s grace to those who are faithful and obedient, and the punishment that comes to those who reject Him. His ark is always big enough for us!

For more about the ark and the flood of Noah, visit ApologeticsPress.org.  Much research for this article began there.

Corey Sawyers