God has a box? Oh yes! If one looks closely at the dimensions of the ark that God instructed Noah to build, it would likely reassemble a box—a very large box. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
The Lord saw how great the wickedness of the human race had become on the earth, and that every inclination of the thoughts of the human heart was only evil all the time. The Lord regretted that he had made human beings on the earth, and his heart was deeply troubled. So the Lord said, “I will wipe from the face of the earth the human race I have created—and with them the animals, the birds and the creatures that move along the ground—for I regret that I have made them.” But Noah found favor in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked faithfully with God. Noah had three sons: Shem, Ham and Japheth. So God said to Noah, “I am going to put an end to all people, for the earth is filled with violence because of them. I am surely going to destroy both them and the earth. So make yourself an ark of cypress wood; make rooms in it and coat it with pitch inside and out. This is how you are to build it: The ark is to be three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. Make a roof for it, leaving below the roof an opening one cubit high all around. Put a door in the side of the ark and make lower, middle and upper decks. Did God ask Noah to build a rectangular box? Yes!
God’s plan to save Noah and his family was simple. It is possible that there had never been rain on the earth up to this time, because it was watered with a mist at the creation and there is no record of a change until the rains of flood. Yet, Noah believed God and moved in faith to build the structure that would provide salvation for his family, himself, and a sampling of all the creatures on earth. While God’s plan was simple, the building and collection of provisions may have taken 100 years to accomplish (Genesis 5:32; 7:6).
I find it intriguing, however, that there were several things God did not tell Noah to put on or in the boat that are standard on water vessels—a sail, a rudder, and an anchor. You see, these things were not needed to guide God’s box or stabilize it, because God was in control. He was the rudder and sail that guided them where they would go, and He was their anchor providing the stability they might need.
There are many similarities between the salvation of Noah’s day and the salvation we have in Christ Jesus. God’s plan for today is to redeem or save all mankind spiritually through the church, the plan which he had in mind before the creation of the world (1 Peter 1:20). God suffered long with the human race and waited until the days of righteous Noah, who would build the ark, in which few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ (verses 20-21). Peter assures us that God’s long suffering continues. He is patiently waiting today so as many as possible can hear and obey Jesus before he comes to judge the world (2 Peter 3:9).
In the church we have no need for a sail or rudder. God’s word is both! Peter explained how the prophecy of the gospel of Christ did not come from the mind of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit (2 Peter 1:21). That same word guides us today so we may obey Him and lead a life well pleasing to our Savior.
As God’s children in His church, Jesus is our anchor of the soul, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf (Hebrews 6:18-20).
God’s spiritual box definitely exists today. It is the church! Just as the ark was the only hope of salvation for Noah and his family, Jesus and His church is mankind’s only conduit for salvation today! He said, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me (Jn:14:6).
I’m so very thankful that I was baptized into Christ and added to the church (Acts 2:41). I have the most blessed of all Saviors who has provided the rudder and sail to guide me through the storms of life, realizing that God is greater than anything threatening (illness, cancer, and even death). Finally, He has given me an anchor of hope that keeps my focus on the fact that He is in control, so whom or what shall I fear???? Are you safely in God’s box, the church He built with His own blood (Ephesians 2:19-22)?
Today’s Verses: The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalm 27:1). The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me? (Hebrews 13:6).
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