The Ark

Notes from D.L. Moody's London 1882 Bible:

The Ark (Genesis 6,7,8)

The Hebrew word for the Ark of Noah is (teebah), the Ark of the testimony in the holiest is called (Aron), both signifying a chest.

The Ark of Noah was of Gopher Wood, the Ark of the covenant was of shiltom Wood - both typical of the humanity of Christ.

The Ark of Noah was covered within and without with Pitch, the Hebrew word for which is (copher), from (cahphar), to cover over, to expiate, or make atonement; hence also the Hebrew word for the propitiatory or mercy seat of the ark is (capporeth) from the same root - emblematic of the atoning work of the Lord Jesus, and of the grace or loving-kindness of God founded thereon.

The Ark of the Covenant was overlaid within and without with gold - emblematic of divine glory.

There are remarkable coincidences between the measurements and construction of the Ark of Noah and those of the temple of Solomon and Ezekiel.

The length of the Ark was three hundred cubits. The inner court of the Temple, according to Ezekiel is three hundred cubits square.

The breadth of the Ark was fifty cubits. This also was the breadth of the Temple, without the galleries.

The height of the Ark was thirty cubits. This also is the inner height of the Temple in the holy place. (1 Kings 6:2)

The Ark was made with rooms or nests, and with lower, second and third stories. The side-chambers of the Temple, ninety in number, were in three stories (1 Kings 6:8, Ezek. 41:16).

`There was a window or skylight in the Ark, and there were windows to the Temple, lighting it from above. (1 Kings 6:4)

There was a door in the side of the Ark, and there is special mention made of the door or entrance in the right side, or shoulder, of the house of Jehovah (1 Kings 6:8)

The Ark family were called into it; and then "God shut him in" - literally "shut round about him" - that is secured him on every side.

The Ark passed through the judgment which destroyed all the world, beside carrying with it, and within it, the eight souls committed to its care; so that, when the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of the heavens were opened, not a spray from the billows, not a drop from the wrath-clouds, fell on those within.

So souls chosen in Christ and saved in Him passed through death and judgment in Him who underwent it all for them. In His death they died; in His burial, they were buried; in His resurrection they rose; and in Him they are seated together in the heavenly places above. Genesis 8 is beautifully emblematic of the believers present position and security in a Risen Christ.

The day on which the Ark rested on the mountain of Ararat is divinely significant, namely, the seventeenth day of the seventh month. The 14th day was the day of the Passover, three days after was the 17th, and on the 17th day of this same month the Ark rested. Three days after the Passover Jesus rose from the dead, thus the 17th day of the 7th or first month, the month Abib, is at once the day of the Ark resting, the third day after the Passover, and the day of the Resurrection of Christ. Though the Ark was at rest, and the waters abated, and the fountains of the deep and the waters of the heavens were stopped, as yet Noah and his family remained shut into the Ark. Just the position of the believer now, safe in a risen Christ, and judgment over. From the ark thus resting, Noah sends forth the Raven and the Dove. Even so, feelings, affections, and desires go forth from the believer, secure in his ascended Lord come, like the Raven "the minding of the flesh"; others like the dove the minding of the spirit.