Where's Jesus? The Building of the Ark (Genesis 6)

In Genesis 6, the sinfulness of humanity has reached a zenith. God is angry at this blatant sin and is intent on bringing judgment to bear.  While we don't think of it this way very often, God's judgment is an expression of his love for the chosen people.  It is his way of ensuring their safety and continued propagation in the world without fear of sin becoming rampant.

As I have reflected on the story, it seems that Noah is a type of Christ.  He is the one who finds favor in the eyes of God (Genesis 6:8) just as Jesus grew in favor with God and men (Luke 2:52).  Noah builds the ark, which is the means by which God saves he and his family, and Noah is the one who ensures that all the occupants are aboard the ark before judgment comes (Genesis 6:14, 20-21).  This is like Christ who erects our salvation by his holy and righteous life, imparting to us a covering which will allow us to float through God's judgment and come our unscathed on the other side.  Jesus is the righteous man and he is the one with whom God establishes and inaugurates the new covenant so that we may live.   And ultimately he is the one who does everything just as the lord commands him, for he says, "Not my will but yours be done" (Luke 22:42).

I am going to quote now from another author and his thoughts on the Noah story,

Today we call ‘pitch’ tar. The Hebrew word for ‘pitch’ is ‘kaphar’ and it is used seventy times in the Bible to mean atonement as it relates to blood sacrifice. The one exception is here in Genesis where it refers to the substance which covers the ark inside-and-out. In order to better understand the definition, my pastor likes to break-down the word ‘atonement’ into its basic components: at-one-ment, as in ‘being one with God’. By Christ’s shed blood we are in such harmony with God.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. Romans 5:8-9 (See Note)

People of God, we must crawl into the ark of faith and be shut within it by God himself, who not only seeks our best, but provides the means by which salvation is possible and secure from all the wrath of God which will be poured out again at the end of time.  Praise God for the testimony of Christ in the Old Testament so that we have hope for our future and the promises contained in the New Testament.

For those wanting to explore these thoughts and others, I refer you here.

Note: http://compassiondave.wordpress.com/2009/01/22/noah’s-ark-and-jesus-christ/