The Ark Encounter in Kentucky is a life-sized replica of Noah’s ark, constructed according to the dimensions given in Genesis 6:14–16. It was opened on 7 July 2016, a date chosen to correspond with Genesis 7:7: “Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood.”

The Hebrew word translated as “ark” is tebah, which is also the word used to describe the basket Moses is placed in (Exodus 2:3). In both cases, the tebah is used to rescue people on water.

The destruction of the earth by a flood is the direct result of human sin (see Genesis 6:5–8). The original disobedience of Adam and Eve had led to escalating violence, as we read in the stories of Cain and Lamech. This is highlighted in today’s passage: the earth is now “full of violence” (v. 11), tearing families and communities apart, and “all the people . . . had corrupted their ways” (v. 12). Like a cancer, sin is corrupting and destroying the well-being of society.

Two themes appear in God’s instructions to Noah to build the ark (vv. 13–22), and each occurs twice:

1. A decision and a plan to judge (vv. 13, 17): The universal flood will be a unique occasion of divine judgment. It will put an end to all life on earth. God is carrying out the punishment personally: “I am surely” (v. 13).

2. A decision and a plan to save (vv. 14–16, 18–22): Despite His anger at man’s sin, God wants to preserve the human race that He loves so much. Noah becomes a way for God to safeguard His original plan, and is bound as a covenant partner (v. 18). God then presents a rescue plan that Noah is to implement: build a ship according to His specifications, gather every species of animal and bird, and store up the supplies necessary for a long period of survival.

In the midst of all the bad news we often hear today, let us not forget God’s overriding desire to save all people.