The Red Thread in Noah’s Ark — Hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3)
When the door of the ark slammed shut, life on earth was never the same.
“. . . on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open,
and the floodgates of the sky were opened.”
~ Genesis 7:11b
It wasn’t until I was an adult that I began to realize how intense the rain of the flood had to have been.
The fountains of the great deep burst open.
That’s a bit like a million Old Faithfuls, scattered across the earth, spouting massive gushers of water nonstop for forty days and nights.
The floodgates of the sky were opened.
The other day a sudden, thundering storm pounded our house. When I looked out my window, all I could see were sheets of cascading rain and nothing beyond it. It startled me, but it didn’t rank up there with the floodgates of the sky opened.
If our mini-deluge sounded deafening, what did it sound like when the flood erupted with such magnitude that in only forty days the entire earth, including Mt. Everest, was under water?
As the waves pounded the ark, did Noah and his family feel safe?
Did they second-guess their building skills, wondering if the ark would hold? You know the brothers second-guessed each other’s skills.
I can just hear Ham:
“I told you we should have used more pitch, Shem! The water’s about to burst through these walls because of you!”
As the storm waters rose and the floodgates roared across the earth, I envision the ark bobbing around like a buoy in a hurricane.
The ark never flipped, but it must surely have rocked.
Did the wives cling to their husbands in tears, terrified of what might happen to them?
Did the sons look to Noah for strength?
Did Noah feel strong, or was he just as afraid?
Each of them had enough faith to enter the ark and be saved, but what happened to their faith after the door shut?
Did they stand strong, or did they waver in doubt?
We know they believed God would send the flood. They didn’t build the ark because they were bored.
God had proved His faithfulness to His word when He sent the flood, but did they believe that God would be just as faithful to His Word to deliver them through the flood?
Did they fall on their face in faith before God or curl up in the fetal position of doubt?
The Bible doesn’t tell us, and it doesn’t matter.
Their safety wasn’t dependent upon what they did on the ark.
If they walked about in calm, peaceful faith, they were not more secure in the ark than those who cowered, complained and cried — but they were more content.
Hurricane conditions, lack of sunlight, smelly animals, and spartan conditions can wear on a soul.
“When will the pounding rain stop?”
“It’s your turn to clean up after the elephants! I did it last time!”
Forty days and nights can feel like 400 days and nights.
Regardless of what they did in the ark, they were all kept equally secure.
It was a gift of grace.
Likewise, whoever trusts in Christ for their salvation is secure, safe from judgment for their sin.
It’s a gift of grace.
It doesn’t matter if the Believer goes through life in a calm assurance that God will care for them in every situation, or if they curl up in a fetal position for the rest of their life, missing out on the beautiful joy that comes to those whose trust doesn’t flip flop.
Whoever has placed their faith in Christ — which is to say, whoever has entered the Ark through the Only Door — is saved, securely hidden in Christ. (Colossians 3:3)
Noah and his family’s security was dependent upon the ark, which was held together, not just by wood or pitch, but by God and His promise that He was establishing His covenant with them. (Genesis 6:18) [1]
God didn’t just shut Noah and his family in the ark, He kept them safely hidden in the ark.
This is a Red Thread Clue.
Noah and his family’s security from the flood wasn’t dependent on what they did on the ark, but on their hiding place — the ark.
Our security from judgment of sin isn’t dependent on what we do after we enter salvation, but on our hiding place — Christ.
If you have not entered the “Ark” through the “One Door,” Jesus Christ, nothing can save you from the “flood” to come. No matter what you do, judgment for sin will come.
Fortunately, as long as there’s breath in your body, there’s time to enter by faith. (Romans 10:9-10) But don’t wait, because we have no way of knowing when we’re out of tomorrows.
For those of us who have entered “the Ark,” our salvation is secure, come what may.
No one can snatch us from His hand — and we can’t jump out.
We didn’t earn our salvation, and we can’t un-earn it. Once we’re shut in the Ark, we’re securely hidden.
Salvation is a gift of grace we received when we entered the Ark through the One and Only Door by faith. We’re now safely hidden with Christ in God.
We’re in the safest place we can be — even in the widest ocean or the fiercest storm — if we’re hidden with Christ in God.
Noah and his family may have been bruised by the flood, but nothing could snatch them from the ark. They were hidden in the ark with God.
We will get bruised by life, but nothing can snatch us from God’s hand. We’re hidden with Christ in God.
Are you in the midst of a fierce storm or feel lost at sea?
If you’re hidden with Christ, you can weather, and you can do it without fear.
No storm is out of God’s control. God has a purpose for everything that’s for His glory and your good.
When God’s purpose for the storm is fulfilled, it will cease.
Noah’s storm raged exactly forty days and nights.
Then it ceased.
Throughout the Bible, the number forty represents trials and testing. God not only had a specific purpose for the flood, but also for the length.
God has everything under control — always.
And no matter how lost you may feel, God hasn’t abandoned you. He’s with you and will never leave you.
When Jesus spoke with His disciples about His upcoming death and resurrection, He comforted them with these words:
“I have told you these things, so that in Me you may have peace.
In this world you will have trouble.
But take heart!
I have overcome the world.”
~ John 16:33
The ark overcame the flood, keeping Noah and his family secure.
Jesus has overcome all — sin, death, the world.
No matter how rough life may get, we’re secure because our life is forever hidden with God in Christ.
Stay tuned for my final post in The Red Thread in Noah’s Ark series. The Resurrection is next!
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[1] God’s Covenant was a covenant of salvation promised in Genesis 3:15.
