Ararat - Research

Introduction

The flood narrative in Genesis 6–9 portrays the unraveling of creation’s cosmic mountain. In Genesis 1:2, the world begins as chaotic waters subdued by God’s word. In the flood, that order collapses. Human corruption brings moral chaos, and in judgment the world returns to physical chaos as creation is reversed.1

Yet God preserves a remnant through Noah. The ark is more than a vessel of survival; it is a sanctuary. Its three decks mirror the threefold cosmos of waters, earth, and mountain summit, anticipating the tabernacle and temple with their outer court, Holy Place, and Holy of Holies. The ark shelters and carries God’s people through the waters for renewed worship.

The flood becomes a passage through judgment into safety on the mountain.2 The ark rests on Ararat, a name recalling the Hebrew word for “curse” (ʾārar), signaling that the place of judgment becomes the site of renewal. Through the waters of chaos, God’s representative ascends to the mountain where curses are undone and blessings are received.

This ascent recalls the gate liturgy of the Psalms: “Who shall ascend the mountain of the Lord?” (Psalm 24:3). Passing through waters becomes the pattern for approaching God.3 Noah’s journey culminates in sacrifice, communion, and worship on the mountain.

Through the waters of baptism, the greater Noah, Jesus Christ, leads his people up the heavenly mountain, the true temple. Each gathering of the church becomes an ascent into God’s presence, where his people offer praise and share in covenant fellowship. The flood story is thus a cosmic drama of judgment, preservation, and worship that shapes how we understand our own ascent together.

Noah’s Favor

Genesis 6:5–8 serves as a hinge. It closes Adam’s genealogy and introduces Noah as the central figure of the flood. As elsewhere in Genesis, the end of one section sets the themes for the next.4

The description of humanity is bleak: “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). The world created to reflect God’s image is saturated with corruption. In response, God declares his intent to “blot out” (maḥâ) humanity and the creatures of the earth (Genesis 6:7). The verb carries the sense of wiping or washing away, elsewhere used for the cleansing of sins (Isaiah 43:25; Psalm 51:2, 9). The flood is therefore not only judgment but purification, an undoing of creation that prepares the way for renewal.5

This imagery aligns with the broader biblical theme of water as a cleansing ordeal. The floodwaters are God’s instrument to purify, not pollute. Even the forty days and nights of rain can be read as a period of purification, marking the transition from old creation to new. For the righteous, the ordeal becomes a rite of passage, a kind of new birth that prepares them to approach God’s holy mountain.6

The hinge turns on a single sentence: “But Noah found favor (ḥēn) in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8). Amid universal corruption, one man has acceptance. His ḥēn qualifies him to stand as representative, leading his family and a remnant of creation through judgment into a renewed world. The narrative that follows highlights not only why God sent the flood but why he saved Noah, described as righteous (ṣaddîq) in verse 9.7

This pattern is instructive for worship. God cleanses his creation, preserves a remnant, and appoints a representative to lead them into renewal. In Christ, the greater Noah, the church is preserved through the waters of baptism and gathered as a remnant on the heavenly mountain, the true temple. When we assemble, we ascend together because one man has found ḥēn on our behalf.

The Way

The flood account begins with a deliberate contrast: “These are the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God” (Genesis 6:9). The focus shifts from universal corruption to the character of one man, opening the way to new creation.

The text underscores this contrast by symmetry. In verses 9–12, Noah’s righteousness (ṣaddîq) is named four times, while the earth’s corruption (hāʾāreṣ) is also named four times. The balance highlights the divide: where the earth is filled with violence, Noah is marked by integrity.8

The word “blameless” (tāmîm) deepens the picture. Often used of sacrificial animals without blemish (Leviticus 1:3, 10), it conveys wholeness. Applied to Noah, it portrays him as a fitting worshiper, one who may ascend God’s holy hill (Psalm 15:1–2).9

The imagery of walking and way sharpens the contrast. Noah “walked” (hālak) with God, but “all flesh had corrupted their way” (derek) on the earth (Genesis 6:12). The paragraph begins with Noah’s walk and ends with the world’s way, forming a deliberate parallel. Noah’s path aligns with God, while humanity turns aside.10 This recalls Enoch, who also “walked with God” and was delivered from death, signaling that God preserves those who walk with him.11

This pairing of hālak and derek resonates with Isaiah 35:8, which describes a “Way of Holiness” leading to Zion. The faithful way ascends the mountain of life; the corrupted way descends into the waters of death. Noah embodies the faithful path, preserved for new creation.

For worship, the lesson is clear: ascent to God’s mountain requires righteousness and wholeness. Noah’s ṣĕdāqâ and tāmîm anticipate the greater righteousness of Christ, the one without blemish who leads his people on the Way of Holiness. In him, the church is gathered as a purified remnant, walking with God and ascending together into his presence.

The Ark

“And God said to Noah, ‘I have determined to make an end (qēṣ) of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark (tevah) of gopher wood…’” (Genesis 6:13–14). The flood is announced, but the text immediately turns to the ark, the means of salvation. More space is devoted to its construction than to the deluge itself, underscoring that the focus falls on deliverance rather than destruction.12

The ark is portrayed as a substitute creation. Its three decks mirror the three tiered world of heaven, earth, and waters below, anticipating the threefold structure of tabernacle and temple.13 Even the word tevah carries layered meaning, since in Egyptian it can mean coffin or shrine.14 The ark is therefore both coffin and sanctuary, a vessel of death and rebirth. The old world must die before a new one can arise.

God commands Noah to cover the ark with pitch (kōpher), a word resonating with kippēr (“to atone, cover”) and kappōret (“mercy seat”) of the tabernacle (Exodus 25:17–22). The ark is thus not only a vessel of survival but also a place of atonement, anticipating the later ark of the covenant where God meets his people in mercy. Its interior is filled with “nests” (qinnîm), evoking the tree of life, while its doorway (petah) recalls Eden’s guarded entrance (Genesis 4:7). Just as cherubim barred the way to the tree of life, so the ark’s doorway marks the threshold between chaos and new creation.15

The section closes with covenant and obedience. God promises to establish his covenant with Noah and commands him to bring his family and the creatures into the ark. The final verse is emphatic: “Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him” (Genesis 6:22). This rare formula highlights Noah’s exact obedience and anticipates the refrain in the building of the tabernacle.16 Noah, the image bearer, becomes God’s agent in constructing a miniature cosmos, a sanctuary where life will be preserved.17

For worship, the ark becomes a pattern. When we gather, we enter an ark space, a living sign of heaven and earth drawn together in anticipation of the New Jerusalem. In this sanctuary God shelters his people through judgment and carries them into new creation. Each assembly is an entry into this refuge, lifted above the flood of the world, where God receives us in Christ and leads us upward to his holy mountain.

Through the Gate

The flood story begins with an invitation: “Then the Lord said to Noah, ‘Enter (boʾ), you and all your household, into the ark, for I have seen that you are righteous (ṣaddîq) before me in this generation’” (Genesis 7:1). Adam was expelled through Eden’s guarded gate because of disobedience, but Noah is summoned to enter because of his righteousness.18 His tāmîm—blamelessness—qualifies him for fellowship with God, echoing Psalm 15:1–2, which describes the blameless as those who may ascend God’s holy hill.19

The command to bring both clean and unclean animals (Genesis 7:2) highlights Noah’s priestly role. His discernment anticipates the tabernacle, where only what was clean could be eaten in God’s presence (Leviticus 7:19–21). The ark thus functions as sanctuary, where God’s priest preserves life and prepares for worship.20

The scene is Edenic. Noah, his family, and the animals gathered in harmony recall Paradise and anticipate Zion’s vision, where wolf and lamb dwell together (Isaiah 11:6–9).21 Cassuto describes it as a great procession, creatures streaming from every corner of the earth to the one place of salvation.22

The structure of the passage reinforces this sense of pilgrimage. The entrance sequence forms a chiasm: Noah’s name frames the movement, his family and the animals stand at the center, and the command to enter is mirrored by the act of entering (Genesis 7:1–16). The design gives the moment a liturgical tone, as if the ark itself were a temple gate through which the righteous may pass.23

Finally, the entrance is sealed: “The Lord shut him in” (Genesis 7:16). The verb sāgar (“to shut, close”) is rare, used when God closed Adam’s side (Genesis 2:21) and when Lot shut the door to protect the angels (Genesis 19). Here God encloses Noah himself, preserving in him the remnant of creation.24 The collective judgment narrows to the individual: “only Noah was left” (Genesis 7:23). The righteous one carries the remnant through the waters, a type of Christ our High Priest who leads his people through death into life.25

We too are invited to pass through the gate with Christ leading the way. In baptism we have already entered the true ark, dying to the old creation and rising to the new (1 Peter 3:20–21).26 Each gathering renews that passage. Whatever remnants of the old self cling to us are left behind as we ascend together, sheltered in Christ’s righteousness.

The Flood

Once the gate is shut, the waters rise. The Hebrew word for “flood,” mabbûl, appears only in Genesis 6–11 and once in Psalm 29:10. It refers not to ordinary rain but to the cosmic waters themselves: the heavenly ocean above the firmament (rāqîaʿ, Genesis 1:6–7) and the deep (tehōm, Genesis 1:2) below. When the windows of heaven open and the fountains of the deep burst forth, the ordered world collapses. The separation of waters established on the second day of creation is undone, and creation sinks back into chaos.27

The text mirrors the flood’s overwhelming force. In just a few verses, “waters” is repeated five times, “conquered” three times, and “greatly” three times. The rhythm swells like the flood itself, then grows heavy and muffled as the world is submerged.28 Mountains vanish, light is obscured, and the earth returns to tohu va vohu, the formless void of Genesis 1:2. The “end” (qēṣ) announced in Genesis 6:13 is realized in 7:24: creation unravels back into chaos.29

Yet even as the cosmos collapses, the ark rises. Noah, the righteous one, carries the remnant of creation through the waters. The flood is both judgment and baptism, death to the old world and preparation for the new (1 Peter 3:20–21).

For worship, this passage teaches that every assembly is a passage through the waters. We remember our baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection, not as mere recollection but as renewal. By the Spirit we are remade as we ascend the mountain on the rising waters. The flood reminds us that the world outside is perishing, but within the ark space of the church, God preserves his people and carries them toward new creation.

Through the Waters by the Spirit

“But God remembered Noah and all the beasts and all the livestock that were with him in the ark” (Genesis 8:1). This covenantal remembrance marks the turning point of the flood story. In Scripture, when God “remembers,” it signals his faithfulness to act on behalf of his people.

The text continues: “And God made a wind blow over the earth, and the waters subsided” (Genesis 8:1). The word for wind, rûaḥ, is the same used for Spirit in Genesis 1:2, where the Spirit hovered over the waters before light and land appeared. In both creation and re creation, God sends forth his rûaḥ to bring order out of chaos.

The pattern recalls the Exodus. God remembered his covenant with Israel (Exodus 2:24), sent a strong east wind, and drove back the sea so his people crossed on dry ground (Exodus 14:21–22). The flood follows the same rhythm: remembrance, wind, dry ground (Genesis 8:14). God remembers, God acts, and his people are delivered.30

The ark comes to rest in the mountains of Ararat (Genesis 8:4). The name echoes the Hebrew word for “curse” (ʾrr). Here the curse on the ground begins to be reversed, anticipating God’s promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed (Genesis 12:3).

As the waters recede, the narrative once again foreshadows the tabernacle. The dove returns with an olive leaf (Genesis 8:11), recalling the oil that fueled the lampstand and anointed the tabernacle and its furnishings (Exodus 27:20; 30:24–29; Leviticus 24:2–4).31 When Noah removes the “covering” (mikseh) of the ark (Genesis 8:13), the same rare word is used for the covering of the tabernacle (Exodus 40:19). Even the timing is significant: the waters dry on the first day of the first month, the day the wilderness tabernacle was later dedicated (Exodus 40:2). These details show that salvation is God’s design, not human invention.32

The dove’s search for a resting place also carries symbolic weight. She found no mānôaḥ (“resting place”) and returned to Noah (Genesis 8:9). The word echoes Noah’s name, which means “rest.” The dove sought rest elsewhere but found it only with the righteous one in the ark.33 This anticipates the New Testament’s teaching that God’s people enter his rest by clinging to the one who is righteous on their behalf (Hebrews 4:9–10).

When Noah steps onto dry ground, he does so as the head of a new creation. The waters have receded, the curse is lifting, and the ark has carried God’s people through judgment into life. This is what Jesus did when he passed through the grave back to life.

Rest is found in the sacred space where God gathers his people around his righteous one. The Spirit forges a passage through the waters of death into the dry ground of new creation. The church becomes an ark space where God remembers his covenant, where the Spirit hovers, and where his people are reformed and find true rest in Christ.

For Worship

When Noah steps onto dry ground, his first act is to build an altar. “Then Noah built an altar to the Lord and took some of every clean animal and some of every clean bird and offered burnt offerings on the altar” (Genesis 8:20). The flood ends in worship. Noah was preserved to ascend and offer sacrifice to the God who delivered him.

The altar after deliverance foreshadows Sinai. Noah’s altar follows rescue from the flood, Moses’ altar follows rescue from Egypt (Exodus 24:4–8). In both, covenant is established: sacrifice seals it, blessing follows, protection is promised, the earth is preserved, and a visible sign appears in the cloud—rainbow in Genesis, glory at Sinai (Genesis 9:9–17; Exodus 24:15–18).34 Sinai continues God’s original purposes. The covenant with Noah restores fellowship and blessing.

Noah’s sacrifice is the first whole burnt offering in Scripture. The Hebrew ʿōlāh means “ascension.” The entire animal was consumed, nothing held back, and the smoke rose as a pleasing aroma (Genesis 8:21). Later Israel would know this as the central act of worship, symbolizing complete consecration (Exodus 30:28; Leviticus 1:9). As Allen Ross explains, the burnt offering signified the worshipper’s total surrender to God and God’s full acceptance of the worshipper. Its aroma marked the removal of barriers, full atonement, and restored communion with the holy God. In the old covenant this maintained fellowship; in the new covenant Christ’s atoning death not only brings salvation but continues to sanctify his people so that they may draw near in worship.35

God’s heart, once grieved by human corruption (Genesis 6:6), is comforted only after Noah’s offering. The sacrifice turns wrath to favor, curse to blessing.36 Noah’s name, meaning “rest” or “comfort,” is fulfilled here as his sacrifice brings God’s rest and renews blessing.

God blesses Noah and his sons: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). Where violence once filled the earth (Genesis 6:11), life is commanded to fill it again. Bloodshed is restrained, justice established (Genesis 9:3–6), and God promises never again to destroy the earth with a flood. The bow in the clouds seals the covenant. The bow, a weapon of war, is aimed at God instead of humanity, signaling his intent to bear the consequences of human unfaithfulness (Genesis 9:11–17).

The flood story climaxes in worship. Noah offers sacrifice, and God responds with covenant blessing. This anticipates Sinai, where sacrifice and covenant were joined, and points forward to Christ, whose sacrifice secures the new covenant and whose ascension brings blessing (Luke 24:50–53; Hebrews 10:19–22; 12:22–24).

For the church, salvation leads to worship. We are rescued to ascend the mountain of God in Christ. Jesus’s offering on the altar of the cross provides the way. In him, wrath is turned aside, God’s heart is comforted, and his people are blessed, transformed into a pleasing aroma (2 Corinthians 2:15–16).

The bow, the altar, and the covenant converge in Christian worship. Salvation leads to the dedication of the rescued, covenant with the rescuer, and blessing. On the mountain of God, in Christ, we find the true rest and renewal that Noah’s altar foreshadowed.

Conclusion

The flood story moves from chaos to covenant. Waters of destruction cover the earth, but God provides an ark of refuge and brings his people through to dry ground. At the end, Noah’s altar shows that salvation is not complete until it culminates in a sacrifice of dedication.

In the Bible, chaotic waters often represent the powers of destruction, and the mountain of God stands as the ultimate defense against them. To ascend that mountain requires righteousness, as the psalms insist (Psalm 15; 24:3–6). The cosmic mountain is not only a literary image but is embodied in Israel’s temple, where God’s holiness was revealed and his people gathered in worship.37

In Christ, this pattern is fulfilled. He is the righteous one who ascends the mountain on our behalf, offering himself as the true whole burnt offering. His sacrifice turns wrath aside, secures covenant blessing, and transforms his people into a pleasing aroma before God (2 Corinthians 2:15–16).

We live this ascent when we gather and are lifted above the flood of the world, carried by the Spirit into God’s presence. There we rededicate ourselves wholly to him, receive his covenant promises again, and are renewed in blessing.

The Noah story teaches us that salvation leads upward to the mountain of God for worship, where chaos is stilled, covenant is renewed, and rest is found in Christ.

Bibliography

Anderson, Gary A. “The Cosmic Mountain.” In The Bible and the Ancient Near East: Collected Essays, edited by G. W. Ahlström, 187–224. Winona Lake, IN: Eisenbrauns, 1984.

Cassuto, Umberto. A Commentary on the Book of Genesis. Part 2: From Noah to Abraham. Translated by Israel Abrahams. Jerusalem: Magnes Press, Hebrew University, 1964.

Morales, L. Michael. Exodus Old and New: A Biblical Theology of Redemption. Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic, 2020. Kindle edition.

———. “The Tabernacle Pre-Figured: Cosmic Mountain Ideology in Genesis and Exodus.” PhD diss., University of Bristol / Trinity College, 2011.

Ross, Allen P. Recalling the Hope of Glory: Biblical Worship from the Garden to the New Creation. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2006. Kindle edition.

Sailhamer, John H. “Genesis.” Vol. 2 of The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Revised Edition. Edited by Tremper Longman III and David E. Garland. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008. Kindle edition.

von Rad, Gerhard. Genesis: A Commentary. Rev. ed. Old Testament Library. Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1972.

Wenham, Gordon J. Genesis 1–15. Vol. 1 of Word Biblical Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2014. Kindle edition.

  1. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 154. ↩

  2. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 151. ↩

  3. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 150. ↩

  4. Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 143; Sailhamer, Genesis, 220. ↩

  5. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 159. ↩

  6. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 156. ↩

  7. Sailhamer, Genesis, 222. ↩

  8. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 198. ↩

  9. Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 170. ↩

  10. Cassuto, From Noah to Abraham, 54–55. ↩

  11. Sailhamer, Genesis, 222. ↩

  12. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 179. ↩

  13. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 183–84. ↩

  14. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 168. ↩

  15. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 215. ↩

  16. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 201. ↩

  17. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 184–85. ↩

  18. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 204, 207. ↩

  19. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 208. ↩

  20. Sailhamer, Genesis, 228; Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 203. ↩

  21. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 186–87. ↩

  22. Cassuto, Noah to Abraham, 80. ↩

  23. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 206. ↩

  24. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 212. ↩

  25. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 159. ↩

  26. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 167. ↩

  27. von Rad, Genesis, 128; Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 162. ↩

  28. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 163. ↩

  29. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 166–67. ↩

  30. Sailhamer, Genesis, 237. ↩

  31. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 180. ↩

  32. Morales, Tabernacle Pre Figured, 181. ↩

  33. Wenham, Genesis 1–15, 186. ↩

  34. Sailhamer, Genesis, 247. ↩

  35. Ross, Recalling the Hope of Glory, Kindle locs. 1945–1954. ↩

  36. Morales, Exodus Old and New, 93–95; Tabernacle Pre Figured, 221–23. ↩

  37. Anderson, Cosmic Mountain, 191. ↩

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