The Great Deluge

The Flood of Noah stands as one of the most significant events in biblical history — a divine judgment upon a corrupted world and a new beginning for creation through one righteous man and his family. This study examines the ark's construction, the flood timeline, the animals preserved, and God's everlasting covenant sealed by the rainbow.

Duration
~1 Year (371 days)
Survivors
8 People (Noah's Family)
Ark Size
300 × 50 × 30 Cubits
Covenant Sign
The Rainbow

Noah's Ark — Divine Blueprint

God gave Noah precise instructions for building the ark, a massive vessel designed to preserve life through the catastrophic flood.

📐 Ark Dimensions

Genesis 6:14-16 (KJ3)
14Make an ark of cyprus timbers for yourself. You shall make rooms in the ark; and you shall cover it with asphalt inside and out.
15And you shall make it this way: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
16You shall make a window in the ark, and you shall finish it above to a cubit. And you shall set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third stories.
Length
300
cubits (~450 ft / 137 m)
Width
50
cubits (~75 ft / 23 m)
Height
30
cubits (~45 ft / 14 m)
Decks
3
stories (lower, second, third)

🔧 Construction Details

🌲 Gopher Wood (Cyprus Timber)
The Hebrew word gopher (גֹּפֶר) appears only here in Scripture. Many scholars believe it refers to cypress wood, known for its durability and resistance to water and decay.
⬛ Pitch (Asphalt/Bitumen)
The ark was coated inside and out with pitch (kopher, כֹּפֶר) — a waterproofing resin. The Hebrew word is related to kaphar, meaning "to cover" or "atone."
🪟 Window (Tsohar)
A window or opening for light, finished "to a cubit" above — likely a continuous opening around the top for ventilation and light.
🚪 One Door
The ark had only one door, set in its side. God Himself shut Noah in (Gen. 7:16) — a picture of Christ as the one door to salvation (John 10:9).

📊 Size Comparison

Vessel Length Width Height Volume
Noah's Ark 450 ft (137 m) 75 ft (23 m) 45 ft (14 m) ~1.5 million cu ft
RMS Titanic 882 ft (269 m) 92 ft (28 m) 175 ft (53 m) ~4.6 million cu ft
Modern Cruise Ship 1,188 ft (362 m) 215 ft (66 m) 236 ft (72 m) ~18 million cu ft
Football Field 360 ft (110 m) 160 ft (49 m) — —

The ark's proportions (6:1 length-to-width ratio) are remarkably similar to modern cargo ships, providing excellent stability. The total volume equals approximately 522 railroad stock cars.

Flood Timeline

The flood account provides remarkably precise dating, allowing us to trace the events from start to finish over approximately one year.

Day 1 — Month 2, Day 10

🚢 Noah Enters the Ark

Genesis 7:1-9

Noah, his family, and all the animals enter the ark seven days before the flood begins. God commands Noah to enter as He has seen him righteous.

Day 7 — Month 2, Day 17

🌧️ Flood Begins

Genesis 7:10-12

"All the fountains of the great deep were risen, and the windows of the heavens were opened up." Rain falls for 40 days and 40 nights.

Day 47 — Month 3, Day 27

🌊 Rain Stops

Genesis 7:17

After 40 days of continuous rain, the heavens close. But the waters continue to prevail upon the earth.

Day 157 — Month 7, Day 17

⛰️ Ark Rests on Ararat

Genesis 8:4

After 150 days of waters prevailing, the ark comes to rest on the mountains of Ararat (modern-day Turkey).

Day 224 — Month 10, Day 1

🏔️ Mountain Tops Visible

Genesis 8:5

The waters continue receding until the tops of the mountains become visible.

Day 264 — Month 11, Day 11

🐦 Raven Sent Out

Genesis 8:6-7

After 40 more days, Noah opens the window and sends out a raven, which goes "to and fro until the waters were dried up."

Day 271 — Month 11, Day 18

🕊️ First Dove Sent

Genesis 8:8-9

Noah sends out a dove, but she finds no rest for her foot and returns to the ark.

Day 278 — Month 11, Day 25

🫒 Dove Returns with Olive Leaf

Genesis 8:10-11

Seven days later, the dove returns with "a newly plucked olive leaf" — the waters had receded enough for vegetation to emerge.

Day 285 — Month 12, Day 2

🕊️ Dove Does Not Return

Genesis 8:12

After another seven days, Noah sends the dove again. This time she does not return — dry land is available.

Day 314 — Year 601, Month 1, Day 1

🎉 Noah Removes Ark Covering

Genesis 8:13

On the first day of Noah's 601st year, he removes the covering and sees that "the face of the earth was dried."

Day 371 — Month 2, Day 27

🚪 Noah Exits the Ark

Genesis 8:14-19

God commands Noah to leave the ark with his family and all the animals. The earth is dry. Total time in the ark: approximately one year and ten days.

📊 Timeline Summary

Event Days from Start Duration
Entry to Flood Start 0–7 7 days
Rain Duration 7–47 40 days
Waters Prevailing 7–157 150 days
Waters Receding 157–314 157 days
Earth Drying 314–371 57 days
Total in Ark 0–371 ~371 days

Animals on the Ark

God commanded Noah to bring representatives of every kind of land animal and bird onto the ark to preserve life through the flood.

Genesis 7:2-3 (KJ3)
2You shall take to yourself from every clean animal by sevens, male and female, and from the animal that is not clean by two, male and female.
3And take of the fowl of the heavens by sevens, male and female, to keep alive seed on the face of the earth.

🐑 Clean Animals 7 Pairs

Animals suitable for sacrifice and food (Leviticus 11)

  • 🐄 Cattle (Ox, Cow)
  • 🐑 Sheep
  • 🐐 Goats
  • 🦌 Deer, Hart
  • 🐦 Clean Birds (Dove, Pigeon)

Extra pairs provided for sacrifice after the flood (Gen. 8:20)

🦁 Unclean Animals 1 Pair

All other land animals — two of each kind

  • 🦁 Lions, Tigers, Bears
  • 🐺 Wolves, Dogs, Foxes
  • 🐘 Elephants
  • 🦛 Hippopotamus
  • 🐍 Serpents, Reptiles
  • 🦎 Lizards, Creeping Things

🦅 Birds of the Air 7 Pairs

Fowl of the heavens — every kind of bird

  • 🦅 Eagles, Hawks
  • 🦉 Owls
  • 🐦 Sparrows, Finches
  • 🦆 Ducks, Geese
  • 🦜 Parrots, Colorful Birds
  • 🦢 Swans, Herons

🌊 What Was NOT on the Ark

🐟 Fish and Sea Creatures
Marine life survived in the waters. The command was for land-dwelling creatures with "the breath of life."
🐛 Insects (Most)
Most insects are not specifically mentioned. Many could survive on floating vegetation or in larval stages.
🌱 Plants
Seeds, floating vegetation, and roots could survive the flood. The olive leaf proved vegetation remained (Gen. 8:11).
Genesis 7:13-16 (KJ3)
13In this same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark;
14they, and every animal according to its kind, and every beast according to its kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to its kind; and every fowl according to its kind, every bird of every wing.
15And they went in to Noah and to the ark, two and two of all flesh, in which is the breath of life.
16And those going in went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him. And Jehovah shut him within.

📊 Estimating the Number of Animals

Scripture says "kinds" (min, מִין), not modern species. Biblical kinds likely correspond to the family level in taxonomy — similar to the created groups from which today's species have diversified.

Category Estimated Kinds Animals (×2 or ×14)
Mammals ~300 kinds 600–4,200
Birds ~500 kinds 7,000
Reptiles ~350 kinds 700
Amphibians ~100 kinds 200
Total Estimate ~1,250 kinds ~8,500–12,000

Many animals could have been juveniles, requiring less space and food. The ark's ~1.5 million cubic feet provided ample room.

The Noahic Covenant

After the flood, God established His covenant with Noah — an unconditional promise to all creation, sealed with the sign of the rainbow.

🌈 The Sign of the Covenant

Genesis 9:12-17 (KJ3)
12And God said, This is the sign of the covenant which I am about to make between Me and you, and between every living soul which is with you, for everlasting generations:
13I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
14And it will be when I gather the clouds on the earth, then the bow shall be seen in the clouds.
15And I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you, and between every living soul in all flesh. And the waters shall not again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I shall see it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living soul, in all flesh on the earth.
17And God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and between all flesh that is on the earth.

📜 Covenant Structure

Parties
God, Noah, All Creation
Type
Unconditional (Universal)
Sign
The Rainbow
Duration
Everlasting

⚖️ Key Provisions

🌍 Preservation of Earth
"All flesh shall not be cut off again by the waters of a flood; nor shall there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth." (Gen. 9:11)
🌾 Seasons Continue
"While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease." (Gen. 8:22)
🦁 Dominion Over Animals
"Your fear and your dread shall be on all the animals of the earth... They are given into your hands." (Gen. 9:2)
🍖 Permission to Eat Meat
"Every creeping thing which is alive shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green plant." (Gen. 9:3)
🩸 Prohibition of Blood
"But you shall not eat flesh in its life, its blood." (Gen. 9:4)
⚖️ Capital Punishment
"Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood shall be shed by man. For He made man in the image of God." (Gen. 9:6)
Genesis 9:1-7 (KJ3)
1And God blessed Noah and his sons. And He said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
2And your fear and your dread shall be on all the animals of the earth, and on every bird of the heavens, on all that moves on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hands.
3Every creeping thing which is alive shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green plant.
4But you shall not eat flesh in its life, its blood.
5And surely the blood of your lives I will demand. At the hand of every animal I will demand it, and at the hand of man. I will demand the soul of man at the hand of every man's brother.
6Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood shall be shed by man. For He made man in the image of God.
7And you, be fruitful and multiply. Swarm over the earth and multiply in it.

✝️ Fulfillment in Christ

The Noahic covenant reveals God's common grace to all creation. Christ sustains all things by His powerful word (Heb. 1:3, Col. 1:17). The rainbow reminds us that while God judges sin, He also provides a way of salvation. Just as Noah's ark preserved those who entered from judgment, so Christ is our ark of salvation from the coming judgment.

1 Peter 3:20-21
20...when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water,
21which antitype now also saves us: baptism (not a putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Full Scripture Text — Genesis 6–9

Read the complete flood narrative from the King James 3 translation.

▼ Genesis 6 — The Wickedness of Man; The Ark Commanded

1 The wickedness of the world, which provoked God's wrath, and caused the flood. 8 Noah finds grace. 14 The order, form, and end of the ark.

1And it was that men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born to them.
2The sons of God saw the daughters of men, that they were good, and they took wives for themselves from all those whom they chose.
3And Jehovah said, My Spirit shall not always strive with man; in their erring he is flesh. And his days shall be a hundred and twenty years.
4The giants were in the earth in those days, and even afterwards when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore to them; they were mighty ones which existed from ancient time, the men of name.
5And Jehovah saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and every purpose of the thoughts of his heart was only evil all the day.
6And Jehovah repented that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved to His heart.
7And Jehovah said, I will wipe off man whom I have created from the face of the earth, from man to cattle, to the creeping thing for I am sorry that I made them.
8And Noah found grace in the eyes of Jehovah.
9These are the generations of Noah: Noah, a righteous man, had been blameless among his generations. Noah walked with God.
10And Noah fathered three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth.
11And the earth was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence.
12And God looked on the earth, and behold, it was corrupted. For all flesh had corrupted its way on the earth.
13And God said to Noah, The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them. And behold, I will destroy them along with the earth.
14Make an ark of cyprus timbers for yourself. You shall make rooms in the ark; and you shall cover it with asphalt inside and out.
15And you shall make it this way: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its breadth fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.
16You shall make a window in the ark, and you shall finish it above to a cubit. And you shall set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third stories.
17And behold, I, even I, am bringing a flood of waters on the earth in order to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life from under the heavens. Every thing which is on the earth shall die.
18And I will establish My covenant with you. And you shall come into the ark, you and your sons and your wife and your sons' wives with you.
19And you shall bring into the ark two of every kind, of every living thing of all flesh, to keep alive with you; they shall be male and female;
20from the birds according to its kind, and from the cattle according to its kind, from every creeping thing of the ground according to its kind. Two from each shall come in to you to keep alive.
21And take for yourself all food that is eaten, and gather to yourself. And let it be for you and for them for food.
22And Noah did so, according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

▼ Genesis 7 — The Flood Begins

1 Noah, with his family, and the living creatures enter into ark. 11 The beginning, increase, and continuance of flood.

1And Jehovah said to Noah, You and all your house come into the ark, for I have seen you a righteous one before Me in this generation.
2You shall take to yourself from every clean animal by sevens, male and female, and from the animal that is not clean by two, male and female.
3And take of the fowl of the heavens by sevens, male and female, to keep alive seed on the face of the earth.
4For after seven more days I will cause it to rain on the earth forty days and forty nights and will wipe out every living substance that I have made from off the face of the earth.
5And Noah did according to all that Jehovah commanded him.
6Noah was a son of six hundred years, and the flood of waters was on the earth.
7And Noah went in, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him into the ark, because of the waters of the flood.
8And they went in to Noah into the ark, male and female of clean animals, and of animals that are not clean, and of fowl, and of every thing that creeps on the earth,
9two by two, as God had commanded Noah, they went into the ark, male and female.
10And it was after the seven days, the waters of the flood came into being on the earth.
11In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, in the seventeenth day of the month, in this day all the fountains of the great deep were risen, and the windows of the heavens were opened up.
12And the rain was on the earth forty days and forty nights.
13In this same day Noah and Shem and Ham and Japheth, the sons of Noah, and Noah's wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, went into the ark;
14they, and every animal according to its kind, and every beast according to its kind, and every creeping thing that creeps on the earth according to its kind; and every fowl according to its kind, every bird of every wing.
15And they went in to Noah and to the ark, two and two of all flesh, in which is the breath of life.
16And those going in went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him. And Jehovah shut him within.
17And the flood was on the earth forty days. And the waters increased, and bore up the ark, and it was lifted up above the earth.
18And the waters prevailed, and were greatly increased on the earth. And the ark lifted on the face of the waters.
19And the waters prevailed, exceedingly violent on the earth, and all the high mountains under the heavens were covered.
20The waters prevailed, fifteen cubits upward, and the mountains were covered.
21And all flesh that moved on the earth died: the fowl, and cattle, and beast, and every swarming thing that swarms on the earth, and all mankind.
22All died in whose nostrils was the breath of life, of all that was in the dry land.
23And every living thing which was on the face of the earth was wiped out, from man to cattle, and to the creeping things, and the fowl of the heavens. And they were wiped out from the earth, and only Noah was left, and those who were with him in the ark.
24And the waters prevailed over the earth a hundred and fifty days.

▼ Genesis 8 — The Waters Recede; Noah's Sacrifice

1 The waters subside. 4 The ark rests on Ararat. 7 The raven and the dove. 15 Noah, being commanded, 18 leaves the ark. 20 Builds an altar, and offers sacrifice, 21 which God accepts.

1And God remembered Noah and every living thing, and all the cattle which were with him in the ark. And God made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters subsided.
2And the fountains of the deep and the windows of the heavens were stopped, and the rain from the heavens was returned.
3And the waters turned back from the earth, going and turning back. And the waters diminished at the end of a hundred and fifty days.
4And in the seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, the ark rested on the mountains of Ararat.
5And the waters were going and falling until the tenth month. In the tenth month, on the first of the month, the tops of the mountains were seen.
6And it happened, at the end of forty days, even Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made.
7And he sent out a raven, and it went out, going out and returning until the waters were dried up from off the earth.
8He also sent out from him the dove, to see if the waters had gone down from off the face of the earth.
9But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned to him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of all the earth. And he put out his hand and took her, and pulled her in to him into the ark.
10And he waited yet another seven days, and again he sent forth the dove out of the ark.
11And the dove came in to him in the evening. And, behold! In her mouth was a newly plucked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the waters had gone down from off the earth.
12And he waited another seven days and sent forth the dove. And she did not return again to him any more.
13And it happened in the six hundred and first year, at the beginning, on the one of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth. And Noah removed the covering of the ark and looked. And, behold! The face of the earth was dried.
14And in the second month, on the twenty-seventh day of the month, the earth was dry.
15And God spoke to Noah, saying,
16Go out of the ark, you and your wife, and your sons and your sons' wives with you.
17Bring out from you every living thing that is with you, of all flesh, of fowl, of cattle, and of every creeping thing that creeps on the earth; and let them swarm on the earth, and bear, and multiply on the earth.
18And Noah went out, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons wives with him;
19every animal, every creeping thing, and every fowl; all which creeps on the earth. They went forth out of the ark according to their families.
20And Noah built an altar to Jehovah, and took of every clean animal, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
21And Jehovah smelled the soothing fragrance, and Jehovah said in His heart, I will never again curse the ground for the sake of man, because the purpose of the heart of man is evil from his youth. Yea, I will not again smite every living thing as I have done.
22While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night shall not cease.

▼ Genesis 9 — God's Covenant with Noah

1 God blesses Noah. 4 Blood and murder are forbidden. 8 God's covenant, 13 signified by the rainbow. 18 Noah replenishes world.

1And God blessed Noah and his sons. And He said to them, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth.
2And your fear and your dread shall be on all the animals of the earth, and on every bird of the heavens, on all that moves on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hands.
3Every creeping thing which is alive shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green plant.
4But you shall not eat flesh in its life, its blood.
5And surely the blood of your lives I will demand. At the hand of every animal I will demand it, and at the hand of man. I will demand the soul of man at the hand of every man's brother.
6Whoever sheds man's blood, his blood shall be shed by man. For He made man in the image of God.
7And you, be fruitful and multiply. Swarm over the earth and multiply in it.
8And God spoke to Noah, and to his sons with him, saying,
9Behold! I, even I, am establishing My covenant with you, and with your seed after you,
10and with every living soul which is with you, among fowl, among cattle, and among every animal of the earth with you, from all that go out from the ark, to every animal of the earth.
11And I have established My covenant with you, and all flesh shall not be cut off again by the waters of a flood; nor shall there ever again be a flood to destroy the earth.
12And God said, This is the sign of the covenant which I am about to make between Me and you, and between every living soul which is with you, for everlasting generations:
13I have set My bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of a covenant between Me and the earth.
14And it will be when I gather the clouds on the earth, then the bow shall be seen in the clouds.
15And I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you, and between every living soul in all flesh. And the waters shall not again become a flood to destroy all flesh.
16And the bow shall be in the clouds, and I shall see it to remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living soul, in all flesh on the earth.
17And God said to Noah, This is the sign of the covenant which I have established between Me and between all flesh that is on the earth.
18And the sons of Noah that went out of the ark were Shem, Ham, and Japheth. And Ham is the father of Canaan.
19These are the three sons of Noah, and the whole earth was overspread from them.
20And Noah, a man of the ground, began and planted a vineyard.
21And he drank from the wine, and was drunk. And he uncovered himself inside his tent.
22And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father. And he told his two brothers outside.
23And Shem and Japheth took a garment and put it on both their shoulders. And they went backward and covered the nakedness of their father, their faces backward. And they did not see the nakedness of their father.
24And Noah awoke from his wine. And he came to know what his younger son had done to him.
25And he said, Cursed be Canaan. He shall be a slave of slaves to his brothers.
26And he said, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Shem; and may Canaan be his slave.
27God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall live in the tents of Shem, and Canaan shall be their slave.
28And Noah lived three hundred and fifty years after the flood.
29And all the days of Noah were nine hundred and fifty years. And he died.

Test Your Knowledge

Answer these questions to test your understanding of the flood narrative.

Question 1 of 10
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