Preparations: Genesis 6:14-22
God is the one in charge. He was at the beginning of creation; He will be there at its end. He remains throughout the entire story. He has a plan, and despite humanity coming in and breaking all the rules, He will bring His redeemer and have His way.
God hands out instructions to Noah. Noah needs to make an ark, or a very large boat. The ark would be the vessel of salvation. Once more God demonstrates His provision to His people.
The ark is to have a roof, covered in pitch. God was intending to bring an incredible quantity of rain upon the earth. To make life upon the boat tenable, Noah would need a roof to help divert the water to the sides of the boat and into the sea.
The ark was to be made of gopher wood. Since this is a term that only appears in Genesis 6:4, we have no idea to what tree this refers. In fact, the word gopher might not refer to a type of tree but to a method of preparing the wood. Shipwrights understand that for a boat to withstand life on the water it needs to be assembled in a certain way, waterproofed to a certain degree, and built to maintain buoyancy even under load. God could be instructing Noah about the wood to use; He may also be instructing Noah on a methodology to make the boat survive. Either way, God continues to direct Noah regarding the best way to hold onto His provision.
The ark is to have different floors. God makes sure Noah has the room to do the task at hand. God intends to save not just the ritually clean animals but all kinds of animals. The birds, the reptiles, and the mammals all fall underneath God’s provision. When God destroys the majority of creation, He wants to be able to restart. He wants Noah to have what he needs when the floods recede and life begins anew.
Finally, God tells Noah to take every kind of food. Noah is to store up the food. When the flood comes, the food the animals need will die with it. When the waters recede, the animals saved upon the ark will need something to eat until the earth can recover from the devastation unleashed upon it. Once more God demonstrates His desire to prepare Noah and provision him for the days ahead.
God planned devastation upon the earth, but not complete devastation. While most of creation would perish, enough would be saved through the ark. For God to bring about His redeemer and restore creation, some of creation would need to be saved. There needed to be a line through which God could continue the plan of redemption. Noah would be the righteous man who remains, but ultimately it is God’s plan. God will bring the devastation; God will bring His provision. God is the one in charge.
