What did the pitch between the boards of the ark really amount to?
The pitch between the boards of the ark amounted to a sealing and atoning effect. It sealed out the flood waters, just as the blood of Christ seals out judgment, and the same Hebrew word for pitch also means atonement, illustrating the believer's security.
Les explains that God instructed Noah to build the ark of wood, and it would be in the raging sea for almost a year. Noah was told to seal it with pitch, a tar. But Les points out the same Hebrew word for pitch is also the Hebrew word for atonement. So the pitch between the boards amounted to a sealing effect—an atoning effect. Just as the blood of Christ seals out judgment so it can never touch us, the pitch sealed out the waters of the flood. Les says this theme runs all through Scripture: we are secure not because of anything we do or deserve, but simply because we have placed our faith in the blood of Christ, and also in His resurrection.