Noah's ark was not a small, boat-shaped vessel; it was an enormous enclosed rectangular box built to survive the flood.
Les Feldick repeatedly corrects the Sunday-school picture of a rowboat with a shed and animals looking over the edge. The Hebrew word translated 'ark' means a box, and the same word is used later for Joseph's coffin. Scripture gives specific dimensions, and Les emphasizes that the ark was not meant to sail anywhere—it was meant to stay afloat through the catastrophic flood.
Genesis 6:14-16 — God's instructions reveal the ark was a pitched, three-story rectangular vessel with a single door and a window.
Genesis 7:11 — This verse explains why the ark had to survive more than rain: the fountains of the great deep were broken up.
Hebrews 11:7 — Shows that Noah built the ark in obedient faith after God warned him of things not yet seen.
Genesis 6:14-16 records God's direct command: "Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch. And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits. A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it." Genesis 7:11 shows the flood came when "all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened." The following verses record that the waters "bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth" (Genesis 7:17). Later, "God remembered Noah" and "made a wind to pass over the earth, and the waters asswaged" (Genesis 8:1).
Les Feldick teaches that the common picture of Noah's ark is wrong. He says, "The ark was not just a little rowboat. It did not just have a little shed stuck in the middle, and there were no animals with their heads sticking over the edge." Instead, "the ark was an enclosed rectangular box." He explains that the Hebrew word translated 'ark' is the same word used for a coffin and for the ark of the covenant—it simply means a box. It was built not to sail across the sea but to withstand the awful rigors of the flood. Les also stresses that the flood was more than 40 days of rain: the real picture is in Genesis 7:11, the breaking up of the fountains of the great deep. Finally, he says the ark survived because God said "come into the ark," not "go," and the presence of Jehovah within guaranteed its safety.
Les says the familiar picture comes from Sunday-school materials: a little rowboat with a shed in the middle and a giraffe standing over the edge. He corrects it: the ark was not a little rowboat; it was an enclosed rectangular box, and no animals had their heads sticking over the edge.
Les explains that the Hebrew word for ark is also translated 'coffin' in the last verse of Genesis. The ark of bulrushes Moses was placed in was also a rectangular box, and the ark of the covenant was primarily a rectangular box overlaid with gold. So Noah's ark was simply a rectangular box—large, but a box.
No. Les says the ark was built not to sail across the sea; it wasn't going anywhere. It was built to withstand the awful rigors of the flood. It was made sturdily of tremendous water-capable lumber. Its purpose was survival through God's judgment, not navigation.
Les points to Genesis 7:11: the fountains of the great deep were broken up, not just 40 days of rain. He describes the flood as tumultuous and cataclysmic. Yet he says the verb God used was 'come into the ark,' not 'go,' and the presence of Jehovah within the ark guaranteed that it stayed safely afloat through months of roaring water.
Noah, as Hebrews 11:7 puts it, was "warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house." Les says what prompted Noah was faith in what God had said. This is the perfect lesson of the obedience of faith throughout Scripture.
Noah's Faith Response
Les teaches that Noah built the ark because he believed God—an act of obedient faith, not because he could already see the flood.
Ark Was a Rectangular Box
Les says the ark was not a rowboat with a shed; it was an enclosed rectangular box built to withstand the flood, and the flood's secret is in Genesis 7:11, not just 40 days of rain.
Hebrew Word for Ark Means Box
Les shows that the Hebrew word translated 'ark' means a box—the same word used for Joseph's coffin and for the ark of the covenant—so Noah's ark was simply a rectangular box.
Moses, the Ark, and the Second Coming: Unlocking the Prophetic Pattern
She places him in a box, but just like Noah's instructions with the ark back at the flood time, God gives the same instructions here. I don't know if you've ever noticed it before. And she took for him an ark of bulrushes, in other words, made this rectangular box and daubed it or caulked it with slime and with pitch.
God's Presence Inside the Ark
Les notes the verb was 'come into the ark,' not 'go,' and that despite the ark being built sturdily, it survived because Jehovah was inside.
Jehovah Guaranteed the Ark's Safety
Les compares the presence of Jesus sleeping in the boat on the Sea of Galilee to the presence of Jehovah in the ark, guaranteeing the ark would not sink.
Sunday-School Picture Debunked
Les debunks the common Sunday-school picture of a rowboat with a shed and a giraffe looking over the edge, saying the ark was an enclosed rectangular box.
The Flood Was Cataclysmic
Les explains that the flood was not merely rising rainwater; it was tumultuous and cataclysmic, and afterward the floodwaters receded and God told Noah to leave the ark.
Genesis 6:14: Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
Shows the command to use gopher wood and pitch makes the ark a sealed, protective box.
Genesis 6:15: And this is the fashion which thou shalt make it of: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, the breadth of it fifty cubits, and the height of it thirty cubits.
Gives the exact dimensions that make the ark far larger than a children's rowboat.
Genesis 6:16: A window shalt thou make to the ark, and in a cubit shalt thou finish it above; and the door of the ark shalt thou set in the side thereof; with lower, second, and third stories shalt thou make it.
Describes the window, side door, and three stories that made it an enclosed building-like box.
Genesis 7:11: In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened.
Explains the flood's violent source—fountains of the great deep—which is the reason the ark had to be built to endure.
Genesis 7:17: And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth.
Describes the ark being lifted above the earth by the waters.
Hebrews 11:7: By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith.
Shows that Noah built the ark in obedient faith after hearing God's warning.
According to Les Feldick, the Hebrew word for ark means a box; the same word is used later for Joseph's coffin. The ark was an enclosed rectangular box, not a ship with a bow designed for sailing.
No. Les says that is a Sunday-school picture. The ark was enclosed, and there were no animals with their heads sticking over the edge.
Les says the verb God used was 'come into the ark,' indicating His presence among them. Although the ark could have been tossed like a cork, the presence of Jehovah within guaranteed it stayed afloat, just as Jesus in the boat on the Sea of Galilee meant it would never sink.
Watch the Teaching: The Hidden Meaning of "Pitch" in Noah's Ark | Genesis 6 Bible Study