ARK- sanctuary · place of shelter · refuge · accommodation · housing · home · place of safety · haven · safe haven · sanctum · safe house · harbor · port in a storm
Everyone is aware of the biblical flood that covered the earth. There were only 8 humans that survived, Noah, his three sons, and each of their wives. They were saved because they obeyed God and devoted 100 years of their lives to the building of the Ark.
Noah’s ark is a milestone in God’s plan. It was a miraculous work to preserve a remnant of mankind and the animal kingdom from destruction. The coming flood cleansed the continual evil across the face the earth in a great reset of creation. It delivered a consequential destructive blow to evil doers and carried the ark through an upheaval of prevailing turmoil as the earth became submerged in water. Because of God’s promise, the flood did not prevail against the ark.
A new beginning was born on the heights of Mt. Ararat where Noah’s ark came to rest. However, the flood and the ark had dealt only with the consequences of sin, not the nature. It was not long before evil sprouted and became evident again. However, there was now a healthy respect for the will of God. Even so, what God had done is to allow man to prove to himself that he was incapable of escaping the grasp of sin without a Savior.
One of Noah’s descendants named Abraham also found the favor of God by believing in him at his word. So moved was God with Abraham’s faith that made to him an eternal promise. “As the stars in heaven are without number, so will your descendants be.”
Even so, the heart of man had not changed, but God made a way for forgiveness. In order to receive God’s promise, the children of Abraham needed a provision for the forgiveness of sin. Here God identified to us another milestone in his plan. The establishment of the law.
The Ark of the Covenant. The dwelling place of God when the law was created.
God, through his promise to Abraham, began to build a nation. The purpose of this nation was to receive and record God’s word as Law. He instilled his deity into the Nation of Israel through the visitation of many generations most notably Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses and Joshua. Like Noah’s ark resting on a new beginning on Mt. Ararat, the children of Israel arrived in the promise land of Canaan. In that journey from Egypt to Canaan they went through many encounters with God. It was the believers that saw the promised land. The unbelievers perished in the desert wandering for 40 years.
From this nation we have been given the Law of God and the basis of the forgiveness of sin. The perpetual need for the forgiveness of sins made it clear that man was incapable of keeping the Law. So, the Law required the annual sacrifice of an innocent substitute for the forgiveness of sin, a Lamb without spot or wrinkle.
God was preparing the hearts and minds of his people for the Messiah, The living Word of God himself. The one, who without sin, would lay down his life and fulfill the Law once for all. In so doing, God has taken on the full responsibility and payment for our sins. You are required to believe it and receive it.
Going into the bowels of hell he ransomed death and the grave and arose the King of Kings. The Cross of Christ moved God's dwelling into the hearts of men, the Ark of his Body, the Church.
Noah’s ark was for the preservation of the flesh against the destruction of a world filled with sin. The Body of Christ is for the preservation of the soul against the eternal destruction of sin. Unlike Mt. Ararat, and the land of Canaan, life in the Kingdom of God will never suffer the consequences of sin, as it is now conquered through the resurrection of the LORD of all.
“God’s truth stands firm like a foundation stone with this inscription: ‘The LORD knows those who are his,’ and ‘All who belong to the LORD must turn away from evil.’ ” 2Tim 2:19
Here is the capstone. Salvation is available through the cross of Christ. God will ultimately, once again, judge sin with the final destruction of the earth. “But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.” 2Pet 3:10
The redeemed will escape the final destruction of the earth in the ark of the promise of God
To be saved from impending doom, you must come under the protective covering of the Blood of the Lamb. God has provided us the final ark, his bride, the church.
The same way God closed and sealed the door to Noah’s ark, those who believe it and receive it, are now sealed in the sanctuary of God’s promise to his bride. No matter what may come you are much more than a conqueror in Jesus Christ forevermore. “And in Him, having heard and believed the word of truth—the gospel of your salvation—you were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit” Eph 1:13
Like the flood prevailed not against the ark “I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it” Matt 16:18
“As many as received Him, to them He gave authority to become sons of God—to those believing in His Name” John 1:12
thy kingdom come
God is a perfect being who desires relationship. Faced with the prospect that are none like him he has set out to create not only a relationship, but matrimony that will fulfill his desires. Only those who have eyes to see and ears to hear will heed the call. He purchased the right to this by laying down his life so that everyone who is willing may have their sins washed clean and become one body the bride of the living God. With your hearts door widely open, bid him enter while you may.