Genesis 6:18-19, “But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark…and of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you.”
The connection between the Ark and Christ is a longstanding one. Peter has already seen the link in 1 Peter 3:21 where he acknowledges that baptism corresponds to the way that Noah and his family were “brought safely through water.” Peter’s words invite us to see the salvation of Noah—and all creation with him—through the flood as prefiguring of humanity’s salvation—and all creation with them—through baptism’s symbolic waters of judgment by which we join Christ—the True Human, in whom all creation is summed up—in His death and Resurrection.
Noah and his family enter into the wooden Ark and are preserved in it as the flood of divine judgment is poured out on the world, the Ark itself bearing the ravages of the flood so that the those within may be spared. In the same way, the Christian enters into Christ who hangs on the wood of the cross, and—in Him—is preserved through the true flood of final judgment that pours out on Him—and us in Him—on Calvary.
On Calvary the windows of heaven open and the springs of the earth burst forth and the withheld judgment of the ages is poured out on humanity as they are represented in The Human, Jesus Christ (Rom.3:25)….His flesh the Ark in which humanity, and all creation, are represented and preserved through the dissolution of the old creation and into the freedom of the new. Yes, on Calvary the True Flood breaks over the True Ark and all who have not entered into Him by the door opened in His side (Gen. 6:16, John 19:34)—the rent veil of His flesh leading to the divine throne-room of God’s own heart (Heb.10:19-20), opened by the sovereignly guided spear tip of sin and judgment (John 19:34, Is.53:5)—all who have not thus entered into Him will be swept away….but all who do enter in will be preserved and brought into reconciled fellowship with their God, which is eternal life.
