And they went to Noah, into the ark, two and two of all flesh, in which was the breath of life.
Genesis 7 records the moment when the ark Noah had spent years building filled up. The animals went in "two and two." The verse raises two quiet questions. Who moved these animals to come? And why did God's rescue of one family also carry the animal world through the judgment?
The text does not say Noah rounded up the animals; it says they went in to him. One writer pictures how that gathering looked to the people watching:
From east, west, north, and south, the hand of God gathered the animals. The people must have thought it strange when those beasts went in. The animals were wiser than men. They obeyed the call of God. Men would not obey then, and many still do not. So God says, "The ox knows its owner, and the donkey its master's crib, but Israel does not know, my people do not understand" (Isa. 1:3). These creatures knew the call of the Creator, and they passed in safely, but man paid no attention.
One writer names what the animals left and what they entered:
Some of every sort are carried with Noah from the place of death into the ark of salvation. Peter speaks of the "eight souls." But with them go remnants of the beasts of the earth, small and great, winged birds and creeping things. All are housed and redeemed together with Noah.
Why did they enter two by two? One writer answers from God's purpose as Creator:
What does He do then? He directs the ark to be made. For what end? The preservation of the creatures which required the ark. So He orders that two of every kind go into the ark. It is easy to see why this fits. It is simply God the Creator's way of continuing each creature, despite the judgment about to fall. It has nothing to do with moral relationships.
The sevens, by contrast, are linked to a different purpose: "It is God providing not for the perpetuation of the creature merely, but with marked completeness for sacrifice."
The verse marks out the passengers by their breath. One writer notes how far that phrase reaches:
The words "in whose nostrils was the breath of life" included man and beast. All go together in that way of speaking. Then at the right time God takes Noah with his family, and all enter the ark, "and the LORD shut him in."
Everything with breath outside the ark died. Everything with breath inside it lived.
The animals are not filler in the story. Their presence points forward to a wider deliverance still to come:
The beasts, clean and unclean, taken into the ark, as well as the birds of the air, give us the hint that creation will share the blessed effects of salvation. The later prophetic word and Romans 8:19-23 tell us of a coming deliverance of groaning creation.
One thing marks every creature in this verse: it went in. Commentators see the ark as a picture of Christ. The dividing line is not nearness but entry:
All perished outside the ark: all must perish outside Christ. It did not matter how close a person was to the ark, he was either shut in or shut out. He might have helped to fell the trees or even build the ark, but once the door was shut he was shut out.
The same writer adds why the ark could save at all:
If the ark had not risen and floated above the waters, it would have been no use at all — if it had stayed under the waters, it would have been a huge coffin. Our blessed Jesus did sink down to the lowest depths; He died, the Just for the unjust. But He rose again for our justification, and so the ark floating in safety to Ararat is a true picture of the risen Christ.
- Called in. God's hand gathered the creatures from every direction. They obeyed a call that the people around Noah ignored.
- Carried in. Pairs of every kind moved from the place of death into the ark of salvation. They were housed and redeemed alongside the eight people.
- Kept in pairs. Two of every kind was the Creator's own provision for carrying each creature through the judgment.
- Creation in. Beasts and birds inside the ark hint at more. One day the whole groaning creation will share what salvation brings.
- Shut in. The ark stands for Christ. The only question is whether you are in or out. Helping to build it saved no one who stayed outside.
And they that came, came male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him. And Jehovah shut him in.
Genesis 7 closes its account of the entry into the ark with one short sentence about a door. Everything before it was Noah's obedience. This last act belongs to God alone, and commentators read it as a picture of how God secures salvation.
The verse does not say Noah closed the door behind himself.
Nothing shows the believer's perfect security in Christ better than these words: "the LORD shut him in." Who could open what God had shut? None. The family of Noah were as safe as God could make them. No power — angelic, human, or demonic — could burst open the door of the ark and let the waters in. The very same hand that had opened the windows of heaven and broken up the fountains of the great deep shut that door.
The same writer looks at what that meant for Noah. The flood that destroyed everything else lifted him above it.
He knew that God had poured out "all" the judgment, and that those very waves had lifted him into a region of cloudless peace. He floated in peace on the very water that judged "all flesh." He was put beyond the reach of judgment; and put there, too, by God Himself.
The verse uses two names for God. One goes with the command about the animals, the other with the shutting of the door.
"Male and female of all flesh went in as God (Elohim) had commanded him. And the LORD (Jehovah) shut him in" (verse 16). In this verse we have Elohim and Jehovah used. God, as Creator, had commanded Noah. Jehovah had announced the judgment, and the ark being prepared represented the patient and merciful Jehovah. And now, as the hour of mercy was past, Jehovah shut the door. He who had given an open door shut it at last.
Some claim the two names prove that two writers' work was patched together here. One commentator shows why the names differ:
Elohim is "God" in His sovereign dealing, as in creation. Jehovah is "the LORD," in His unfolding of special relationship... Take one verse (Gen. 7:16) to burst the bubble: "as God had commanded him. And the LORD shut him in." Two writers! because the name "Elohim" expresses care for the male and female animals, while the special concern as "Jehovah" shows in shutting Noah in.
The picture goes further than a strong door.
"The LORD shut him in." The hand of the Lord gave its own strength and security to Noah's condition. It is not too bold to say that all within the door of the ark were as safe as the Lord Himself. The Lord returned, we may say, to His own heavens, to His throne which stands for ever. Noah remained on the earth, in the place and day of judgment. But Noah was as safe as the Lord.
The ark had a door and a window. Each served a different purpose.
Remember, the Lord's own hand shut Noah and his family in the ark (Gen. 7:16), which was made judgment-proof outside and inside (Gen. 6:14). God Himself secured the door. None could enter, and none could get out. "The LORD shut him in." God took charge of the door — safety — while Noah looked out of the window above — communion.
Eight people stepped off ground under judgment and onto the ark. What God did next settled the outcome for those inside and those outside.
The decisive step for each was when they planted one foot on the ark, and lifted the other off the earth that was under judgment. It was either both feet in, or both feet out... Once inside the ark, "the LORD shut him in." When the Lord shuts, no man can open — not even Noah himself, had he wished to do so. The shut door secured salvation for the eight souls, and ensured destruction for the world of the ungodly.
Outside, minds changed once the water started rising.
Those who refused to enter the ark through the preaching of Noah could not get in after the door was shut. They might seek, and seek with all their heart, begging and pleading, as they saw the waters rising on the earth, but it was too late.
- Command, then close. Noah obeyed as God the Creator directed. Then the LORD Himself shut the door.
- Closed by the same hand. The hand that broke up the deep and opened heaven's windows fastened the ark. No power could force it open.
- Safe as He is. Noah stayed in the place of judgment. He was as safe as the Lord on His throne, because the Lord's own strength held him.
- Door and window. God kept the door — that is safety. Noah had the window above — that is communion, his eyes turned upward.
- Shut in, shut out. The same act saved eight and settled the ruin of the rest. When mercy's open door is shut at last, no one can reopen it.