Make thyself an ark of gopher wood [with] cells shalt thou make the ark; and pitch it inside and outside with pitch.
God tells Noah how to survive the judgment He has just announced. The answer is a wooden ark with rooms inside, sealed with pitch — and that word for pitch is the word used elsewhere for atonement.
A refuge given with the warning
The judgment and the way out came from the same mouth. Noah's part was to believe both.
The Lord, in this way, provided Noah with an answer to His own righteous and purposed judgment that was coming on the world before the Flood. "Make yourself an ark of gopher wood," said God to him. Noah did so, believing the word both of judgment and of deliverance, and he was safe.
God spelled out the design, down to the rooms and the single door.
Yet the grace of God would provide a refuge for those who realized their need of His grace. God instructed Noah to make a large ark of gopher wood. It was six times as long as it was wide, with three decks and rooms built in, not only for people but for animals too, and covered with pitch inside and out (v. 14). One door is mentioned, which may seem inadequate for so large a ship, but it pictures the truth that Christ alone is the door of salvation for mankind.
Gopher wood, and the pitch it supplied
No one can say for sure which tree gopher wood came from. But its name stands close to the name of the pitch.
The ark is built of gopher wood. We do not know this "gopher," but the name is very close to the "copher" or "pitch" named afterward... Because of this, the gopher has long been thought to be the cypress, which could well have supplied the "pitch" for the ark's seams. The picture would then fit even better. There is no doubt that the gopher, like the acacia wood of the tabernacle ark, refers to Christ, and "copher" is the word used elsewhere for "atonement." It was not enough that the tree be cut down to provide a refuge from the waters of judgment. The seams also had to be sealed with the pitch the tree supplied. And so death by itself, even Christ's death, would not have been enough to make safe the soul that fled to Him for refuge.
Atonement within and without
The pitch did more than keep the water out.
Now there was one very interesting feature in that ark. It was covered "inside and out with pitch." That was not only to make it watertight. It would do that, of course. But it was also to teach us a great truth, even if Noah did not understand. The word "pitch" in our translation is the same word translated "atonement" seventy times in the Old Testament. Only in this one place is it translated "pitch." It means a covering — a covering God ordained and provided for the man who had found grace in His eyes. Wherever Noah looked inside the ark, he saw this covering. Wherever God looked outside the ark, He saw the covering. Atonement within, atonement without.
Everyone in that generation ended up covered by something. What differed was the covering itself.
The waters of judgment fell upon the ark, but because it was covered, not one drop touched those inside... It is significant that the waters of judgment also covered the unbelievers, but there was no atonement in that covering.
Sealed by God, secured by God
God ordered the ark sealed. He also took charge of its one door.
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.
The ark you are not asked to build
God gave this instruction to one man for one flood. What it pictures is already finished.
As a sinner there is nothing before you but judgment... But you may find a place of safety. You say, Where is it? You do not have to prepare an ark, because God has prepared one. Christ is the place of safety now. He bore all the judgment and the wrath, rose from the dead, and is now at God's right hand.
Summary
- Word — God announced the judgment and the remedy in one breath; Noah believed both and was safe.
- Wood — the tree had to be cut down to make the refuge, a picture of Christ; but timber alone would not hold back the waters.
- Pitch — the sealing word is the word for "atonement" seventy times elsewhere. Death alone was not enough. Atonement was needed.
- Within and without — Noah saw the covering inside, and God saw it outside. The same flood that covered the unbelievers left no drop on those in the ark.
- Door — one entrance, shut by God's own hand. It pictures the one place of safety already prepared, so no one today has an ark to build.