How Was Noah’s Ark Designed?

Part 2 of a 10-part series

How was Noah’s Ark designed? It has been depicted in a wide variety of ways over the years, even in the Christian church. This is likely because in contrast to other divinely specified constructions in the Bible, the description of the Ark in Genesis 6 is very brief — only three verses long. However, even though it contains minimal information about the Ark, the data Scripture gives is critical. Take a deep dive (sorry for the pun!) in this 10-minute video from Answers in Genesis Canada.

Editor’s Note: The transcript that follows was automatically generated and lightly edited, so please be aware there could be typos or other small errors. The Stream is working toward a transcription service that does fast, accurate, and reliable work; thank you in advance for your patience!

00:00:00:08 – 00:00:21:02
Previously on the Genesis account of Noah’s Ark, we delved into the idea of whether Noah’s Ark and the flood were believable, what the actual size of Noah’s Ark was, and what kind and how many animals were on board. Join us now as we explore the possible shape and construction of Noah’s Ark, and what its ability to survive such a catastrophic experience would have been.

00:00:21:04 – 00:00:30:06
In part two of the Genesis account of Noah’s Ark.

00:00:30:08 – 00:00:55:10
Noah’s Ark has been depicted in a wide variety of ways over the years, even among the Christian church. And this is likely because, in contrast to other divinely specified constructions in the Bible, which are meticulously detailed, like the descriptions of Moses tabernacle or the temple in Ezekiel’s vision, the description of the ark in Genesis six is very brief and consists of verses 14, 15, and 16.

00:00:55:12 – 00:01:19:11
However, even though they’re brief and contain only simple information about the ark, the data given is critical. And although these verses only contain the Ark’s overall dimensions, Noah was almost certainly given more detail than this. It’s important to realize what is not explicitly stated here, because despite the minimal description, the Bible doesn’t specifically say the ark was a rectangular box.

00:01:19:13 – 00:01:46:18
In fact, Scripture gives no clue about the exact shape of Noah’s Ark other than the proportions, length, width, and depth. We need to recognize that ships have long been described like this without ever implying a square block shaped hole. The patriarch Moses, the writer of the account, used the obscure Hebrew term taba to describe the ark, a word that’s only used again for the basket that carried him as a baby down the Nile.

00:01:46:21 – 00:02:08:19
In Exodus two, verse three. So the same word was used to describe both a huge wooden ship and a tiny pitch coated wicker reed basket. And we can be quite sure that the baby basket didn’t have the same proportions as the ark, and Egyptian baskets of the time were typically rounded. Other than that, they both float, both rescue life, and both are covered.

00:02:09:00 – 00:02:37:00
The similarity ends there. So perhaps Taba simply means lifeboat. For several centuries, many biblical depictions simply portrayed Noah’s Ark as a rectangular box, and this shape help illustrate its size. And it made it easy to compare volume by using a short cubit and the maximum number of animal kinds. Christians could easily demonstrate how the ark could fit the biological payload described required according to the Bible specifications.

00:02:37:02 – 00:03:09:10
And most of the time, most people felt space was the main issue and other factors were considered as more second in nature. However, another, more modern phase of research focused on demonstrating the Ark’s feasibility and investigated other key factors such as sea keeping, which encompasses behavior and comfort of passengers at sea, its whole strength and overall stability. Surprisingly for many, this began with a study performed at a world class ship research center in 1992.

00:03:09:12 – 00:03:37:06
The Korean Research Institute of Ships and Ocean Engineering, or Crystal, and the team of nine crystal researchers, was led by Doctor Hong, who’s now director general of the Research Center in Korea. The study combined analysis, model wave testing and ship standards. Yet the big picture conceptually was simple, comparing the biblical ark with 12 other vessels of the same volume, but modified in length, width or depth.

00:03:37:08 – 00:04:04:09
Three qualities were measured stability, hull strength, and comfort. And the takeaway conclusion from the study was the confirmation that the Ark could handle immense waves as high as 98ft tall, and that the proportions of the biblical ark are near optimal, which was an interesting admission from Doctor Hall, who believed evolutionary ideas. While Noah’s Ark was only an average performer in each separate quality, it was amongst the best designs overall.

00:04:04:11 – 00:04:32:10
In other words, the proportions show a careful design balance that’s easily lost when proportions are modified the wrong way. It’s no surprise that modern ships have similar proportions. Why do most ships look like most ships? Because those general proportions work. Interesting to note is the fact that this study makes nonsense of the claim that Genesis was written only a few centuries before Christ and was based on flood legends, such as the commonly touted Epic of Gilgamesh.

00:04:32:12 – 00:04:55:13
In it, the Babylonian ark is a cube shape, something so far from reality that even the shortest hull in the aforementioned Korean study wasn’t even close. But we would expect mistakes from other flood accounts, like that of Gilgamesh, as the scriptural account of Noah would have been appropriated and distorted as it was passed down through different cultures. But one mystery remained.

00:04:55:15 – 00:05:30:08
The Korean study was quite thorough and honest, and didn’t hide the fact that some shorter holes, slightly outperformed the biblical Noah’s Ark. Why would that be if this was a work commissioned by God? Well, further work by two naval architects, Jim King and Doctor Ellen Magnusson, as well as by Noah’s Ark specialist Tim Lovett, focused attention on a key and dangerous issue the idea of broaching a vessel being turned sideways by the waves and being beaten apart by the tremendous force pounding into its hull.

00:05:30:10 – 00:06:05:06
Shipbuilders know that this problem can be overcome to a great degree by certain specific and clever design features. You see, the Bible says in Genesis eight one that after several months at sea, God sent a wind which could have produced very large waves, since these can result from a strong, steady wind and open water, testing confirms that any drifting vessel will naturally turn side on to the waves and broach with a sea and waves approaching the side of the vessel, whose surface motion is approximately at a right angle to the course of a vessel called a beam sea.

00:06:05:08 – 00:06:30:11
A long vessel like the ark would be trapped in an uncomfortable situation, and in heavy weather it could become extremely dangerous. This could be overcome, however, by the vessel catching the wind at the bow and gathering the water at the stern, aligning itself like a wind vane. And this specific design can be seen in many other ancient ship designs that came after, perhaps inspired by the ark itself.

00:06:30:13 – 00:06:52:18
If this was the case, as the wind aligned the ark, so it pointed into the waves, the long, ship like proportions would create a much more comfortable and controlled voyage for all on board. Now, some might ask, how do we know what the waves were like? Well, if there were no waves at all, stability, comfort or strength would be unimportant and the proportions simply wouldn’t matter.

00:06:52:20 – 00:07:17:20
Remember, the Great Ark had no specific destination, and with nowhere to arrive to at a certain time and traveling slowly with wind, it had no need for speed. However, the Bible does say the ark moved a boat on the surface of the waters in Genesis 718. However, not all waves are lined with the local wind, so the ark may have also encountered distant swells from other directions.

00:07:17:22 – 00:07:44:00
So the first line of defense would come from the excellent proportions of the Ark. Confirmed in a study by the world class Ship Research Center in Korea. In addition, the older keels that provide protection on land also improve roll damping in the waves. Much like the build keels of a modern ship. With all of the potential perils he would face, it would have been prudent for Noah to put lots of ancient ingenuity into the project of his life.

00:07:44:02 – 00:08:08:02
So, as we can see, although a possibility, the familiar box shaped ark doesn’t make a lot of sense compared to a ship like bound stern. Blunt ends are the strong, have edges that are vulnerable to damage during launch and beaching, and would likely have given a rough ride. And since the Bible gives proportions like that of a true ship, it makes sense that it would have looked and acted ship like.

00:08:08:04 – 00:08:29:02
The design depicted is an attempt to flesh out the biblical outline, using real life experiments and archeological evidence of ancient ships. While Scripture doesn’t point out a wind catching feature at the bow, neither does the abbreviated account given in Genesis make mention of drinking water. The exact number of animals, or the way they got out of the ark either.

00:08:29:04 – 00:08:53:04
So nothing in this newer depiction of the ark contradicts Scripture. In fact, it shows how accurate Scripture is since the proportions are so realistic. The bottom line is Noah’s Ark was ideally suited to survive the catastrophic event that was Noah’s flood. Of course, another real life consideration sometimes brought up is that another type of wave may have also affected the ark during the flood.

00:08:53:06 – 00:09:21:09
Tsunamis. Earthquakes can create sin armies that devastate coastlines. However, the Bible states now the flood was on the earth for 40 days. The waters increased and lifted up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. In Genesis 717. So if launched from high ground by the rising flood waters, the ark would have avoided the initial devastation of coastlines and low lying areas, and would likely have remained safe from sin armies throughout the voyage.

00:09:21:11 – 00:09:45:00
When a tsunami travels in deep water, it’s imperceptible to a ship. During the flood, the water would, of course, have been very, very deep. And this leads to another common question, an objection asked and brought against the plausibility of the flood account. Where did all that water go? Join us next time as we explore. Where did all the water go?

00:09:45:05 – 00:09:55:12
As well as answer questions as to whether Noah’s flood might have been a local rather than a worldwide event, as some have proposed in part three of the Genesis account of Noah’s Ark.