A while back a brudder asked me about the ark and all the animals that Noah had to “fit” in the ark.

Carl – There is no way in poop that all those animals could fit in the ark – it is foolishness.

Well I take that as a personal challenge to find out if it is possible. But lets define the parameters that I need to review.

The question has a few points to it

• How did all the animals fit into Noahs Ark?
• How did the animals reach the different parts of the earth?
• Why are some species (eg a moose) only present in certain areas of the world?

How did all the animals fit into Noahs Ark?

I suppose the first question demands that we determine the size of the ark initially. To do this, we need to refer to the Bible to find the dimensions Noah used for the construction of the Ark. We will find these dimensions in the book of Genesis, chapter 6.

Genesis 6

14 “Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.

15 And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.

16 You shall make a window for the ark, and you shall finish it to a cubit from above; and set the door of the ark in its side. You shall make it with lower, second, and third decks.

17 And behold, I Myself am bringing floodwaters on the earth, to destroy from under heaven all flesh in which is the breath of life; everything that is on the earth shall die.

18 But I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark–you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.

19 And of every living thing of all flesh you shall bring two of every sort into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

20 Of the birds after their kind, of animals after their kind, and of every creeping thing of the earth after its kind, two of every kind will come to you to keep them alive.

21 And you shall take for yourself of all food that is eaten, and you shall gather it to yourself; and it shall be food for you and for them.”

22 Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did.

First problem – What da heck is a cubit?

A cubit is an old (ancient) form of measurement that, since I found out what it is, have realized that I have used it much of my life without realizing it. When I don’t have a measuring tape on me, and the distance is relatively short, I will “measure” it with my forearm. The cubit was the ancients way of standardizing a measurement, and it is commonly accepted that the cubit was the distance from the elbow to the finger tip of an average man. For me that comes to aprox 18″, and proves that I am average! (1 cubit = 1.5 ft)

So with that said, the ark’s dimensions come to 450′ long X 75′ wide X 45′ high. It is also important to note that this vessel is not considered a boat, but an ark. Noah built a box – a really big box. And this box had three decks, according to verse 16.

So we figgered the basic size, or volume of the ark.

Next post we shall deal with how much space ol’ Noah needed in the Ark for all those animals. In other words, How in poop did Noah fit those gazillion animals into the Ark?

Hope you can come visit with me for the next installment. I think you may be surprised!!!

Thanks for dropping by.

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