The World’s Largest Model of Jerusalem in Jesus’ Day Is Coming to the Ark Encounter

It will give vital historical background in understanding who Jesus is, how the church was established, and the importance of the gospel and the great commission.

Our artists and fabricators are working on what will be one of the world’s largest indoor models of first-century Jerusalem (and the largest of the Jerusalem of Jesus’ day). It will give vital historical background in understanding who Jesus is, how the church was established, and the importance of the gospel and the great commission. Think of it as a second part to our incredible Borderland: Israel at the Time of Jesus exhibit at the Creation Museum.

This model will be about 2,000 square feet, divided into three large sections so people can walk around and see everything clearly. We will have a program running using various types of technology to teach about the city and follow the life and teachings of Jesus as the God-man.

Why Jerusalem? Well, that city is central throughout biblical and modern history. Using various technological means, people will learn about sites mentioned in the Bible and by other historians. They will learn about the Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, and Romans and the history of the city before King David and through modern times. They will follow Jesus’ ministry in Jerusalem and learn about archaeological finds confirming the Bible’s history. The principal feature will be information about the biblical narrative and the centrality of Jerusalem to the Jews, combined with a detailed understanding of what Jesus taught. All of this enables a powerful presentation of the gospel based in real history. Wow!

Now, we’ve already raised the money (thanks to our generous supporters and a matching gift offer last year) to be able to design and fabricate this incredible exhibit. But where are we going to put it? Well, many of our talented staff worked countless hours to come up with the best way to construct a building for this unique and powerful exhibit to fit in with the Ark attraction. In doing so, we realized that the placement of this building will also require us to move the drop-off area for the shuttle buses at the Ark. The current drop-off location was always a temporary solution, as the plan for the Ark Encounter involved building a future welcome center and drop-off area so the rest of the park can be developed over time. Our designers, in conjunction with construction engineers and architects, came up with a plan to incorporate this building as part of a new Welcome Center and permanent shuttle loading and unloading area. This is needed before we begin planning for other possible big attractions, such as the Tower of Babel.

This Welcome Center and Jerusalem building will also mean we can finally move the ticketing area at the Ark parking lot (which has been operating out of temporary buildings) to the Welcome Center. It opens the way for the attraction’s future development and fulfills a major part of our beloved late Patrick Marsh’s overall plan for the Ark Encounter.

This is such a great way to fulfill Patrick’s plan: construct the permanent ticketing and shuttle loading/unloading area, put in a welcome center, and use the structure to house a powerful teaching exhibit that will impact generations to come and pave the way for the rest of the development of the Ark Encounter.

This is a tremendous matching gift commitment and is so important for the future and for impacting coming generations with the truth of God’s Word and the saving gospel.

Now, the cost to construct the Jerusalem model building and Welcome Center at the Ark will be around $20 million. After being approached with this new project, the foundation that provided matching grants in the past and another generous supporter understood how important it is. Seeing how AiG supporters have responded in the past, they agreed to provide a matching gift challenge, where each gift will be matched dollar-for-dollar for the first $8.5 million given to this project through the end of the year. This is a tremendous matching gift commitment and is so important for the future and for impacting coming generations with the truth of God’s Word and the saving gospel.

This will be another outstanding exhibit for the Ark Encounter themed attraction, south of Cincinnati.

I’m so grateful for your prayers and support. Thank you in advance for prayerfully considering how you can help in this great opportunity through the end-of-year matching gift challenge. And remember, your gift of any size will be matched dollar-for-dollar up to $8.5 million through the end of the year!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.