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How Big Was the Ark Really?

Dive Into God's Word

on April 1, 2024

God tells us to search for wisdom and understanding (Proverbs 2:3–6). The best place to look is in the Bible! So grab your detective gear and let’s investigate Scripture, inspect clues, and discover all that God’s Word has to teach us.

About 4,500 years ago, God decided to punish the wicked people on the earth with a global flood. He told a man named Noah to build an ark (a big ship) to save his family and at least two of each kind of animal.

  • The ark was as wide as about 10 school buses sitting side by side.
  • The ark was about as tall as 4 school buses stacked on top of each other.
  • The ark was longer than one and a half football fields.
  • Nearly 450 semi-truck trailers could fit inside the ark.

God gave Noah specific instructions about the type of wood he should use, the number of decks and windows, the door, and the ark’s size. (You can find these instructions in Genesis 6). In Noah’s day, things were measured in cubits. A cubit is the length from a man’s elbow to his fingertips. Using today’s measurements, that would be about 20 inches, or 1.7 feet.

The ark was a huge wooden ship—very different from the tiny bathtub arks you might have played with as a baby. Some people doubt that the ark could have held all the animals. But God’s specific measurements give us a clear picture of the ark’s massive size.

Grab your Bible and turn to Genesis 6:15 to find the ark’s measurements. Then use a calculator to multiply the cubits by 1.7 to find the dimensions in feet.

Length: 

 cubits x 1.7 = 

 feet

Width: 

 cubits x 1.7 = 

 feet

Height: 

 cubits x 1.7 = 

 feet
  • 1 cubit = about 20 inches
  • 12 inches = 1 foot
  • 1 cubit = about 1.7 feet
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