Grasping the Size of the Ark

Lewis and Angela Meyer, from New Zealand, are in fulltime ministry around their country. They have high scientific qualifications, and give messages on creation/the Gospel. The Meyers have shared with us a novel way you can use to help young people grasp the true size of Noah’s Ark.

Use cardboard banana boxes to outline a 1/10^th linear scale model of the Ark. Banana boxes measure 50 cm long, 40 cm wide and 24 cm high, so you need 28 for the sides of the Ark and 3 (longwise) each end. Stack them up 6 high to show the height. You will have trouble getting enough boxes (372!), so just stack up enough in one spot to show the height. You can get children to cut out people and animals 1/10^th linear scale—for example, a sheep would be about 10 cm high, a person about 17 cm. Get the children to sit in the ‘Ark’ as ‘Noah’ is interviewed to tell them the Bible account of the Flood. This really drives home how big the Ark was (1,000 times the volume of this scale model), the reality of the story, and the awful consequences of sin. [2.54 cm = 1 inch]