Order up! Or down?

How could Noah’s family of eight have cared for huge animals like elephants and rhinos? At the Ark Encounter, you will see simple but brilliant solutions to big, hairy problems.

Noah could have easily designed cisterns to store rainwater, and a simple bamboo plumbing system could have distributed water down to smaller containers near the animal enclosures. A rod through a large clay pot with cork stoppers at the top and bottom would allow for easy filling and refilling—lift the rod to close the drain at the bottom and open the top to fill the container. And then lower the rod to seal the top and open the bottom drain to automatically fill the attached water bowl for the animal!

Distributing food from above would also streamline the feeding of the animals. The person feeding the animals would just need to fill the large chute periodically because the food would fall into the trough automatically as the trough is emptied.

Clever use of gravity and natural materials could have streamlined processes like the feeding and watering of animals on the Ark. The exhibits at the Ark Encounter show how Noah and his family could have done what seems impossible at first glance.

Noah Found Grace

The generation of Noah was wicked, evil, and corrupt. The Lord looked upon mankind, the pinnacle of His Creation, and was grieved in His heart (Genesis 6:6), for they had turned their back on Him.

Indeed, Genesis 6:7 states that the Lord was sorry He created man, and put a plan in motion.

In the midst of this turmoil and violence, we see one of the most powerful words in all of Scripture: the simple word “but.” Throughout both the Old and New Testaments, there are countless examples of dire circumstances and hopelessly evil situations where God breaks through and exhibits His grace, mercy, and active hand (e.g., Genesis 50:20; Ephesians 2:4). God acts both in history and in our lives. He exhibits His sovereign power and unspeakable grace.

Surrounded by evil and corruption, we can still see the light in the darkness. “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord” (Genesis 6:8, emphasis added). Only Noah was found righteous in that generation, and only Noah “walked with God” (verse 9). He found grace and favor in the eyes of the Lord. Noah was the recipient of God’s amazing grace.

God provided for Him, and for his family, an Ark of salvation from the coming Flood. In the same way, He provides the means of salvation for us in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross. May we, like Noah, “find grace in the eyes of the Lord.”