We recently took two of our grandsons to The Ark Encounter in Kentucky. We wanted our grandsons to have a richer understanding and awe of the account found in Genesis 6-9.

While no one knows exactly how the Ark looked, there is enough information and detailed research in the Bible and in the science of fossils to replicate the animal kinds and the dimensions and size of the actual Ark.

At the age of 500, God gave the details of the Ark to Noah which took about 100 years to build. “Noah was a righteous man, blameless among the people of his time, and he walked with God.” (Genesis 6:9)

Noah was a man who believed in, listened to, and obeyed God.

There were over 6,000 animals (excluding aquatic life) on the ark with only Noah, his wife, their three sons, and their sons’ wives to feed, water, and maintain the animals, along with the task of maintaining the Ark itself.

The Ark Encounter consists of three floors of replicas of cages, feeding troughs, waste management, thoughtful living quarters for Noah’s family which were complete with garden troughs of fresh vegetables for their one-year occupation on the boat. There are tools and workshops for repairs, musical instruments for entertainment, massive jars of oil for oil lamps and cooking, barrels of grains to meet the dietary needs of the variety of kinds of animals as well as paper and ink for the drawings of the Ark and possible logging of the journey.

On the outside of the Ark, there is a long ramp that leads to enormous doors. God brought the animals who entered through these doors when the Ark was completed.

Imagining the darkness of the Ark, the need for fresh oxygen, the “fragrances”, and the level of noise from all the animals is staggering. The “cute Hallmark” boat with giraffes, elephants, and bears standing on top of a small boat is embarrassing when one sees the magnificent, creative, massive Ark that was God’s design. It is an amazing Bible story.

Our eight-year-old grandson was upset, however, when he came to realize that not everyone got on the boat! This was news to him. He asked several times: “They (those outside the boat) were the sinners, right?” To balance the love of a Gracious God whose desire it is to save His Creation with the idea that this same Just God allows us the decision to follow Him - or not - into eternal life is hard to comprehend at any age, but it is the truth.

We might like to think that we are not among those “sinners” who will be left behind. Like my grandson, we want to separate ourselves from sinners and identify with Noah: “I am a good person, right?”

But to focus on the sin, or lack of sin, and not on the grief and pain we cause our Loving Creator is missing the important message of God’s plan for mankind.

In Genesis 6:6, we read: “The Lord was grieved that he had made man on the earth, and his heart was filled with pain”. We grieve something that is lost, and we have pain when something is broken or wounded. Those words in Genesis focus on a loving, just God who wants to preserve His Good Creation (Genesis 1) but Who will not tolerate man’s wickedness.  Our God desires a relationship with us as Noah had with Him: belief and obedience that led to his salvation.

The Ark represents the truth of the message of the Gospel. While every one of us is capable of wickedness and being a sinner, we can be declared righteous before our Holy Father God, through the “door” that is Jesus Christ. (John 14:6) Starting now, we can “ride out the storms of this life” in Him and are “saved” for all Eternity.  And yes, some will be left behind when the door to eternal life is closed because they denied The Way through Christ. The unsettling fear in that thought comes from The God Who wants us to grieve for the lost, too.

The question is: am I living each day in the saving knowledge of the Love of Christ in an understanding of “that day” when Christ returns with an overwhelming “flood of His Presence”?

As we walked away from the Ark Encounter, I turned and took one more look at the long ramp outside the enormous boat that led up to the oversized doors. I briefly imagined seeing those whom I love walking through those doors that represent the Way to salvation.

Oh, Father. Praise that You are the God Who desires a relationship with us and Who made The Way for us to be saved through Your Son, Jesus. Bless my soul with grief to be as unsettled as my grandsons over those who choose not to get on board with the Way of salvation. Guide me, at this age in my life, to believe You, to listen to You, and to obey You so that I can lead others to enter Your Kingdom today. Amen.