How BIG was Noah's Ark?

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How big was Noah's ark? Let us start by defining a cubit. A Biblical cubit is considered the length between the elbow of an adult and their fingertip, which is calculated to being 18 U.S. inches (roughly). Quite a few scholars who study the Hebrew Bible believe a cubit was somewhere in between 17.5 to 21.5 inches long. If we conservatively assume that a cubit was 18 inches (U.S.), we can conclude that the ark was about 450 feet (U.S.) long, 75 feet (U.S.) wide, and 45 feet (U.S.) high.

The interesting thing about Noah's ark its construction was on a 1:6 ratio. Naval architecture reveals that this is the most stable ratio for an ocean-going vessel. It could have easily survived even big ocean waves and would be next to impossible to capsize. The amount of water the ship would displace, given a draught of 15 cubits, exceeds 22,000 tons.


How many animals did it carry?

How many total animals did God want carried in the ark? Many who refuse to believe in what the Bible says state that the ship's capacity would be nowhere big enough to handle the millions of different animals it was supposedly required to carry. The truth, however, is far different from the rhetoric of those who are against God and his word!

How many clean and unclean animals would Noah's Ark have to take on board? What the Bible (Leviticus 11, Deuteronomy 14) considers clean (fit for human consumption) and unclean (not fit to eat) animals is easy to identify based on the characteristics of a particular creature. For example, warm-blooded mammals that have split hooves and chews the cud is clean to eat (e.g. Bison, Cattle, Deer, Goats, Sheep, etc.). Those that do not have these characteristics are not clean and good for man (e.g. Pigs, Lions, Tigers, Boars, etc.)

What did RAINBOWS symbolize after the flood?
Why was Noah's lifespan so long?
How LONG did it take to build the ship?
What does the INSIDE of the Ark look like?


Those who are against God say that Noah had to take SEVEN pair of clean animals and SEVEN pair of the birds (Genesis 7:2-3) with him. Is this assumption true? The answer to the question is in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14. When properly understood, Noah took on seven (7) individual animals and birds (not seven pairs) of each kind that were clean. Since these types of animals would later be used for food, it would be important to have extra breeding stock. There was three pair of clean animals and clean birds plus a seventh. The seventh one was to be offered as a sacrifice at the end of the flood (Genesis 8:20). If an animal were unclean, which the vast majorities were, then only one pair came aboard the great ship.

Contrary to what many believe and what "documentaries" concerning the ark claim, the ship would have EASILY been big enough to carry all the required animals. Only air breathing, land dwelling animals would have to be placed on the ark itself (Genesis 7:22). In the book The Genesis Flood, it states that animals such as fish, starfishes, sea urchins, mussels, clams, corals, jellyfish, sponges, and many others could have survived outside Noah's ship.


The number of animals saved


Space needed for the animals


Why drown a billion people?

One honest, basic question is why was there a need for Noah's ark in the first place? What caused God, Who is the very definition of love, to take the extreme measure of DROWNING roughly one BILLION people at the same time? The Bible itself gives us the answer.


In the roughly 1,500 years from Adam's creation man had grown corrupt and brutal. The consequences of their selfishness, lust, greed and disobedience, compounded by the fact they lived exceptionally long life spans, led to a preoccupation with evil. God, who saw the cavalcade of suffering and pain man endured, with no end in sight due, mercifully ended their ongoing self-torture. Yet the Eternal was also merciful by having Noah's ark built to save a righteous man and his family so that humanity could have a new start after the flood.

Additional Study Materials
Did a race of GIANTS exist before the deluge?
Did DINOSAURS exist before the flood?
How did the deluge lead to HALLOWEEN?
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