Noah's Ark As a Floating Temple

Perhaps the rainy day has caused me to meditate upon Noah and his ark. But there are numerous parallels between the ark and temple worship.

In the Bible only the ark, the tabernacle, and the temple are given exact dimensions, according to a prearranged pattern given by the Lord. There is a similarity of an inner and outer covering for both Noah's ark and the Ark of the Covenant found in the tabernacle (and later in the temple) within the Holy of Holies. Noah was told to make rooms in the ark, and to "pitch it within and without with pitch" (Genesis 6:14). The Ark of the Covenant was overlaid "within and without" with pure gold (Exodus 25:10-11).

Each room in the temple has its unique purpose and the moving from room to room conveys a sense of moving or walking back to the presence of God. "Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God" (v. 9).

The pitch covering the ark within and without is a special Hebrew word kaphar and it translates into the word atonement throughout the Old Testament. The concepts of creation, fall, and atonement are pillars in the plan of salvation and important temple concepts. The Atonement of Jesus Christ works from within and without to not only change behaviors, but also to change hearts.

The ark had a "window," which may have been something different than a window used today to view outside. The footnote for Genesis 6, verse 16 explains the Hebrew word tsohar, which literally means light brighter than noonday sun. Perhaps the Lord gives the brother of Jared a hint by saying, "What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in your vessels? For behold, ye cannot have windows, for they will be dashed in pieces; neither shall ye take fire with you, for ye shall not go by the light of fire" (Ether 2:23). The concept of receiving light and knowledge from God is another basic temple concept.

The ark also had lower, second, and third stories, representing the telestial, terrestrial, and celestial kingdoms. Ancient temples had areas representing each kingdom. The outer courtyard symbolized telestial glory, the Holy Place symbolized terrestrial glory, and the Holy of Holies symbolized celestial glory.

The repeated use of the number seven (in chapter seven) has ties to covenant making. The Hebrew word for seven (sheba) has a verb form of shaba, meaning to swear or make a covenant. The clean beasts were taken into the ark by sevens. The Lord said the rains would begin in seven days. And when a dove was released from the ark and returned again, it stayed seven days. An example of the interchangeable meaning of "seven" occurs when Abraham makes a covenant with Abimelech and he sets seven ewe lambs aside as a symbol of the oath and then digs a well named Beersheba, meaning well of the oath, or well of seven (Genesis 21:27-31).

When Noah sends forth the dove the scripture records,

"But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark" (Genesis 8:9).

The sole of the foot, the palm of the hand, and the hollow of the thigh are all the same word in Hebrew. The word is kaph. Some examples are when the Lord says, "Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands" (Isaiah 49:16). And when Jacob wrestles with an angel and the messenger touches him in the hollow of the thigh (Genesis 32:25-32). This word is used in conjunction with covenant making. Interestingly, the word is translated as spoon in Numbers, chapter seven.

The dove is pulled into a place of refuge and safety as Noah puts forth his hand and pulls her in. The temple is a refuge from the storm for each of us (see Isaiah 4:6).

The imagery of the ark as a floating temple is expressed in the following verses,

"And they that went in, went in male and female of all flesh, as God had commanded him: and the Lord shut him in.

"And the flood was forty days upon the earth; and the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth" (Genesis 7:16-17).

I am grateful we can go to the temple and enter into the new and everlasting covenant as male and female, husband and wife. As the Lord shuts us in, we are enclosed in a place of refuge and we leave the outside world behind for a while. We are then "lifted up" above the mundane and meaningless and taken to a higher spiritual plane.

The Enemy Strikes Back At the Abrahamic Covenant

I know I'm somewhat obsessive with this topic of Father Abraham and the covenant, but I have noticed lately how the adversary has launched a full-blown assault on this very subject.

We know the Church has a threefold mission, and a fourth objective was announced not too long ago. The former threefold mission was to proclaim the gospel, perfect the Saints, and redeem the dead.

But did you know Satan has a threefold mission as well? He knows about the fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant, that by its adherence, "shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal" (Abraham 2:11). If you know the enemy like I do, you know that must sound awfully repulsive to him!

So he goes to work with a plan attacking the fundamental elements of the Abrahamic Covenant. In a nutshell the covenant has three core ingredients expounded by the aforementioned verse:

"And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal."

Lucifer, of course, is not interested in the blessing side, but he is highly interested in the cursing side. So let's dig in and analyze a bit. It seems priesthood rights are linked with seed of the body. The Lord is saying the priesthood is held in thee and thy seed, and whenever it mentions you or your seed we are talking about priesthood, and the priesthood continues in your seed, and Abraham, in case you missed it, the rights are linked to the literal seed or the seed of the body, and through this Priesthood, or literal seed, or literal body shall all the families of the earth be blessed.

So we have three ingredients--bodies, procreative power, and families. Now it comes into focus and we can clearly see Satan's threefold mission, which is to desecrate the body, entice us to misuse the procreative power, and destroy the family. He has an arsenal of weapons.

He uses addiction of all kinds to pollute the body and destroy our exercise of good moral agency. I am well-versed in this, being a recovering alcoholic and witnessing my body at near-destruction. He also uses media and social networks to promote body image, allowing us to believe that the size, shape, and natural appearance of our bodies just don't measure up. He "cheats our souls" and is "careful" to see that we become dissatisfied with that most precious gift we can take into the celestial world--namely, a resurrected, "natural" body (see 2 Nephi 28:21; D&C 88:28).

It is clear Satan is attacking the procreative power and the "continuation of the seeds" (D&C 132:19). Immorality, sexual addiction, and pornography are prevalent and even accepted in general society as the godliness of procreation is diminished, perverted, and cheapened.

The family is being assaulted and redefined on every side. The traditional family may one day appear on the endangered species list. Yet the verse in Abraham makes it clear that the richest blessings of the gospel are made available to all the families of the earth, not all the individuals of the earth.

We should not be surprised at Lucifer's attacks. The three things he loathes are the things he will never have. He will never have a physical body, he will never have posterity of his own, and he will never know the joys that come through an eternal, heavenly family.

The Cutting Edge of Covenant Making

This is really a play on words. The Old Testament Hebrew word for covenant is beriyth and is derived from the root barah, meaning to cut.

This seems a little odd and quite unrelated to the concept of covenants. There are, however, both ancient and modern examples.

When Abraham asks God what He will give him since he must go childless, the Lord reaffirms His covenant and promises a posterity equal to the stars in heaven (Genesis 15:1-5).

The next verse comments: "And he believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness (v. 6). Then when Abraham asks for a sign, or token, to confirm the promise of eternal lands and seemingly endless posterity, the Lord gives him an interesting assignment. He said, "Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.  And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not (Genesis 15:9-10). Then Abraham is told about 400 years of bondage in Egypt, "and a horror of great darkness fell upon him."

Then the sign is given: "When the sun went down, and it was dark, behold a smoking furnace, and a burning lamp that passed between those pieces" (v. 17). The covenant is sealed in verse 18 as it states, "In the same day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates."

The smoking furnace and the burning lamp are reminiscent of Jehovah's guidance in the wilderness, as the Israelites were led by a pillar of a cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night (see Exodus 13:21). The imagery points us to the idea that the Lord is passing between the pieces laid up against each other to effect some kind of restoration. But first there is a division and a cutting of the sacrificial animals.

This concept of cutting plays out again in Jeremiah. The Lord chastises those who broke the covenant which they made by cutting the calf in twain and passing between the parts (Jeremiah 34:18). With any cutting and severing there comes in due time a restoration.

Such is the concept of a Greek word translated in Acts as "infallible proofs." It was the proof Jesus gave His apostles when He showed Himself alive after His passion and resurrection. The Greek word is tekmerion, a root of the English word token.

In ancient times a token was half of a coin, which only had value as the two pieces were brought together to show the pieces matched.

Similar imagery was used in the Mosaic meal offering oblation. The scriptures record, "And if thou bring an oblation of a meat offering baken in the oven, it shall be unleavened cakes of fine flour mingled with oil, or unleavened wafers anointed with oil (Leviticus 2:4). The anointing of oil would correspond with the Savior's role as the Messiah, meaning "the anointed One." Oil would relate to the Hebrew origin of Gethsemane, meaning "oil press."

The unleavened cakes are translated from a Hebrew word challah, meaning "pierced bread." A related Hebrew root, chalal is translated as wounded in Isaiah 53, verse 5, as it states, "He (Christ) was wounded for our transgressions."

The concept of cutting used symbolically in covenant making denotes a dividing for the purpose of sharing a sacramental meal. Each Sunday we can participate in a communal sharing with the Savior, who laid down His body for us. I like to think of Him passing between the pieces to bring a sanctification to the souls of each who partakes. The emblems of that covenant can go to the core of each being, as we enter into a covenant with Him.

Temple and Atonement Imagery and the Abrahamic Covenant

Abraham was commanded to take his son Isaac into the land of Moriah and there offer him as a burnt offering upon "one of the mountains" revealed to him. The name "Moriah" in its original Hebrew means "place chosen by Jehovah" (see Strong's Bible Concordance, Hebrew # 4179). Isaac is referred to as an "only son," reminding us of Christ as the Only Begotten Son of God (Genesis 22:2). The repetitive use of the word "place" in this chapter (Genesis 22) is a Hebrew style referred to as Leitwort, meaning leading word or theme word. Its usage here refers to the "holy place" of the temple.

The name "Moriah" shows up again as Solomon begins to build the temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah (2 Chronicles 3:1). At the temple dedication part of the dedicatory prayer states:

"That thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which thou hast said, My name shall be there: that thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which thy servant shall make toward this place. And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray toward this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place: and when thou hearest, forgive (1 Kings 8:29-30). Notice again the repetition of the word place. Also, on the east side of the Salt Lake (Utah) Temple, there is the all-seeing eye, reminding us of His eyes which are upon His house and upon each of us.

On April 3, 1836 the Lord Jesus Christ appeared in the newly-dedicated Kirtland (Ohio) Temple and said to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, "I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house (Doctrine and Covenants 110:7). The Lord confirms the place he has chosen by placing His name there.

When Abraham was commanded to offer his "only son" Isaac as a burnt offering, he took the wood of the offering and "laid it upon Isaac his son." He also took "fire in his hand," and a knife. This foreshadows the Mosaic ordinance of a burnt offering as "the priest shall put fire upon the altar, and lay the wood in order upon the fire" (Leviticus 1:7). The priest would also "lay the parts, the head, and the fat, in order upon the wood that is on the fire which is upon the altar" (verse 8). But more importantly, this prefigures the crucifixion scene where Jesus bears His wooden cross as He is led away to Golgotha (see John 19:17).

Isaac asks his father about the lamb for the burnt offering. Abraham responds, "God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering" (Genesis 22:8). How prophetic this was as God condescended to offer Himself as the Paschal Lamb, playing the roles as Priest, Sacrificer, and Sacrifice! Isaac's role as the "burnt offering" was that of a voluntary sacrifice. The Hebrew word for burnt offering means to ascend (Strong's # 5930) and represents the smoke of the sacrifice ascending to heaven. Thus, the carnal, animalistic desires of the natural man are surrendered to God, as the will of the natural man goes up in smoke.

As described in Leviticus, the burnt offering was "flayed" and "cut in pieces" (Leviticus 1:6). This symbolizes the Atonement as the soldiers stripped Jesus and "parted his garments" (Matthew 27:28,35). The sacrificial animal was killed "on the side of the altar northward" (Leviticus 1:11). Golgotha, where Jesus was crucified, lies north of the temple in Jerusalem on Mount Moriah.

Abraham was stopped by the angel of the Lord as he was obedient to the command of God. Mercifully, there was a ram in the thicket which would become the substitute sacrifice. Abraham named the place Jehovah-jireh, meaning "Jehovah sees." Jesus, as our Savior, not only sees each of us clearly, but also understands every challenge we face.

Because Abraham was obedient he was promised that his posterity would be "as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies" (Genesis 22:17).

It is truly amazing that in holy temples we can receive the same promises.