A colossal testimony to God

For many decades Noah witnessed to the world by building his huge ship away from the water. Many Bible scholars estimate the cubit at approximately 18 inches. At 300 cubits long, 50 cubits across and 30 cubits high (Genesis 6:15), the ark would have measured some 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet—three stories—high. By some estimates the cubit was a bit longer, which would have made the ark even larger.

“For a wooden vessel, the size of the ark was enormous by ancient as well as modern standards. It would have been about two and a half times the size of the large ‘Byblos-boats’ used by the Egyptians during the Early Dynastic Period and would even have been larger than the largest wooden ships in the modern period of sailing. The Cutty Sark, a three-masted clipper ship launched in 1869, was just over 212 feet” (The Expositor’s Bible Commentary, 1990, note on Genesis 6:15).

 

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