This article originally appeared in Answers Update–Answers in Genesis’ free printed monthly newsletter. (Sign up for Answers Update at www.answersingenesis.org)
Last time, we wrote about the door into Noah’s Ark. There was only one, representing the only way to salvation from the coming worldwide Flood. Today, Jesus Christ is the one and only door to salvation.
From a careful reading of Scriptures, it appears that the door was never opened again. So how did Noah and all those animals get out of that big ship?
First, the Bible says “the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark” (Genesis 8:13). The word “covering” is the Hebrew mikceh, which every other time it’s used refers to a covering of skin. Did Noah remove the wooden planks—the “skin” of the Ark—and build off-loading ramps?
The Bible goes on to say that Noah remained inside the Ark for another five weeks. Why did he presumably saw a big hole in the Ark during those weeks before exiting? Let’s speculate.
Perhaps once the Ark came to rest, a mechanical ventilation system that relied on the motion of water–such as what’s called a “moon pool”–had stopped functioning? Can you imagine being cooped up with thousands of animals and no fans blowing? You’d be sawing holes, too!
Also, five weeks would have given Noah time to build off-loading ramps from the planks he’d removed from the Ark’s “skin,” and some extra time for vegetation to have taken root outside for the animals to eat.
For a breath of fresh air, you’ll have to visit our life-size Noah’s Ark in the Ark Encounter theme park and see how a moon pool works. Look for it in 2014.
Help us build a full-scale Noah’s Ark! Answers in Genesis’ part in the $150 million Ark Encounter project is raising $24.5 million in donations for an all-wood Ark, the centerpiece of the whole multi-attraction complex! A finished Ark will be a great testimony to the historicity of the Bible. For an explanation of the funding of the entire Ark Encounter, go to ArkEncounter.com.
Why wouldn't the door open again? That doesn't seem like a very good design. Did it swell up and jam shut from all the water? When you build your ark, I would hope you don't require guests to saw holes in the side to get out…or build off-loading ramps.
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If he stayed indoors for five more weeks, thereby allowing extra time for vegetation to take root, that would work for the vegetarians (providing they didn't have highly specific vegetable requirements), but what about the carnivores? God would have to perform a miracle or two to allow them to obtain enough nutrients from vegetation till they a) got to where they were going and b) enough animals had reproduced to feed them.
-Mariana
Mariana, it's highly unlikely there were any carnivores on the ark. See Genesis 9:2-5.
There are currently 10 million known species of life today. Let's assume there were a similar number pre-flood, and of course these included dinosaurs, the largest of which were very large indeed. How did Noah get all the dinosaur pairs, much less 2 of every specie, into the ark? Considering the inevitable mortality rates of creatures trying to re-establish their species from only 2 individuals, which ones failed to flourish?
DaveG, this is an issue AiG & many other creationist organizations have addressed in numerous online articles. A quick answer is that God didn't need to preserve 2 of every what-we-today-call "species"; only 2 of each mating "kind" (more like the Family level of classification). The most simple example is dogs, all of which originally bred from the ancestors of wolves, or wolf-like canines (according to evolutionists who don't necessarily believe the Bible). And most dinosaurs were not "very large", nor would God need to preserve "the largest", but simply a pair of healthy young specimens. Bear in mind that even the largest ones were not born that way!
So if all Noah had to do was to take two dogs, which are descended from wolves (I thought there were no carnivores aboard), how did all the various breeds of dogs we have today come about? Evolution? Or did God create them? What kind of elephants did Noah have: Asian or African? And how did dogs and elephants (and all the rest of the animals) get from the top of Ararat to all the other places they are found in the world?