Noah's Ark
Through the eyes of the early Church Fathers
This piece is another one of my Old Testament class assignments; we were to research what the ark is a type of. Inspiration for it comes from this article by Mr. Stephen Beale, published by Catholic Exchange in 2019. I’ve added my commentary and extra quotes where I thought it would help better understand each point. Without further ado, here are ten ways Noah’s Ark prefigures the Catholic Church according to the early Church Fathers.
Wood and water
In 1 Peter 3, St. Peter refers to “the days of Noah,” saying that eight people were saved through water and connected this to the sacrament of Baptism. In “Contra Faustum,” St. Augustine says, “That Noah, with his family, is saved by water and wood, as the family of Christ is saved by baptism, as representing the suffering of the cross.”
The door on the side
In “The City of God,” St. Augustine writes, “And its having a door made in the side of it certainly signified the wound which was made when the side of the Crucified was pierced with the spear; for by this those who come to Him enter; for thence flowed the sacraments by which those who believe are initiated.” This quote made me think of the Anima Christi prayer, which says, “Blood of Christ, inebriate me. Water from the side of Christ, wash me,” and how we can ask Jesus to “hide us within His wounds.”
The body of Christ
In Genesis 6:14, we get the ark's dimensions; it was to be 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide, and 30 cubits high. In “Contra Faustum,” St. Augustine says, “That the length is six times the breadth, and ten times the height, like a human body, to show that Christ appeared in a human body.” The Church is the body of Christ, of which He is the head and us the body.
One ark, one Church
There weren’t several arks; there was one. In one of his epistles, St. Cyprian says, “The one ark of Noah was a type of the one Church. If, then, in that baptism of the world thus expiated and purified, he who was not in the ark of Noah could be saved by water, he who is not in the Church to which alone baptism is granted, can also now be quickened by baptism.”
The decks and stages of the spiritual life
In his second homily on Genesis, St. Origin says, “And thus by ascending through the individual levels of the dwellings, one arrives at Noah himself, whose name means rest or righteous, who is Christ Jesus.” This progression of the spiritual life has three stages, namely, purgative, illuminative, and unitive.
The window above
Apart from the door on the side, in Genesis 6:16, God tells Noah to add an opening and “finish the ark a cubit about it.” Once again, in “Contra Faustum,” St. Augustine picks up on this detail, “That the whole ark together is finished in a cubit above; as the Church, the body of Christ gathered into unity, is raised to perfection.”
Penance, the cross, and Christ
In Homily 84, St. Jerome says, “Through penance, we arrive at the mystery of the cross; we reach the mystery of the cross through the perfect Word that is Christ.” From the ark's dimensions (300 by 50 by 30), St. Jerome mentions how the Hebrew letter for 300 (Sheen) has to do with a divinely appointed instrument of salvation made of wood. We get penance from Psalm 50, a penitential psalm. And 30, from the age of Christ, when He was baptized in the Jordan and started His ministry.
Sealed in love
The ark had no nails; bitumen held together all the boards. In “Contra Faustum,” St. Augustine equates pitch to the love that holds the Church together, “For pitch is a glutinous substance, of great energy and force, to represent the ardor of love which, with great power of endurance, bears all things in the maintenance of spiritual communion.”
Built of saints
St. Augustine comments on the ark's shape by saying, “That this ark is made of beams formed in a square, as the Church is constructed of saints prepared unto every good work: for a square stands firm on any side.”
God closed the ark
In Genesis 7:16, God closed the ark's door once everyone was in. In his homilies on Genesis, St. John Chrysostom says, “Notice in this place too the considerateness in the expression…to teach us that he had ensured the good man’s complete safety.”
I’ve enjoyed learning about typology and reading the New Testament in light of the old; it has brought a greater appreciation for my faith and the work of salvation God laid out for us. Even though I know the waters are figuratively high these days, the bark of Peter is still afloat. I take great consolation in knowing that God promised us that the gates of hell won’t prevail against the Church He instituted. Therefore, as the synod on synodality continues, I urge you to pray that the Holy Spirit may guide the efforts of the Pope, the Magisterium, and everyone involved so that God’s will may be done.
Mary, seat of wisdom. Ora pro nobis.