sis. When we read of the animals entering the Ark we are told "They went in unto Noah (not unto Noah and his family) into the Ark," and then we are told "And the Lord shut him (not 'them') in" (Gen. 7:15, 16). And again, on leaving the ark we read that God said unto Noah, "Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things" (Gen. 9:3). So Christ is "the Heir of all things" (Heb. 1:2).

11. In Genesis 6:21 we find Noah presented as the great food-provider: "And take thou unto thee of all food that is eaten, and thou shalt gather it to thee; and it shall be for food for thee, and for them." We need hardly say that this finds its complement in Christ the Bread of Life. He is God's Manna for our souls. He is the Shewbread which was eaten by Aaron and his sons (Lev. 24: 9). He is the Old Corn of the land (Joshua 5:11). In short, it is only as we feed upon Christ as He is presented unto us in the written Word that our spiritual life is quickened and nourished.

12. In Genesis 6: 22 we learn of Noah's implicit and complete obedience-Thus did Noah according to all that God commanded him, so did he." And again, "And Noah did according unto all that the Lord commanded him" (Gen. 7:5). So, too, we read of the perfect obedience of Him whom Noah foreshadowed: "If ye keep My commandments, ye shall abide in My love; even so I have kept My Father's commandments, and abide in His love" (John 15: 10). Only, be it noted, the obedience of our blessed Lord went farther than that of Noah, for He "became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross" (Phil. 2:8)—in all things He has the preeminence.

13. "And Noah went forth, and his sons, and his wife, and his sons' wives with him; every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds went forth out of the ark" (Gen. 8:18, 19). In these verses we see Noah bringing all whom God had committed to his care on to the new earth, which reminds us of our Lord's words, "Of them which Thou gavest Me have I lost none" (John 18: 9). However, the fact that the animal creation is here specifically mentioned as sharing in this blessing seems to point to a milennial scene when all creation shall enjoy the benefit of Christ's reign (cf. Isaiah 11).

14. "And Noah builded an altar unto the Lord; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar (Gen. 8:20). Here we see Noah offering a burnt offering unto the Lord: the antitypical parallel is found in Ephesians 5:2-"Christ also hath loved us, and hath given Himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet smelling savor.

15. "And God blessed Noah and his sons" (Gen. 9:1). It is beautiful to see Noah and his sons here linked together in the enjoyment of God's blessing, as though to foreshadow the blessed fact that every mercy we now enjoy is ours for Christ's sake." "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" (Eph. 1:3).

16. With Noah and his sons God established His Covenant, "And God spake unto Noah, and to his sons with him, saying, And I, behold, I establish My covenant with you, and with your seed after you" (Gen. 9:8, 9). The word "covenant" occurs just seven times in this passage, namely, in verses 9, 11, 12, 13, 15, 16, 17. Note, the covenant that God made with Noah was "an everlasting covenant" (Gen. 9:16), and so we read concerning the antitype "Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant" (Heb. 13:20).

13. THE TYPOLOGY OF THE ARK

GENESIS 7

The ark which was built by Noah according to divine directions, in which he and his house, together with representatives from the lower creation, found shelter from the storm of God's wrath, is one of the clearest and most comprehensive types of the believer's salvation in Christ which is to be found in all the Scriptures. So important do we deem it, we have decided to devote a separate article to its prayerful and careful consideration.

1. The first thing to be noted in connection with the ark is that it was a Divine provision. This is very clear from the words of Genesis 6: 13, 14 "And God said unto Noah, the end of all flesh is come before Me....make thee an ark." Before the flood came and before the ark was made, a means of escape for His own people existed in the mind of God. The ark was not provided by Him after the waters had begun to descend. Noah was commanded to construct it before a drop had fallen. So, too, the Saviourship of Christ was no afterthought of God when sin had come in and blighted His creation; from all eternity He had purposed to redeem a people unto Himself, and in consequence, Christ, in the counsels of the Godhead, was "a lamb slain from the foundation of the world" (Rev. 13:8). The ark was God's provision for Noah as Christ is God's provision for sinners.

2. Observe now that God revealed to Noah His own designs and ordered him to build a place of refuge into which he could flee from the impending storm of judgment. The ark was no invention of Noah's; had not God revealed His thoughts to him, he would have perished along with his fellow creatures. In like manner, God has to reveal by His Spirit His thoughts of mercy and grace toward us; otherwise, in our blindness and ignorance we should be eternally lost. "For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ" (2 Cor. 4:6).

3. In the next place, we note that Noah was commanded to make an ark of gopher-wood (Gen. 6:14). The material

out of which the ark was built teaches an important lesson. The ark was made, not of steel like our modern "dreadnoughts," but out of wood. The typical truth which this fact is designed to teach us lies not on the surface, yet is one that is brought before us again and again both in the Word and in Nature; the truth, that life comes out of death, that life can be secured only by sacrifice. Before the ark could be made, trees must be cut down. That which secured the life of Noah and his house was obtained by the death of the trees. We have a hint here, too, of our Lord's humanity. The trees from which the wood of the ark was taken were a thing of the earth, reminding us of Isaiah's description of Christ "a root out of a dry ground” (Isa, 53:2). So Christ, who was the eternal Son of God must become the Son of man-part of that which, originally, was made out of the dust of the earth-and as such be cut down, or, in the language of prophecy, be "cut off" (Dan. 9:26), before a refuge could be provided for us.

4. The ark was a refuge from Divine judgment. There are three arks mentioned in Scripture and each of them was a shelter and place of safety. The ark of Noah secured those within it from the outpoured wrath of God. The ark of bulrushes (Ex. 2:3) protected the young child Moses from the murderous designs of Pharaoh, who was a type of Satan. The ark of the covenant sheltered the two tables of stone on which were inscribed the holy law of God. Each ark speaks of Christ, and putting the three together, we learn that the believer is sheltered from God's wrath, Satan's assaults and the condemnation of the lawthe only three things in all the universe which can threaten or harm us. The ark of Noah was a place of safety. It was provided by God when death threatened all. It was the only place of deliverance from the wrath to come, and as such it speaks of our Lord Jesus Christ, the only Saviour of lost sinners-"Neither is there salvation in any other; for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" (Acts 4: 12).

5. Into this ark man was invited to come. He was invited by God Himself, "And the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark" (Gen. 7:1). This is the first time the word "come" is found in the Scriptures, and it recurs over five hundred times in the remainder of the

Bible. Is it not highly significant that we meet with it here as its first occurrence! A number of thoughts are suggested by this connection, for several of which we are indebted to Dr. Thomas' work on Genesis. Observe that the Lord does not say "Go into the ark," but "Come." "Go" would have been a command, "Come" was a gracious invitation; "Go" would have implied that the Lord was bidding Noah depart from Him, "Come" intimated that in the ark the Lord would be present with him. Is it not the same thought as we have in the Gospel-"Come unto Me and I will give you rest!" Observe further that the invitation was a personal one-"Come thou"; God always addresses Himself to the heart and conscience of the individual. Yet, the invitation went further-"Come thou and all thy house into the ark," and again we find a parallel in the Gospel of grace in our day: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house" (Acts 16:31).

6. The ark was a place of absolute security. This truth is seen from several particulars. First, the ark itself was pitched "within and without with pitch" (Gen. 6:14), hence it would be thoroughly watertight, and as such, a perfect shelter. No matter how hard it rained or how high the waters rose, all inside the ark were secure. The ark was in this respect also, a type of our salvation in Christ. Speaking to the saints, the apostle said, "Your life is hid (like Noah in the ark) with Christ in God" (Col. 3:3). In the next place, we read concerning Noah after he had entered the ark, "And the Lord shut him in" (Gen. 7:16). What a blessed word is this! Noah did not have to take care of himself; having entered the ark, God was then responsible for his preservation. So it is with those who have fled to Christ for refuge, they are "kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time" (1 Pet. 1:5). Finally, the security of all in the ark is seen in the issuing of them forth one year later on to the destruction-swept earth-"And Noah went forth, and his sons and his wife and his sons' wives with him: every beast, every creeping thing, and every fowl, and whatsoever creepeth upon the earth, after their kinds, went forth out of the ark" (Gen. 8: 18, 19). All who had entered that ark had been preserved, none had perished by the flood, and none had died a natural death, so perfect is the type.