Christ, The Greater Noah

-12 Min Read

Introduction

As we continue our journey through the Old Testament, examining all the characters who serve as types of Christ, we finally arrive at Noah, the one who “found favor in the eyes of Yahweh” (Gen. 6:8). When we look at Noah, we not only see similarities between him and the Lord Jesus but also with Adam. In many ways, Noah is a repeated Adam but placed in a post-fallen state.

The One Who
Gives Rest

And Lamech lived 182 years and became the father of a son. 29 Now he called his name Noah, saying, “This one will give us rest from our work and from the pain of our hands arising from the ground which Yahweh has cursed.”

– Genesis 5:28-29 (LSB)

Immediately, we see Moses setting up Noah as a typological deliverer. God promised that from the woman’s seed would come a savior, a “headcrusher” (Gen. 3:15), and here Moses gives us insight as to what may have been going through Lamech’s head at the birth of his son Noah. Lamech declares that Noah “will give us rest from our work and from the pain of our hands arising from the ground which Yahweh has cursed.”

Clearly, Lamech, like Eve with Cain (Gen. 4:1), anticipates the foretold seed that will come forth and reverse the curse of sin; and not only sin but the effects of sin, for Lamech specifically mentions the cursed “ground” (Gen. 3:17). According to Moses we must read the story of Noah through the lens of him as a type of deliverer who resembles both Adam and the true seed who is to come, Christ. Noah would certainly bring a rest for the people of God, but not a lasting one.

God tells Noah “I will establish My covenant with you” (Gen. 6:18), which is incredibly significant. Moses carefully records that YAHWEH will establish (וַהֲקִמֹתִי) His covenant with Noah and not cut (כָּרַת) a covenant as He will with Abraham (Gen. 15:18). This may imply that the covenant God “establishes” with Noah is somewhat already existent; the covenant God made with Adam. Though certainly different in terms of the pre-fall and post-fallen state and the sanctions God gives, they are indeed very similar in the commands that accompany them.

The similarities between Noah and Adam are greater the longer one looks. Moses tells us that after the flood, “Noah began to be a man of the ground (הָאֲדָמָה)” (Gen. 9:20), to which Adam was formed from the “ground” (הָאֲדָמָה) (Gen. 2:7). Hamilton concisely points out the similarities between the two.

“Yahweh God planted (וַיִּטַּע) a garden in Eden in the east in 2:8, and in 9:20 Noah planted (וַיִּטַּע) a vineyard. Adam ate forbidden fruit (Gen. 3:6), at which point his nakedness was exposed (3:7), and words of judgment followed (3:14-19). Just as Adam ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree in the garden, Noah drank himself drunk by the wine of his vineyard (9:21b). As God cursed the serpent after Adam’s sin, so Noah cursed Canaan (9:25), descendent of Ham, identifying both the Egyptians (Ham) and the Canaanites as seed of the serpent (3:15; cf. 10:6).”

– James M. Hamilton Jr., Typology – Understanding The Bible’s Promise-Shaped Patterns, (Zondervan, Grand Rapids, MI, 2022), 40

There are a lot of similarities between Noah and Christ. Noah constructed the ark out of wood and likewise, Jesus was nailed to a cross of wood. They both were carpenters (Gen. 6:14; Mark 6:3). Noah covered (וְכָפַרְתָּ) the ark with pitch (Gen. 6:14) and Christ covers us with His blood (Rom. 3:25; 1 John 1:7). This Hebrew word translated “cover” means “to make an atonement, to propitiate.” This certainly points to the rest that Christ would provide for the people of God.

Where Noah points to rest, Christ brings the rest (Matt. 11:28). Noah serves as a type, resembling the Lord Jesus who would likewise pass through the waters and lead His people safely to dry ground, and therefore points us to the one who will bring about our eternal rest (Heb. 4:8-11).

The Ark Itself

…when the patience of God kept waiting in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. 21 Corresponding to that, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal of a good conscience to God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ

– 1 Peter 3:20-21 (LSB)

17th century Particular Baptist, Nehemiah Coxe considers the ark of Noah to be a type in and of itself. He observes that the ark’s dimensions resemble the body of a man, almost as if it were a giant coffin. Coxe adds that “There was a resemblance of burial in entering into it and of resurrection in coming out of it” [1]. This certainly fits the motif Peter appears to be alluding to by saying; “Corresponding to [Noah’s ark], baptism now saves you” (1 Pet. 3:21). Coxe is simply observing what Peter observed;

“Thus the ark was an extraordinary sacrament, or prefiguring, of the church’s redemption and salvation by the death and resurrection of Christ and of her union and communion with him that died and rose again, so as to enjoy all benefits of his death and resurrection.”

– Nehemiah Coxe [2]

If Noah was a picture of the one who would lead us to the new world, then his ark would certainly be pictured as the vessel unto which we get there. By being baptized into the Lord Jesus, we are safe from God’s wrath. By being plunged into Him, we are protected from the day of judgment. It is through the waters that we are saved, and it always has been.

Coxe rightly observes that the ark is given as the sign of the salvation of God to Noah and his family. When the author of Hebrews says; “By faith Noah, being warned about things not yet seen, in reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Heb. 11:7), this truth is established. Coxe explains:

“Though we have no reason to think that these things could then be apprehended so distinctly and clearly as we now see them by the light of the New Testament, yet have we good ground to believe that some general knowledge of them was conveyed to the minds of the faithful in the time of this type and by means of it. This informs us how Noah became an heir of the righteousness of faith by building the ark and entering into it (Hebrews 11:7). These were not only proof of his obedience through which the truth of his faith was manifested, but additionally his faith reached and in some degree apprehended the spiritual use of the ark which he was building. While his hands were busied in this external work, and his life secured by his living in it, his faith was exercised about that spiritual and eternal salvation that was shadowed and typically represented by it.”

– Nehemiah Coxe [3]

In other words, if the ark is indeed a picture of Christ and the manner in which He will deliver us, by faith Noah received not only the symbol but that which is signified. If Noah received salvation by faith through the ark, then eternal salvation likewise would flow to Noah by faith through a greater ark. In Hebrews chapter 11, the author’s entire point is that Noah, and others, were saved just as we are: by faith in God and therefore His promises (Heb. 11:39-40).

Through The Water

A repeated theme throughout the Bible is the theme of water. At the beginning of creation, God “gathered the waters“, called forth the “dry land” (Gen. 1:9-10), then “placed” His people there in the land (Gen. 2:8,15), and provided all their needs. In the flood account, God causes the waters to “recede“, and the dry land to come forth (Gen. 8:1-14), then God covenants with His people and supplies their needs in the new land (Gen. 9:1-17). In the Exodus account, God parts the waters and brings forth dry ground for His people to go through safely (Exod. 14:21-22), covenants with them (Exod. 24:1-18), and then leads them to the promised land (Deut. 6:3); where again God would part the waters of the Jordan (Josh. 3:14-16), the people of God cross on “dry ground” (Josh. 3:17), and they go on into the promised land. [4]

With Noah, he lands in a new world, a re-creation of sorts. God interacts with Noah as He did with Adam because Noah inherited a whole world just as Adam did. This points forward to where Jesus Christ will lead us to a new creation, a new land, where we will rest in the presence of God. This new and greater Edenic state will have no sea in it John tells us (Rev. 21:1). This is because there will be no more deliverance to take place. God will have already accomplished all redemption; there will be no longer a need to pass through the waters.

When the Lord Jesus was baptized He was baptized in the Jordan River (Matt. 3:13-15) and when He came up out of the water “behold, the heavens were opened” (Matt. 3:16). Instead of us witnessing some parting, or miracle with the water, the heavens are that which is parted. They open up and the Holy Spirit descends upon Jesus in the form of a “dove” (Matt. 3:16).

When Noah first released the dove from the ark to see if the land had emerged, “the dove found no resting place for the sole of its foot, so it returned to him into the ark” (Gen. 8:9). After another seven days Noah releases the dove and when it returns “in its beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth” (Gen. 8:11). After Noah waits another seven days, he releases the dove to which “it did not return to him again” (Gen. 8:12).

If the Holy Spirit chooses to identify as a dove at the baptism of the Son of God, upon the opening of heaven, this may signify that the new eternal rest the people of God are to enter is “heavenly“. The Spirit appears to be in complete agreement with the Father, who said; “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased” (Matt. 3:17), for the Holy Spirit rested upon the Lord Jesus; He did not return back to heaven.

We see that the Holy Spirit would be here to remain with the people of God from here on out. At Pentecost, the Spirit would be poured out and would then indwell all believers throughout all time (Acts 1:4-5) so as not to leave us as orphans (John 14:16-19).

In Bunyan’s The Pilgrim’s Progress, Christian and Hopeful are passing through the Waters of the River so that they may enter into the Kings City when Christian begins to drown. To which Hopeful calls out; “Be of good cheer, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole!”: And with that Christian brake out with a loud voice, Oh, I see him again! and he tells me, ‘When thou passest through the Waters, I will be with thee; and through the Rivers, they shall not overflow thee’.” [5]

Conclusion

There is much more to the story of Noah than just animals going two-by-two into a big boat. The story of Noah is a great Exodus story, a redemptive story, a story of re-creation. It has many symbols and types in it that foreshadow greater realities. We can appreciate Noah more if we read him the way Moses intended us to. Moses would be telling his own story soon, and so he is setting up the patterns for us to recognize. Noah, like Adam, points us to Christ. If we give careful attention to the stories and characters in the Old Testament we will benefit greatly when we arrive to the New.

Works Cited

[1-3] Nehemiah Coxe, A Discourse of The Covenants (1681), Covenant Theology From Adam to Christ, (Reformed Baptist Academic Press, Palmdale, CA, 2005), 63-64

[4] Currid makes this observation along with pointing out the connection with the dry ground. “It appears in Genesis 1:9 as the ‘dry ground’ which becomes visible at creation (in antithesis to the waters). The earth’s surface is called ‘dry ground’ after the flood of the day of Noah (Gen. 8:7,14). In all three events [Exod. 14:22 included], God causes water to be removed so that dry land might appear.” – John D. Currid, Exodus, Volume 1, (Evangelical Press, Tomlinson Road, Leyland, PR25 2DY, England, 2019), 292

[5] John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress, (Banner of Truth Trust, East Peoria, IL, 1895 *Reprinted in 2023), 183

* Gentry and Wellum’s table further shows the pattern of Adam to Noah, and Noah to Christ. (see below)