Noah's Ark and the Temple

 Noah's story about the Ark may be one of the most symbolically rich stories in all of the Old Testament.  I discussed some of the symbols in 2022 and you can read about them here. I want to talk about one more symbol here that several of my podcasters, particularly Mike Day on Talking Scriptures, and Taylor Halverson on Scripture Insights, brought to my attention this week, and that is comparing the Ark to the ancient tabernacle and temple. Of course, Mike Day compares everything to the Temple, but I think this comparison has both good evidence, and good meaning. Here are some reasons someone might compare the Ark to the temple. 

1. Both are structures for which God gave exact measurement and instructions.

2. Both had three man sections: The tabernacle and temple had the courtyard, the holy place, and the holy of holies, while the Ark had three floors.

3. Both involved a cleansing sacrifice. The wicked were slain outside the ark in the flood to cleanse the earth, and the animals were slain outside of the temple for ritualistic cleansing.

4. Both were the origin of covenants, signs and tokens.  God made a covenant with Noah never to again destroy the world with a flood, and made a rainbow as a token.  The Israelites covenanted to be God's people in the temple, and offered sacrifices as tokens. 

5. The Ark eventually rested at the top of a mountain.  Solomon's temple was built on Mount Moriah, and temples in general have always been associated with mountains.

 6. As I discussed in my earlier blog in 2022, the flood story was a repeat of the creation story, with many of the same terms and events happening in both.  The temple also represented the creation. When the priest entered into the Holy of Holies, it represented returning to the garden of Eden and God's presence.

I like this symbolic interpretation because modern temples are places of salvation. The Lord commanded Noah to build the Ark to save his family from the sin and corruption of the world. Likewise we go to the temple to learn how to save ourselves and our families from the sin and corruption of the world. The difference between those who make and keep temple covenants and people who live by the dictates of worldly culture is so much more stark now than when I was a child. I believe the differences will become more dramatic as time progresses.  Temple covenants offer a real protection in the modern world.  Also, we don't know much about the state of those who are waiting for their temple work to be done, but we do believe that doing temple work for the dead provides some kind of saving opportunity to them that, if they accept it, will help them in their eternal progression.  

https://latterdaysaintmag.com/article-1-11639/
This image is from another article about the ark as a temple.