SkiesBible story
Noah’s ark
A retelling of Genesis 6–9: a world gone wrong, a family kept safe, and a promise in the clouds.
I have set My rainbow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. Whenever I form clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.
Genesis 9:13–15
Noah’s ark is the story in Genesis 6–9 of a flood that came on a violent world, and of Noah, who “walked with God,” building an ark that kept his family and the animals alive. Afterwards God made a covenant never again to destroy all life by flood, and set the rainbow in the clouds as its sign.
The story
The world had filled with violence, and God was grieved to his heart. But Noah “walked with God.” God told him to build a great boat of wood, an ark, and to bring his family and pairs of every kind of animal into it.
Noah did everything God told him. Then the rain came, forty days and nights, and the waters rose over the land. Inside the ark, Noah’s family and the animals were safe. Outside, everything was lost.
Then the Bible says, “God remembered Noah.” A wind passed over the earth and the waters slowly went down. The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Noah sent out a raven, then a dove. The second time the dove came back with a fresh olive leaf. The third time it didn’t come back at all.
When the ground was dry, Noah and his family stepped out and built an altar to give thanks. And God made a promise to Noah, his children and every living creature: never again would a flood destroy all life. He set his rainbow in the clouds as the sign.
What it means
This is not just a children’s story about animals. It takes evil seriously: God is grieved by violence and will not let it go on forever. And it takes mercy seriously: God makes a way to save, and then binds himself by a promise.
Christians have long seen the ark as a picture of being kept safe in Christ (1 Peter 3:20–21). The rainbow is a reminder, for God and for us, that his patience and mercy hold the world together.
Pray
Faithful God, thank you that you remember us. Keep us safe through every storm, and help us, like Noah, to walk with you. Amen.
Read it in the Bible
This is the account of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation; Noah walked with God.
Genesis 6:9
Questions people ask
What does the rainbow mean in the Bible?
It is the sign of God’s covenant with Noah and every living creature that he will never again destroy all life by flood (Genesis 9:13–15).
How long was Noah on the ark?
About a year. The rain fell for forty days, and Genesis 7–8 dates Noah’s time in the ark from the seventeenth day of the second month to the twenty-seventh day of the second month the next year.
