The Ark and Jesus: The Door

Genesis 7:13-16; John 10:7-10

What an image! I think many times when we imagine the door of the ark closing, we picture Noah closing the door. However, Genesis 7:16 tells us that God closed the door of the ark. Revelation 3:7 says that when "He" shuts a door, no one can open it. For Noah, I am sure this was a great comfort. Can you imagine if Noah had closed the door himself? As the waters rose, Mrs. Noah would have probably been asking, "Honey are you sure you secured it properly?" His daughters-in-law may have told their husbands, "Go check behind your dad. You know he is getting old". However, when God closed the door, it was shut tighter than anything man could have done.

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On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons -- Shem, Ham, and Japheth -- and Noah’s wife, and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark— they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort.  And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life.  So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the LORD shut him in.

Genesis 7:13-16

Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

John 10:7-10

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Growing up, we had a Bible Nintendo game about Noah. In the game, you played Noah, and you had to gather up all the animals. While some imagine this scene, that is not what the Bible says. It says that God led the animals to the ark. It actually says that God led Noah and his family onto the ark and then the animals went into the ark where he was. God shepherded all of them into the ark and into His protection. While it may seem like a trivial thing to mention, all the people and animals that were on the ark entered through the door.

In John, Jesus called Himself the door through which the sheep entered the sheepfold of God. A sheepfold is a pen into which the sheep would go at night. It was to keep them safe from thieves and predators. The shepherd could easily keep an eye on them, and there was no concern of them wandering off in the night unnoticed. It was to this safety and protection that Jesus said "I am the door".

Noah was a righteous man already, but the image here is of salvation. Jesus is "the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes unto the Father except through me" (John 14:6). As Noah, and all the others, entered into the ark, and God closed the door, they were sealed forever from what God was doing outside the ark. Never would they have to face what was happening outside. All that were within the ark were sealed in, and all that was without the ark was sealed out. I also want to note that, just as Jesus said He does not lose any that the Father gives Him (John 6:39), He did not lose any that were on the ark. That should be a comfort to us, and that God will see us through to the end as well.

Many people pray for God to "open doors", but we should also remember that when God closes a door, that is a good thing as well. There are things and people that we should want closed out from our lives. We should trust that when God closes a door, it is not just a good thing, but it is the best thing. He is protecting us from something, and when we try to force our way through that door, we are trying to get outside of His loving protection.

Father, thank You for Jesus being our door. What comfort it is to know that we have a door that cannot be opened or kicked in by our enemies. That same door protects us from the judgment that is for those who are outside of You. When we come to that door, and it is closed, remind us that we should be grateful and not annoyed.

Picture taken from: https://www.artstation.com/artwork/3qALqD.