A few years ago, Ruth and I stopped to see the Noah’s Ark exhibit in northern Kentucky. It was right off the highway on our way to The Villages. We often broke up our trips by stopping at local attractions when we traveled between Michigan and Florida.
When the kids were young, we were in a hurry to get to where we were going because we had to get back to work, so we didn’t do a lot of stopping. Vacation days ruled the day. After we retired, the kids and the sense of urgency disappeared. We stopped more frequently.
Noah’s ark was a massive ship, built at God’s command, that saved Noah, his family, and representatives of every kind of land-dependent, air-breathing animal from the global flood that took place over 4,300 years ago.
The descriptions I’ve read about the Ark were based upon a measurement known as a cubit which is an ancient computation based upon the distance from your elbow to the end of your middle finger. I can’t find anything that differentiates between the length of one man’s arm vs another, so they must have taken an average. I’ve been told the Bible described the Ark’s measurements as being 300 cubits long, 50 cubits wide and 30 cubits tall. I’ve also noted the following explanation is easier for me to comprehend.
The ark was 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, 51 feet high and it housed several thousand animals God brought to Noah. After raining for forty days and forty nights the global flood lasted about one year. Following the deluge, the ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat, and Noah’s family, with all the animals that were saved from the flood, eventually spread throughout the world.
I’m not sure if the story is true or not. I know lots of people believe the tale. I’m not writing to dispute, or promote it, but if there’s any chance it’s true, I agree with the decision to take two of each animal. I’m fairly sure that they took a male and female to ensure that the population would increase after the flood receded. That opinion is based upon the little bit of biology I recall from high school and my personal experience as a father. It takes two to tango. One male and one female is the only way I know.
I don’t know how animals communicate, but I’m pretty sure they do. I don’t, however, think they speak from species to species. You know what I’m saying. I don’t think monkeys talk to giraffes or anteaters speak to tigers. But if you were on an ark for a year, no matter how large, you’d want to communicate with someone. Noah, his sons, and the girls on the trip had one another to share their time but the animals were two by two. I hope each couple got along ok because that’s a long time to be hanging out with someone. Even if you’re in love.
Then there’s the issue of abstinence. As far as I know, no babies were born on the trip. So that’s a lot of idle chit-chat no matter what species was involved. I expect the quarters were pretty tight so there wasn’t a lot of wandering around the ark. Noah and his sons were pretty busy shoveling. They were the clean-up crew, so they kept themselves busy. There wasn’t a deli on board, so they had to feed the animals too. They helped get the food to the animals and got rid of it when it came out.
The animals themselves had only each other, but as the story goes, that was enough. After the flood waters receded, the animals departed, and they lived happily-ever-after for a while. Somewhere along the way, as they procreated and grew in number, the lions started eating the zebras. By that time, there was more balance in the world.
Again, I’m not taking a stand on whether this is a true story or not. I’ve heard dozens of tales that sounded too farfetched to be true and they turned out to be just that. But what I am saying is simply this. Two by two is a good way to travel through life. I think we’re better off if we have someone to share our time. We need someone to talk to even if we’re standing side by side in a stall on an ark. Companionship is important. If you don’t have one, go find one. And if you do, good for you. Hold on tight.