Ten Ways Noah’s Ark Prefigured the Church

By Stephen Beale

Since the time of the Fathers, Christians have always seen the epic ark of Noah as a type of the Church. Just as the ark was the means by which Noah and his relatives were spared destruction, so also the Church is the instrument by which Christians are saved. The comparison between the two has an explicit biblical foundation in 1 Peter 3, where the apostle writes that the flood itself anticipated the sacrament of baptism.

Inspired by the Genesis account, early Church Fathers, elaborated on the many ways in which the ark prefigures the Church. Here are ten:

The Book of Creation Reveals the Creator

- St. Irenaeus of Lyons (129 - 203)

That God is the Creator of the world is accepted even by those who in many ways speak against Him.... For creation reveals Him who formed it, and the very work made suggests Him who made it, and the world manifests Him who ordered it. The universal Church, moreover, throughout the whole world, has received this tradition from the apostles themselves.

("Against Heresies", Book II, ch. 9:1)