NOAH’S ARK – by Raphael ben Levi
There are various examples in the Bibles of types and shadows associated with Noah’s ark that you are most probably familiar with (e.g.,1Pet.3:20-21; Matt.24:38-39; Heb.11:7) but here are some that you may not be acquainted with.
God gave Noah an instruction concerning the Ark that grabbed the attention of the Jewish sages: “You shall make a window [for light and ventilation] for the ark, and finish it to at least a cubit (eighteen inches) from the top—” (Gen. 6:16 AMP)
The Hebrew word translated window in Hebrew is “tzohar” a word that doesn’t appear anywhere else in the Tanakh. Although the meaning of the word is a little obscure, scholars agree that it refers to something which generates its own light and is related to the word “zohar” meaning “radiance”.
Some sages say it refers to a precious stone which emanated light, (what believers would refer to as Yeshua “the Pearl of Great Price?”) and others that it was a literal window that allowed in light from the sky. In the ancient Paleo-Hebrew text the 5th letter of the alphabet is represented by the letter “Heh” with a picture of a window. The number 5 of course is the gematria for Divine grace.
For every believer it is easy to connect the dots to see that the word “tzohar” reinforces again a reference to the One who is the “Light of the World! (Jn. 8:12) But there is more!
As observed by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks: “Throughout the biblical era, the word Teva meant an ark – large in the case of Noah and the Flood, small in the case of the papyrus basket coated with tar in which Yocheved placed the baby Moses, setting him afloat on the Nile (Ex.2:3). More generally, it means “box.” However, in its development, tevah had come also to mean “word.” It seems that the Rabbis were not so much commenting on Noah and the Ark as they were reflecting on a fundamental question of Torah. What is the tzohar, the brightness, the source of illumination, for the tevah, the Word? Does it come solely from within, or also from without? In other words, does the Torah come with a window or a precious stone?
Yeshua is both the Word of God and the Light of the World and both of them are beautifully illustrated with Noah’s Ark!
