Did Noah build the first door?

The first door mentioned in the Bible is metaphorical. “Sin is crouching at your door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it,” said God to Cain, the firstborn son of Adam and Eve.

Sin revealed itself a dark and ominous evil when Cain murdered his brother Abel. Reference to the door of Cain’s heart, Cain had a choice.

The rest of human history gets squeezed into three brief chapters in Genesis, a succinct commentary on the human race before the flood: God had had enough. [1] 

Now the earth was corrupt in God’s sight, and the earth was filled with violence. And God saw the earth, and behold, it was corrupt, for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth. And God said to Noah, “I have determined to make an end of all flesh, for the earth is filled with violence through them. Behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopher wood. Make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and out with pitch. This is how you are to make it: the length of the ark 300 cubits, its breadth 50 cubits, and its height 30 cubits. Make a roof for the ark, and finish it to a cubit above, and set the door of the ark in its side. Make it with lower, second, and third decks. For behold, I will bring a flood of waters upon the earth to destroy all flesh in which is the breath of life under heaven. Everything that is on the earth shall die. But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you. And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every sort into the ark to keep them alive with you. They shall be male and female. Of the birds according to their kinds, and of the animals according to their kinds, of every creeping thing of the ground, according to its kind, two of every sort shall come in to you to keep them alive. Also take with you every sort of food that is eaten, and store it up. It shall serve as food for you and for them.” Noah did this; he did all that God commanded him.

Genesis 6:11–22

After a hundred and twenty years of singing “If I had a hammer,” and whistling while he worked, Noah had built an ark and filled it with genus, species, and a few close relatives.

But God shut the door. One door. [2]  

I wonder how long Noah and his family stared at that door.

What thoughts hounded them as they heard pounding rain? What feelings overtook them as the ark rocked with the rising sea?

Was fear foremost? Or faith? Did these few souls sing songs of gratitude? Or would they have huddled in fear, thinking that the ark would come apart during the storm? Could they have even imagined the whole world of humanity and living creatures outside that one door?

Every person outside the ark literally drowned in remorse. Those inside experienced warmth generated by other living creatures, one part of the practical provision that would sustain Noah’s family for a year. The sights, sounds, and smells of animals offered reassurance and hope.

Each creature inside the ark owed their existence to God’s grace. Each living soul had experienced mercy and grace.

A “Wee” Comparison

A visit to the birthplace of Robert Burns, “Rabbie Burns, the national poet of Scotland,” made me think about Noah and his family inside the ark. This tiny cottage offered a glimpse of what life would have been like confined in a small space with the future yet unknown while the present imposed limitations people had to endure.

The smells. The heat generated. The need to keep feeding both man and beast. The Burns family’s animals were housed inside the cottage to provide warmth as well as to simplify care of their animals during winter. The family depended on their livestock for food as well as represented any commercial gain for the family’s welfare. A few fowls housed there as well.

The Power of Story to Sustain Our Hearts

“Can one solve world problems when one is unable to solve one’s own?”

 Anne Morrow Lindbergh

Hearts need stories to “purge the air without, within the breast.”^[3] 

Stories of survival, of triumph, of perspective must extend beyond a person’s own small lens. Stories move us past paralysis and myopia. Stories paint with hope.

How long before those souls inside the ark adapted to their new surroundings? Did Noah preach about God’s goodness and mercy? Did these few souls live each day wondering how long the storm would last?

The Bible says “God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In it only a few people, eight in all, were saved through water.”^[4] Eight people survived the storm of judgment and exited the ark through the same door they had entered. Later, Noah offered sacrifices to God.

Comparison and Contrast

A most vivid scene of human adaptability flashes before me: life in the Nazi death camps. Within a context more confining than the ark, or a cottage, the will to live––human survival instinct––triumphed over the plans of a dictator and those complicit with his evil mind. I have visited Dachau, stood inside a “shower,” and seen with my own eyes the ovens . . .

Dehumanizing conditions stripped men of everything but a single choice: how to respond amidst crushing circumstances.

Life and death on the line: throughout human history, survivors with flesh and bones, teeth and hair have emerged through various doors to continue the story begun in Genesis. Grace.

The heart that believes what the Bible says knows that the stories God tells are true. Yet sin continues to crouch at the door of men’s hearts.

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^[1] Genesis 4:7, Genesis 6–8.

^[2] Genesis 7:16.

^[3] George Herbert, “The Storm.”

^[4] 1 Peter 3:20.