Did Noah build the Ark by himself?

". . . the works were finished from the foundation of the world." (Hebrews 4:3)

Some have ridiculed the Flood story by insisting that the job of the Ark's construction was impossibly large. How could Noah have done it? Admittedly, we don't have all the details, but let's make some reasonable assumptions and see if the task is too great.

The Lord predicted that His judgment on the sinful civilization in the days of Noah would come in 120 years (Genesis 6:3). When He told Noah and instructed him to build the Ark (6:14-16) is unclear. But let's assume that Noah had the full 120 years warning.

Noah's three sons began to be born 100 years before the Flood (cf. 5:32 with 7:6) and within a few years were able to help. There may have been others to help as well, for grandfather Methusalah was alive during the entire construction period, dying the year of the Flood. There may have been others in a godly remnant of whom we know nothing. All we know now is that only eight people, Noah and his wife, their three sons, and their wives, constituted the faithful still living when the Flood finally came (7:13; II Peter 2:5). It may also have been that Noah hired construction workers to help. He must have been at least wealthy enough to abandon his livelihood during this period, but again we have no knowledge of these details.

Let's take the worst case scenario. Let's assume that only Noah and his three sons were available to help. Could they have done it all by themselves? To answer this we must first understand the magnitude of the job.

In Scripture we are only told the gross dimensions of the Ark—450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high, assuming a cubit of 18" (6:15). We also know that the Ark had three decks (6:16). Thus the overall volume of the Ark was:

450 x 75 x 45 = 1.52 x 106 ft.3

But a structure consists mostly of open space. Most houses are over 95% open, less for large ships. In our worst case scenario, let's assume that 20% of the Ark's volume was worked lumber that the four men had to gather, transport to the construction site, do the necessary shaping and install.

1.52 x 106 x .2 = .304 x 106 ft.3

Remember, the Ark didn't have to win any beauty contests, or speed races, it just had to be strong and float. It probably more resembled a rough barn or stable in workmanship. The generations so soon after creation, living in an ideal environment with long life spans, were no doubt intelligent and capable. It hardly matters if the family were experienced in construction for within a year or so they would have been true professionals. An experienced crew of four could have installed, we assume, an average of 15 cubic feet of wood per day. If anything, this estimate seems low, but this is the worst case!

15 ft x 6 days x 52 wks = 4,680 ft3/year

It's now easy to calculate how long it would have taken.

Sixty-five years under this worst case scenario! A big job, yes, but Noah was a faithful man, and accomplished the task. As we see, even simple calculations can enhance our faith in God's Word.

Sometimes I just shake my head when I read some of the comments people make concerning the life-size Ark that Answers in Genesis is constructing in Northern Kentucky, to open July 7 this year. As I respond to some of the comments, I have also included some recent photographs of the Ark’s construction, showing the stern and outside planking.

Let me list and respond to just some of the questions/comments often seen on Facebook and in other places.

1. Why aren’t you using the tools Noah used?1 Where are we ever told what tools Noah used? There is no mention in the Bible or even any hint as to what specific tools Noah used. So the answer is, we don’t know what the tools were—no one knows!
2. Noah didn’t have modern tools, so you shouldn’t use modern tools to build the Ark.2 First, as stated above, no one knows what tools Noah had. Second, we live in modern world, so we are obviously going to use modern tools! We didn’t set out to build the Ark with tools Noah might have had, as we have no idea what they were. We wanted to design a wooden ship and then build it as a timber-frame building so the public can walk through it and get a sense of the Ark’s size and how such a wooden structure can be constructed.


3. If Noah took 120 years to build the Ark, why are you building it so quickly? First of all, we don’t know how long Noah took to build the Ark. The 120 years reference in Scripture (Genesis 6:3) is not in the context of Noah building the Ark. The best explanation of the 120 years seems to be that it was the length of God’s patience, and then He sent the Flood. Shem was 99 when the Flood ended and he came out of the Ark. Genesis 6:18 indicates that when God spoke to Noah about building the Ark, he already had sons and they were married. So it seems logical to say that the Ark took fewer than 99 years to build.

   Second, Noah may have taken quite a number of years to build the Ark. Second Peter 3:9 reminds us that God is patient “not willing that any should perish.” So perhaps Noah took several years to build the Ark to give plenty of time to warn the population that they needed to believe God’s Word.

   Third, we are not building an Ark because God said there is a Flood coming! We are constructing an Ark to remind people of the truth of God’s Word and the gospel. Thus we want to build it as quickly as possible. And we will use whatever tools are available to us today to build it.

4. Noah wouldn’t have had the adequate tools!3 Besides the fact that we don’t know what tools Noah had, we point out that many people wittingly or unwittingly have an evolutionary view (or evolutionary-influenced view) of history. Many think Noah must have been some primitive person maybe using primitive stone tools. When God made man, man was obviously highly intelligent. Genesis 4:21 tell us that within a few generations people were making musical instruments. By the time of Noah, and with people living for hundreds of years before the Flood, who knows what sort of knowledge was accumulated and the kind of sophisticated technology that was developed? Noah may have had tools and other impressive technology that we would be jealous of! And remember, we don’t know how ancient people built many of the stone structures in South America or even the remarkably constructed Egyptian pyramids. The ancients obviously had a technology we just aren’t aware of, as it seems no record was kept or the records were destroyed. In this area of ancient technologies, we need to think in terms of a Christian worldview based on the history in the Bible.


A section of a wall in Saksaywaman, Peru

5. Noah didn’t use cranes.4 The Bible does not tell us whether Noah did or did not use cranes. From a Christian worldview, ancient people, including those living before the Flood, would have been highly intelligent, and no doubt would have understood about remedial things like leverage. Noah may have had ingeniously designed cranes that would make us stand in awe today!
6. You shouldn’t have used any metal in the Ark as Noah didn’t use metal.5 But where in the Bible does it say Noah didn’t use metal? In fact, in Genesis 4:22, just a few generations after Adam, we read, “And as for Zillah, she also bore Tubal-Cain, an instructor of every craftsman in bronze and iron.” So if they were using bronze and iron then, by the time of Noah people may have developed all sorts of sophisticated uses of metals. Noah may have used more metal than we do!
7. You should be building it on water to show it floats!6 We didn’t build our Ark to float, for one, because there’s never going to be another global Flood (Genesis 9:15; Isaiah 54:9). There will indeed be another judgment, but next time it will be by fire (2 Peter 3:10). We designed the Ark as a wooden ship based on the dimensions in the Bible and built it as a themed attraction to teach people the truth of God’s Word and the gospel. It is constructed as a building (though designed as a ship) and therefore has to be built according to the building codes of our day. It is an ingenious design: anchored to three towers so the restrooms, exit stairs, and elevators are kept out of the Ark itself.

8. There’s no way Noah could have built a wooden ship that size,7 especially not by himself. Actually, there are records going back over 2,000 years of ancient wooden ships as big and even bigger than the Ark. It’s just that we are not used to seeing such massive wooden ships today, and, therefore, many people think it couldn’t be done!

   Also, Noah had his three sons to help him8—and there’s no reason to doubt he would have hired people to help as well. Though many Christians are helping us build the life-size Ark in Williamstown, Kentucky, there are many contractors on site who are not Christians but who happily accepted a contract to use their expertise to work on sections of the project. In the Ark exhibit at the Creation Museum, we also suggest that Noah could have hired people to work on the Ark who may have scoffed while they worked on the project.



9. What a lot of wasted money— money that should have been given to the poor.9 We have heard this ridiculous assertion many times. It echoes Judas Iscariot’s words in John 12:4–6:

   But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

   We’ve answered this claim before, but people continue to show their prejudice or ignorance. Think about it: the amount of money being spent on the current US presidential campaign alone is many times more than that being spent on the Ark. Also, what about all the money spent on constructing cruise ships, or roller coasters, or secular theme parks and museums—the list goes on. Why is it that people seem to single out the Ark for criticism in regards to funding, but they don’t say a word when it comes to the billions and billions of dollars spent by other groups? By and large it’s because of the message we proclaim. Most of these critics don’t want Christian messages getting out to the public, and some don’t see the importance.

10. Noah didn’t use concrete.10 Again, we don’t know what materials Noah did or didn’t have, as we are not told. According to materials experts, the ancient Egyptians (descendants of Noah’s grandson Mizraim/Aegyptus) used a highly advanced form of concrete while constructing the Great Pyramid.11 We do know that Noah used timber to build an Ark, and we are given the dimensions in Scripture. We know it was built to float because a massive Flood was coming. The life-size Ark that Answers in Genesis is building is being constructed as a building for people to go through, and it’s built 15 feet off the ground. For code and structure reasons, we have used a lot of concrete for the piers. For fire code reasons, we had to use a concrete floor (that is covered by wood) to allow people to walk on all three decks. We’ve answered these criticisms and others before.

Yes, we are building a life-size Ark called Ark Encounter as one of the greatest Christian outreaches of our day. Keep up to date at the Ark Encounter website.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,
Ken

Who built the Ark according to the Bible?

How was the Ark made?

What did Noah make the Ark from?

Where is the original Ark that Noah built?