Escaping the Cataclysm

by Keith Robinson

  As they ascended the ramp, Rebecca was once again struck by the sheer immensity of the vessel. Walking to the edge of the ramp, she looked over the railing and stared straight down between the ramps toward the bottom deck, several stories below. Lost in the grandeur of the sight, it took her a moment to realize that Mack had just called her name. Turning, she saw him looking down at her from the platform attached to the storage crawlway.

  “Are you coming?” he repeated.

  “Yeah. Sorry,” she said. As she jogged up the ramp toward the others, she studied their faces once again, hoping to gain some insight into what each of her companions was thinking or feeling. I wonder what Jeffrey and Goliath think. Seeing as how neither one has said much since we’ve entered, I can only assume that they’re trying to process everything. After all, I believed in the Ark, and I’m having trouble processing it.

  Reaching the platform, Rebecca glanced briefly at the storage area to see row upon row of barrels, piles of hay and straw, wood, jars, and containers of every imaginable shape and size. Due to the dim light illuminating the paths leading down the length of the ship, it appeared as if the deck continued on forever. Rejoining the others, Rebecca crossed the platform to the final ramp and climbed toward the uppermost deck.

  As they reached the halfway point of the ramp, they caught their first sight of the central corridor of the top deck of the ship. The twenty-foot-wide corridor was split into two five-foot-wide walkways, one on each side, and a middle area that opened to the decks below. Each of the outer sides of the walkways was packed from the floor to within two feet of the ceiling with wooden bars and doors that led to different animal enclosures. Some appeared to be no more than inches high, while others were several feet tall. On top of the cage-like structures, colorful birds perched, strutted, or huddled in their nests, many of which were separated by carefully designed netting. Although the ceiling of the deck was no more than seven feet high, what looked to be an observation platform rose up an additional seven feet above the central opening in the floor.

  Their curiosity escalating rapidly, the visitors quickened their pace. Within moments, they had reached the end of the ramp and stepped foot onto the top deck. Facing outward toward the ramp were several more of the enclosures, each containing tufts of fur partially buried by piles of straw, moss, and other bedding materials, making it nearly impossible to determine the type of animal contained in them. Above each of the individual animal enclosures were small storage boxes.

  As Noah led the group toward the central aisle, he resumed his instruction. “When the Almighty Creator, hallowed is His Name, charged me with the construction of His Ark of Salvation, I knew that one of my first tasks would be to make a list of all of the various kinds of animals that my family and I would need to take on board. So, for many years I traveled, studying and writing down everything I could about each of the many animals that inhabit this wonderful world, even as I preached the message of salvation to the people.” At this last statement, Noah’s features drooped in sorrow. A moment later, however, he continued speaking, his face reverting to its previous joyful countenance as he pushed aside his disturbing thoughts. “The more I learned about the animals, the more I realized how much I had yet to learn. I was familiar with the needs of many of the animals. After all, I was already nearly five hundred years old when the Lord of Hosts spoke to me. But, I also realized that there were many more that I needed to study in depth. Then, to my wonder, pairs of animals began appearing on my doorstep. The Mighty One sent animals to me so that I could learn more about how to care for them. Eventually, I built a menagerie to house them all.”2

  “What’s a menagerie?” Rebecca asked.

  “It’s basically a zoo,” Mack explained quietly, “but it specializes in exotic animals. It was the only word I could think of to fit what he was describing in his language.” Once Mack had finished his explanation to Rebecca, Noah began speaking again.

  “Over time, and with the help of my fathers, Lamech and Methusalah, as well as my sons, I learned about the eating habits and survival needs of every animal on earth,” Noah said. “In addition, the menagerie allowed me to train many of them to be accustomed to me and my family.”

  “Amazing,” Rebecca said softly. “I never thought about what Noah might have done to prepare for the Flood. So then, those large buildings that the vandals burned were the remains of the menagerie, right?”

  Noah nodded affirmative. “That and the lumber mill.”

  “But doesn’t the Bible say something about God calling the animals to go to Noah after the Ark was completed?” Mack asked.

  Rebecca shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. It does say that God brought two of each kind of animal to him, but it doesn’t say how or when He brought them.”

  Mack was still digesting this new information as Noah continued his explanation. As he spoke, he guided the group toward the central aisle.

  “Once my family and I knew the size and exact number of animals, we were able to create stalls and nesting areas, each of them within the overall dimensions of the Ark, as revealed to me by the Lord, the Righteous Judge.” Reaching the central aisle, Noah stepped to the side, affording his visitors a view that took their breath away.

  Luke 13:24,25

  Woodmorappe, John. Noah’s Ark: A Feasibility Study. Santee, California: Institute for Creation Research, 2003, p. 59–63.

  7

  The Ark: Upper Deck

  Rebecca felt as if every sense in her body was being overwhelmed simultaneously. A cacophony of animal sounds invaded her ears—chirps, squawks, caws, whistles, hoots, hisses, and numerous other unidentifiable noises. The smells of hundreds of animals increased exponentially as Noah led them into the walkway on the right. Her eyes were dazzled by feathers and animal pelts containing hues from every portion of the spectrum. Numerous plants and beautiful flowers growing out of pots, urns, and baskets hung from the ceiling at various locations, adding even more color to the already awe-inspiring display. Even the air seemed alive with an energy and excitement that Rebecca could feel permeate through her skin.

  But even more than the attack on her senses, she stared in awe at the sheer length of the Ark. For although the ship had been immense on the outside, it never really registered just how much volume a vessel over five-hundred feet long and eighty feet wide could hold. The size was magnified by the central opening that ran nearly the entire length of the ship, enhancing its grandeur. A railing ran around the edge of the ten-foot expanse, and several five-foot “bridges” spanned the gap at regular intervals. Leaning over the railing where the two walkways diverged, Rebecca stared down in amazement. The opening ran through each of the decks, allowing Rebecca to see all the way to the bottom of the vessel.

  Although the lengthy shaft offered a tantalizing view of the decks below, Rebecca forced herself to return her attention to her immediate surroundings. The outer edges of the two walkways straddling the central opening contained row upon row of animal enclosures, all running perpendicular to the length of the ship. Each row was between four and six feet deep, five feet tall, and an impressive twenty feet long. Five-foot-wide paths ran between each row, allowing Noah and his family access to the animals on the each side of the rectangular group of enclosures.

  With the light of numerous oil lamps mounted along the sides of the animal pens, Rebecca began counting the rows. However, due to the sheer length of the ship, she was forced to give up the endeavor after her count reached a dozen.

  Although the opening and the two central aisles had a combined width of twenty feet, the presence of so many creatures in such close proximity, combined with the low, seven-foot ceiling, served to intensify the feeling that the walls were closing in. At only five-foot-four, Rebecca found a sense of claustrophobia creeping up on her. She could only imagine how it must feel for Noah and Jeffrey, who were six-feet tall or greater, much less the nearly eight-foot giant who was forced to stoop to prevent his head from banging on the ceiling.
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  “Well, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle,” Mack exclaimed quietly next to her, his jaw falling open. “It…it just goes on and on! I never imagined it would be so big!”

  A disgusted grunt came from behind Mack, causing him and Rebecca to turn around and look at Goliath, who spoke for the first time since entering the Ark. “If this thing’s so blasted tall, then why didn’t he make the roof a bit higher?”

  Noah, observing the giant’s discomfort, guessed the content of his question and responded. “To conserve as much space as possible, and based upon the various sizes of the animals we needed to take on board, we decided to divide them into three basic categories: small, medium and large. We then built the heights of the three decks to match the sizes of the animals. The lowest deck is the largest, the middle deck, as you saw, is quite average, and,” lifting his arm, he placed it against the ceiling less than a foot above his head, “since the animals housed on the top deck are the smallest, it was unnecessary to make the roof any higher than was comfortable for us to move around. Furthermore, the midday gives us a little extra head room.”

  “‘Midday’?” Rebecca repeated, wondering if she had understood Mack’s translation correctly.

  “Yeah, I think that’s what he said. I believe he’s referring to those,” Mack said, pointing above the central opening to where the observation deck began.

  The Patriarch guided his visitors down the aisle on the right so they could get a better view of the “midday.” Rebecca could see now that this was the row of “windows” that they had seen from the outside that ran along the top of the Ark. Except now that she viewed it from the inside, she could see that it was so much more than she had originally thought.

  The wooden frames extended up above the ceiling an additional seven feet. Although the “midday” spanned the entire ten-foot width of the central opening, only the middle six feet opened to the deck below, for identical two-foot-wide walkways were built along the sides, allowing anyone within the ark a clear view of the surrounding countryside. Thin, three-foot-wide “bridges” connected the two sides every twenty-five feet, and ladders reached down to the deck at regular intervals.

  As Rebecca studied the layout, she was surprised to see the dark evening sky peering down at them. “That must be why he called it the ‘midday’ instead of ‘windows,’” she commented to Mack, who stood beside her. “Look! The windows are on the side, but the entire roof of the observation area is split down the middle and hinged, allowing each side to open like a hatch!1 Do you see?”

  “Right,” Mack said in sudden understanding. “That would allow the ‘midday’ sun to come shining in.”

  Noting the topic of their discussion, Noah offered further details. “By leaving the middle of the ship open and adding the midday, the warm, stale air from the lowest deck can rise and escape through the ceiling. It also gives us the ability to close them once…once the water begins to fall from the sky.”

  A sudden heaviness rested upon the group as their host’s words reminded them of the seriousness of their predicament. Brushing aside the unsettling feeling, Noah smiled and began walking further down the aisle. As the group followed behind him, Rebecca whistled in amazement. “There must be thousands of animals on just this one deck alone! Mack, ask him how many animals are caged in each row.”

  After a brief exchange of words, Mack answered. “He says it all depends on the animal. There are some sections that contain hundreds of tiny animals, and others that just hold a few dozen. He also said that most of the animal enclosures have food in drawers and cabinets above the animals, which are attached to self-feeders.”2

  Moving over toward a row of animal cages, Rebecca began studying the design curiously. Each cage rested over a short piece of wood that was set at a forty-five-degree angle. At the bottom of the wooden board was a five-inch-wide gutter that sloped downward gently as it ran the length of the row. The gutter ended over a hole built into the floor.

  Noticing her perusal of his handiwork, Noah explained. “The droppings and urine from the animals in the cages passes through the grate in the bottom of the cage and rolls down the slope into the gutter. From there, it is easily washed away to be disposed.”3

  Smiling at the ingenuity, Rebecca stepped back from the cages and followed after Noah, who had already begun leading the group further into the interior of the Ark.

  They walked on in silence for several minutes, their senses drinking every sight and sound. Once they had passed about a dozen rows, Noah headed toward an enclosure facing outward toward the central opening. Perched on top of the five-foot-tall structure was a beautifully-colored bird about the size of a pigeon, but with a long, curved neck and wide, plumed tail. Its green and yellow feathers shimmered as the bird walked toward the Patriarch on its two thin but muscular legs. Reaching toward the animal, Noah held his hand steady as the bird hopped up onto his arm. “Ah, how are we today, my little friend?” Noah said soothingly as he stroked the bird. The beautiful bird stared up at its master without the slightest hint of fear.

  Giving the animal one last loving stroke on its head, Noah put it back onto the top of the enclosure. Enamored by the beauty of the bird, the guests watched for several seconds as it strutted over to a board that contained several small holes and stuck its beak into one of them.

  “What’s with the holes?” Goliath asked.

  Rephrasing the question to their host in a more appropriate manner, Mack listened to the brief response, and then translated it. “Water. They put the water in these boxes to keep it from spilling once the Ark is launched.4”

  As the bird drank, a sudden question entered Rebecca’s mind. Scanning several of the nesting areas in the row of enclosures, she noticed that each one had similar water containers with a tube attached at the top. “How do they keep them all filled? It seems like it would take one person all day just to refill the water.”

  A moment later, Noah gave his reply while Mack translated. “Each of the water containers is connected to a small reservoir built into each row of nests. That way, all we have to do is fill the tank, and it keeps all of the containers filled.”

  “But where do you get the water from to fill the reservoirs?”

  Instead of replying, Noah gestured for them to follow him. They all complied, with the exception of Goliath, who had become completely bored with the slow pace of the tour. Moving over to stand on one of the nearby walkways that spanned the central opening, he extended his height up into the observation area and stretched, glad to no longer be hunched over.

  Reaching the end of the row of animal enclosures, Noah led Rebecca, Mack, and Jeffrey into the five-foot-wide aisle that ran along the outer hull. From their vantage point about a third of the way through the ship, Rebecca could see that doors were built into the wall every twenty-five feet for the entire length of the ship. It was to one of these doors that Noah led them.

  After removing the latch, the Patriarch grabbed the circular pull ring and opened the door to reveal a small, five-foot square room. At first, Rebecca was confused and wondered at the room’s purpose, for it appeared empty. While the back of the closet revealed the same solid black as the rest of the ship’s pitch-covered, outer hull, the right and left “walls” curved away from the center slightly and were made of an odd, plastic-like material. Extending out from the bottom of both of the curved plastic containers was what looked to be a kind of pipe about three inches in diameter and made of curved wood that resembled bamboo.5 Reaching up, Rebecca pressed her right hand against the smooth object.

  “It’s a huge water tank,” she stated in awe.

  “And judging by the placement of the doors along this wall, each one must be about twenty-five feet long,” Mack added.

  “These large tanks of water line the walls of the entire ship on this deck, supplying us with enough water for quite some time,” Noah said via Mack’s translation. “Bamboo pipes are attached to the bottoms of the tanks and are spread throughout the entire ship, connecting to e
ach of the rows of enclosures. From there, a network of smaller pipes distributes the water to each of the individual animal enclosures. This not only provides the animals with drinking water, but we can also use the water to clean the nests, flush down waste, and wash the floors.”

  “Unbelievable,” Mack muttered. “They’ve got their own built-in water towers. And here I thought pipes were modern inventions. Shows you what I know.”

  “I was aware that the Chinese used bamboo pipes for thousands of years,6 but I wouldn’t have thought people this far back in time would have learned how to do that,” Jeffrey commented.

  Rebecca considered pointing out how his evolutionary beliefs had blinded him to considering other theories, but decided against it. Instead, she turned her attention back to her guide. “But even with that much water, aren’t you worried about running out?”

  The older man nodded. “We are not sure how long the waters will cover the earth, so that is a concern. To solve the problem, we decided to use many smaller tanks instead of a few larger ones. That way, once one tank is empty, we begin using another nearby one until the first is refilled.”

  “Refilled?” Rebecca repeated. “But where will you get the new water?”

  “We designed a system that channels the water that falls from the sky into the empty tanks, thus providing a nearly unlimited supply of water,”7 Noah replied.

  Mack shook his head in amazement as he finished translating. “You gotta admit, they’ve thought of everything.”

  “They’d have to,” Rebecca countered. “With something like this, you can’t leave anything to chance.”