“And God said to Noah, ‘The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch… Thus Noah did; according to all that God commanded him, so he did” (Genesis 6:13-14, 22)

Let’s consider a couple of questions. First, what is an ark? The Hebrew word tebah means: “a box” (Strong’s); “chest, box” (Brown-Driver-Briggs-Gesenius). It is a container. The original word is used for both Noah’s ark and the Ark of the Covenant. One should not imagine the children of Israel carrying Noah’s ark through the wilderness. They are both containers, but very different containers.

Next, what is (or was) gopher wood? I am not sure. The difficulty is that the Hebrew word, gopher, appears only once in the Bible. (1) Some think that this is (or was) a specific species of tree. Various suggestions have been set forth, including: African Acacia, Baobab, Cedar, Cypress, Pine, and Teak. Some translations render it “cypress” (NIV, NLT, NRSV. The NIV contains this note, “The meaning of the Hebrew for this word is uncertain). Some have translated it “pyne” or pine. (Tyndale, Bishop’s Bible). At least one renders it “teakwood” (The Message Bible). (2) Others think that this refers to something in the preparation of the wood. The Septuagint (Greek translation of Hebrews Bible reads, “square timber” (xylon tetragonon). Wycliffe renders it “wood hewn and planed.” Douay-Rheims Bible reads, “timber planks.”

The important thing to understand is that Noah did what God commanded (Genesis 6:22). He understood what God said and did it (James 1:22). He “prepared an ark for the saving of his household” (Hebrews 11:7).

In teaching on authority, it is common practice to refer to Noah’s use of gopher wood. One might say, “God said gopher wood. In doing so, he authorized gopher wood. He did not authorize oak or pine.”

I have heard some criticize this approach. “How can one say this when no one is sure what gopher wood actually is (or was)?”

The critic should keep a couple of things in mind. (1) Regardless of what gopher wood is (or was), Noah understood what God meant, and he did “according to all that God commanded him” (Genesis 6:22). (2) The idea that we should seek to do things as God instructs is still a sound approach to God’s word (Leviticus 10:1-2; Deuteronomy 4:2; Proverbs 30:6; Hebrews 7:12-14; Revelation 22:18-19).