Noah’s Ark

Noah’s ark is an amazing feat of engineering. If you look at other early ships, like ancient Egyptian vessels or 17th century English ships, they are very different in dimension and design from Noah’s ark.

In Genesis 6:15 it says, “And this is how you shall make it: The length of the ark shall be three hundred cubits, its width fifty cubits, and its height thirty cubits.”

This design has a ratio of 1:6, which is actually similar to the ratios of more modern vessels, specifically modern cargo ships and battleships. What’s so special about this ratio, you might ask? Well, through hundreds of years of ship engineering and construction, nautical engineers have discovered that this ratio makes ships nearly impossible to capsize. The boats need to be at a near 90-degree angle to capsize.

Dr. Seon Hong of the world class Korean Research Institute of Ships and Engineering did a research project¹ in which he and his team built a 1/50 scale model of Noah’s ark and tested it in their massive indoor test pool. Their results were astounding! Of the twelve hulls that were tested, no hull shape was found to significantly outperform the 4300-year-old biblical design.

The research team found that the dimensions and proportions of Noah’s ark carefully walked the line of stability, comfort, and strength, to the point that their study confirmed that the Ark could have handled waves as high as 100 feet.

How did this ancient ship get such advanced designs?

It wasn’t Noah who came up with the plans. God gave Noah these advanced plans: plans that took humans thousands of years to finally copy.

1. Hong, S.W. et al. Safety investigation of Noah’s Ark in a seaway, Creation.com, Creation Ministries International, April 1994, https://creation.com/safety-investigation-of-noahs-ark-in-a-seaway. Accessed 30 Mar 2022.