What did God command Noah to build, and what was it for?

God tells Noah to make an ark of gopher wood and gives it as the means of preservation through the flood Genesis 6:14–18. In the same speech, God says he will establish his covenant with Noah and that Noah’s family will enter the ark.

Passage context

In Genesis 6:13–18, God tells Noah that the current human world is at its endpoint because violence has spread everywhere. God announces a coming destruction that will involve the earth itself. Then God gives Noah detailed instructions to build an ark and prepares Noah for a flood that will wipe out all land life with breath. This passage follows the broader description of humanity’s corruption and the spread of violence on the earth, and it continues the focus on Noah as the one person singled out for direct communication and a different outcome.

Why it matters

Genesis 6:13–18 presents God’s stated assessment of the world, God’s planned response, and God’s stated provision for Noah. Explicitly, God says the “end of all flesh” has come, links that end to the earth being filled with violence “through them,” and announces an intention to destroy “them with the earth” (verse 13).

Read carefully

A careful answer keeps the immediate passage, the book's argument, and the whole-Bible storyline together, so the question is answered in context instead of as a detached idea.

Keep reading

Start with Genesis 6:14-18, then read the surrounding section so the answer stays connected to the passage's flow.