Hebrews 11 is known as the “faith chapter” of the Bible it contains a list of several heroes of the Old Testament who were known for their great faith. Number three on this list is Noah, who, “being divinely warned of things no yet seen, [and] moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith” (Hebrews 11:7 NKJV).
There are two good reasons Noah receives such a favorable review. First, he and his family were the only righteous people left in a world filled with violence and corruption. God told Noah that He planned to destroy all living things with a catastrophic flood because of this wickedness. But Noah and his family would be saved so they repopulate the earth after the flood came to an end.
The Middle East has a notoriously dry climate imagine the ridicule that Noah and his sons must have endured as they constructed a boat on dry land in a region where water was in such short supply.
The Lord did not leave a single detail about the ark to chance. He gave Noah its exact dimensions-450 feet long, 75 feet wide, and 45 feet high (Genesis 6:15 NIV). Longer than a football field and shaped like a modern barge, the three-story vessel was similar to a huge warehouse. It had to be large enough to hold Noah’s family, a pair of animals of every species, and enough food for the ark’s occupants for several months.
This mind-numbing blueprint from the Lord would have been enough to cause most contractors to refuse the job. But “Noah did everything exactly as God had commanded him”
Second, Noah had great faith in the Lord. He believed that God would do what He promised. in faith, he set about building a massive boat, even though there was not a large body of water anywhere nearby where it could launched. (Genesis 6:22 NLT). The Bible doesn’t say how long it took Noah and his sons to build the ark. But with the primitive tools available during that era, the project must have continued for many years.
Finally, the Lord directed Noah and his family to enter the ark. The time for His judgment of the world and its wickedness had arrived. Seven days after they were settled in, torrential rains began to fall. These continued for forty days and forty nights.