ARK Encounter

We were first amazed by its size... the parking lot is some distance away, and as you travel by bus through the rolling hills surrounding it up to the actual location of the Ark, it just grows and grows!

The Ark was built exactly according to the dimensions and directions from God as are recorded in Genesis.

Over four football fields long, the Ark measures 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet high. It has 3.3 million board feet of lumber; making the Ark the biggest timber frame structure in the world!!

As in the Creation Museum, the depictions of Noah, his family, and the created animals were vivid and life - like!

As we made our way through the first level of the Ark, the sound effects of a storm and flood "outside" Noah's Ark built the anticipation... "movement" and the rustling of animals in the cages grew as we continued further into the Ark.

 They have model animal types in cages with sound effects bringing authenticity to the display. Of course, Noah would have brought the dinosaurs on-board as juveniles: less food to feed them, they were easier to manage, and they would have been young enough to procreate when they got off the ark.

This video clip gives a glimpse into the Ark experience... 

There are more beautiful scientific displays that show how the continents used to be one giant landmass pre-flood and then the changes that happened to the Earth, and are still happening, because of the global flood. All the exhibits are state-of-the-art, engaging, and educational for viewers of all ages!

The rustic beauty of the ark kept everything so real, it was as though we were on the ark with Noah and his family experiencing what they went through!

It was fascinating to learn, of course, that they weren't just thrown onto the ark with a bunch of animals. (God is too wise and orderly for that kind of scenario!)

There were methods and ways Noah and his family conducted waste management, brought fresh water on-board, and fed and watered the animals. It was organized and manageable for 8 people.

Noah had in fact studied ship building for years before completion of the Ark. To the contemporaries of Noah's day, the oddity was not that Noah was building a ship - there were plenty of seafaring vessels - the oddity was where he was building the ship and why he was building it. There had never been a global flood before - and never will be again!

At the outdoor Mt Ararat Zoo, the children watched a brand new Joey in his mama's pouch. Born in October the size of a jelly bean without hair or eyes, he grows in his mom's pouch ... this little one hasn't even fully come out into the wide world yet!

It's beautiful to see Scripture again everywhere throughout the exhibits, pointing the way for our need for a Savior.  

And just as God closed the door of the ark, for each one of us, there will be a point when the door to Salvation is closed ... and if we haven't entered through Jesus (John 10:) we too will be left outside the ark.