God gave Noah specific instructions on how to build the ark (Genesis 6:14). The gopher wood mentioned may have been cedar or cypress trees plentiful in Armenia. The pitch referred to was tar (a resin substance to seal cracks and seams in the wood). The dimensions of the ark (Genesis 6:15) show it was more like a barge than a ship. It was 300 cubits long (450 feet); the breadth was 50 cubits (75 feet wide), and 30 cubits high (45 feet high). It had around 96,000 square feet on three decks. The volume of space in the ark was 1.4 million cubic feet. It was impossible for it to capsize. It was a massive vessel.
As mentioned before, God gave Noah specific instructions on how to build the ark. Along with instructions would come the know-how. Nobody knows what tools Noah had. Many people think Noah must have used stone tools. When God made man, the man was obviously intelligent. Within a few generations from Adam, man was making musical instruments (Genesis 4:21). With people living hundreds of years before the flood by the time of Noah, how much knowledge existed or who could know what sort of technology existed. Remember, no one knows how the Egyptians built the pyramids or how the ancient people built all of those stone structures down in South America. The ancient people had knowledge that we just are not aware of.
We need to look at all things from a Christian worldview based on the history in the Bible.
There is nothing in the Bible ruling out the possibility that Noah had plenty of help. He had three sons. Noah’s grandfather Methuselah died only 1 year before the ark was finished and his father Lamech died 5 years before they finished the ark. Both may have helped if they lived nearby. Noah may have also hired a construction crew to build the ark. They might not have agreed with the message he was preaching, but that would not stop someone from working and being paid for it.
Hebrews 11:7 tells us, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, 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.”
This does not mean Noah built the ark by himself. We can single the leader of a project out for recognition when others are involved. King Solomon built the temple (1Kings 6). But we know from 1 Corinthians 28:19-20) that God gave the detailed plans to David Solomon’s father, although many others took part in its construction. The same is true concerning Moses and the Ark of the Covenant (Deuteronomy 10:3).
Noah was the leader of the project to build the Ark. He would rightly be recognized as its builder, although many others may have been involved.
