Skip to main content

Life-Size Noah's Ark a Reminder of Something Important for Millions

Share This article

A life-size replica of Noah's Ark is now open to the public.

The 510-foot long, 85-foot wide and 51-foot high vessel is part of a new $100 million theme park called Ark Encounter.

WLWT-TV reported that people waited in line as much as an hour before the park opened Thursday near Williamstown, Ky., south of Cincinnati and right off I-75. Two million people are expected to visit it in its first year on exhibit.

Exhibit leaders told reporters the seventh of July opening date is significant.

" OPEN VERSE IN BIBLE (nlt) talks about Noah and his sons and their family entering the Ark, so we wanted people to enter the Ark on 7-7, July 7, as a shout-out to that passage," Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson, an Answers in Genesis biology researcher, told CBN News.

Answers in Genesis is the organization behind the Ark Encounter.

Ken Ham, founder of the Creation Museum, had the massive ship built according to the dimensions recorded in the Bible.

Construction workers had to rely on the ancient measurement known as an Egyptian cubit to get the dimensions exactly right, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Ham quoted during his remarks at the ribbon-cutting: "Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good!"

"I do give thanks to the Lord," Ham said. "We give all glory and honor to the God who created all things."

Ham told ABC News, "The message that we have - it's making the Bible come alive, really. By building Noah's Ark, we're saying, 'This really happened. This is plausible.'"

CBN News went behind the scenes at the Ark Encounter for a sneak peek of the giant ship in April.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, leaders with Answers in Genesis and Ark Encounter also laid 12 stones, following the example of Joshua in the Bible.

"He (Joshua) led the people of Israel across the Jordan River, a normally fast-flowing river -- it was a miracle of God," Ham explained. "Then God told him to take 12 stones and to build a memorial as a reminder so that the coming generations would not forget who God is and to also be a reminder to the world."

"The Ark is to be a reminder; we built it as a reminder," he continued. "It's our 12 stones to remind the coming generations of the truth of God's Word."

"It's our way of presenting the truth of God's Word and the Gospel to the world," Ham concluded.

Watch CBN News Reporter Paul Strand's first look at the Ark Encounter here:

Click play to take a look at the life-size ark. 

Share This article

About The Author

CBN News