The original ark of the Covenant was Noah’s ark. Eight souls were shut In the ark (1Peter 3:20) and the lawlessness on earth was erased. At that point, Our Heavenly Father created an unconditional covenant with Noah and as evidence of this covenant, the rainbow was established. Noah’s mandate was to be fruitful and multiply. Interestingly enough, Noah did not leave the ark until instructed to do so: Gen 8:16 Go forth of the ark, thou, and thy wife, and thy sons, and thy sons’ wives with thee.
Noah had seen the dry land but waited on Our Heavenly Father… smart man. Once out of the ark, he built an altar of sacrifice unto Our Heavenly Father. This is the first mention of an altar in Scripture. The burnt offering was a sacrifice of devotion and service. Each of the clean animals was included in the sacrifice:
And Noah builded an altar unto the LORD; and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt offerings on the altar.
Can you imagine the magnitude of this offering? The clean animals were taken from the original seven that entered the ark (Of every clean beast thou shalt take to thee by sevens, the male and his female). I believe that there were four males and three females with one male sacrificed leaving three pairs to be fruitful and multiply. Each of these animals would have been selected by Our Heavenly Father and moved upon by His Holy Spirit to enter into the ark thus the genetics would have been flawless for the replenishment cycle.
The number 8 represents “new beginnings” just as the eighth day of Tabernacles is the first day of the new week, the octave in music is the first note on the scale, and so on. When a covenant is established, two agree on a new beginning thus numerically resulting in 16, the number of Love. When two establish an unconditional covenant based on Love, the number of the covenant expands to 32. So, 8, 16, and 32 are all interconnected and tied together by Love. Love was the primal intent for the creation of the universe. It caused the compression that resulted in the expansion (or big bang) that caused the universe to form and perpetually expand, even today.
Our Heavenly Father established the “bow”, or rainbow, as a sign of the Unconditional Covenant HE established with Noah. The “fruitfulness and multiply” mandate has not changed. We are called to proclaim this Covenant as well. Recently, a notable group of people met for the fall feast celebration in St. Louis at the Millennium Hotel next to the Gateway Arch. The Arch is symbolic of the Covenant of Love. It has 16 elevator cars (eight on each side) ascending to the top. At the top of the Arch there are 16 windows on each side for a total of 32. The Arch was to signify “expansion” just as the Covenant with Noah denoted expansion into the earth. In the visitor center of 70,000 sq. ft. where you purchase tickets and prepare for your ascent, there is grizzly bear on display. I would suggest that this ties the Arch to Kelowna, British Columbia. Kelowna is an Indian name for “grizzly bear”. The motto of Kelowna is “fruitfulness in unity”.
Let us proclaim: “The time is now for the fruitfulness Covenant to come forth on this earth. Let Our Heavenly Father smell that sweet savor in HIS nostril and recall in HIS Heart this Covenant of Love.”
Amen!