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The ark, which God prepared through Noah for His elect, and the good land, the land of Canaan, into which God led His elect, are intimately related to the security and enjoyment of God’s elect. Both are types of Christ.
The ark is a type of Christ as the salvation of God’s elect (1 Pet. 3:20-21). Noah built the ark which eventually saved him not only from God’s judgment but also from that crooked and perverted generation. The ark which he built terminated the old generation and ushered in a new one. That was the kind of salvation that Noah built. It was not merely a salvation from eternal perdition but a salvation from the crooked and perverted generation. Christ as the salvation of God’s elect is also of two aspects: the redeeming aspect and the saving aspect.
The first aspect of Christ’s salvation is the redeeming of God’s elect from God’s condemnation and judgment. God’s chosen people were under the corruption of the corrupted generation. Hence, they were condemned by God and deserved God’s judgment. The ark which Noah built was pitched inside and outside with pitch. Pitch is a type of the redeeming blood. Noah was saved from God’s judgment by the pitch that was on the ark. Through His redeeming death on the cross, Christ, our Redeemer, has redeemed us from God’s eternal condemnation and judgment by resolving the case of sin that we had before God.
The second aspect of Christ’s salvation is the salvation of God’s elect from God’s punishment and the corrupted generation and the ushering of God’s elect into a renewed age.
The ark saved the whole family of Noah from the pounding and drowning of the flood. This is a type of the salvation of Christ that saves God’s elect from God’s punishment. In the days of Noah, people were befuddled by eating, drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage; they did not know that judgment was coming, until the flood came and destroyed them all (Luke 17:26-27). Likewise, people today are befuddled by the necessities of this life and do not know that God’s judgment will come upon them by the Lord’s appearing. Just as Noah was saved by the ark that was built by his work, so we must also work out our own salvation (Phil. 2:12) that at the Lord’s coming we may be saved from God’s punishment and not suffer the plagues that the world will suffer.
The ark built by Noah eventually not only saved him from God’s judgment but also saved his family of eight from that evil generation. This is a type of Christ’s salvation that not only delivers us out of eternal perdition but also saves us from the corrupted generation. Whoever is saved will by no means perish. However, we need the further and higher salvation that saves us from the corrupted generation. This salvation is the corporate Christ whom we are building. We need not only to preach the individual Christ but also to build the corporate Christ, the church. This Christ may be considered today’s ark. Through this Christ as salvation thousands of people have been saved not only from God’s judgment but also from the crooked and perverted generation.
The ark saved Noah and his whole family from the evil generation and ushered them into a new age that they might live an altogether new life for God and before God. In like manner, Christ’s salvation also saves God’s chosen people from the corrupted generation and ushers them into a renewed age, into the new realm of resurrection. Noah and his household passed through the flood waters by being in the ark. After the flood, the ark rested on the mountain of Ararat. Their passing through the flood was a type of baptism; the ark’s resting upon the mountains was a type of Christ’s resurrection; and the living of Noah’s family of eight after the flood was a type of the church life. Through baptism we buried the old community and the old society, and in resurrection we have entered into another community, another society, which is the church life.
The purpose of Christ in saving God’s chosen people into a new age is that they may enjoy the riches of Christ in the new age. The ark rescued the whole household of Noah and brought them to the new earth. After this, the good land afforded Noah’s descendants, the descendants of Abraham, the enjoyment of all the riches of the new earth (Gen. 12:1, 5-8). This is a type of the riches of Christ (Eph. 3:8) as the enjoyment of God’s elect through His salvation.
The riches of the good land typify the all-inclusiveness of Christ. Christ, as the One who fills all in all (Eph. 1:23), is the all-inclusive One. In the Old Testament, besides the good land of Canaan there is no other type that depicts Christ as such an all-inclusive One.
Deuteronomy 8:7 says that the good land is “a land of waterbrooks, of springs and of fountains.” The fountain is the source; the spring is the emergence; and the waterbrook, the stream, is the flowing forth. The Lord Jesus said that out of the innermost being of those who believe into Him will flow rivers of living water. Hence, the fountains, the springs, and the waterbrooks (streams) typify the supply of the life of Christ as the living water within us, which makes us feel refreshed and watered and also flows out of us to water others. Furthermore, fountains, springs, and waterbrooks are all in the plural, indicating that Christ within us is like many fountains and many springs, from which many streams of water flow out to be our spiritual supply in many ways and many aspects.
In the good land there are eight kinds of rich foods, of which there are two kinds of grain, four kinds of trees, and milk and honey.
John 12:24 shows us that the Lord is the one grain of wheat that fell into the ground and died and was buried. Hence, the wheat represents the Christ who was incarnated to be a man and who fell into the ground to die and be buried. It typifies the Christ who was incarnated, the Christ who died, and the Christ who was buried.
Barley denotes Christ’s resurrection and typifies the resurrected Christ. In the land of Canaan barley is the first among the grains to ripen. In Leviticus 23 the Lord charged the Israelites that when the harvest time came, the firstfruits of the harvest had to be offered to God, and the firstfruits were clearly barley. First Corinthians 15:20 says, “But now Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.” This clearly indicates that the firstfruits of the harvest typify Christ as the firstfruits of resurrection. Hence, barley typifies the resurrected Christ. The barley loaves with which the Lord fed the five thousand (John 6:9) typify Christ in His resurrection as the life supply to His believers.
In Judges 9:13 the vine said, “Shall I leave my new wine, which cheers God and men...?” This depicts the Christ who sacrificed everything of Himself so that out of His sacrifice He produced the new wine to cheer God and men. Therefore, the vine typifies Christ as the One who cheers God and men.
The fig tree represents sweetness and good fruits. Judges 9:11 says, “But the fig tree said to them, Shall I leave my sweetness and my good fruit...?” Hence, the fig tree typifies the sweetness and satisfaction of Christ as our supply.
The pomegranate represents the abundance and beauty of life. When we see a ripe pomegranate and its seeds, we surely have the impression that pomegranates are full of life. If we enjoy and experience Christ as the wheat, the barley, the vine, and the pomegranate, the beauty of Christ and the abundance of His life will be manifested through us. This is the experience of Christ as the pomegranate.
The olive tree produces olive oil. Zechariah 4:12-14 says that there are two olive trees before the Lord, which are the two sons of oil. This is a type of Christ as the Son of oil, the One anointed with the Spirit of God. He is a man full of the Holy Spirit; He is the olive tree, the Son of oil. We are told in Judges 9:9 that olive oil is used for honoring God and men. This indicates that if we would serve the Lord and help others, we must do it by the Holy Spirit. We must be one who is filled with the Holy Spirit. If we enjoy Christ as the wheat, the barley, the vine, the fig tree, and the pomegranate, we will surely have the olive oil and will enjoy Him as the olive tree; that is, we will be filled with the Holy Spirit and we will honor both God and men.
Milk and honey are produced out of the mingling of two lives, the vegetable life and the animal life. In Deuteronomy 8:8 honey is put together with the plants: first wheat, barley, the vine, the fig tree, the pomegranate, and the olive tree, and then honey. And in Deuteronomy 32:14, milk is put together with the animals: the cattle, the flock, the milk, and the fat. This is because, for the most part, honey has to do with the plant life, and the greater part of milk is related to the animal life. Honey is derived mainly from the plant life—the flowers and the trees—and it involves a part of the animal life—the bees. When these two lives are mingled together, honey is produced. But honey, for the most part, belongs to the vegetable life. Milk is also the product of both the animal life and the vegetable life, but it belongs mainly to the animal life: it is produced from the grazing in the pasture (vegetable life) by the cattle and the flock (animal life).
Hence, milk and honey speak forth the goodness and sweetness of the life of Christ. Such experience is produced from the two aspects of the life of Christ, the generating life (the vegetable life) and the redeeming life (the animal life). The more we experience Christ as wheat, barley, and so forth, and at the same time as the cattle and the flock, the more we will enjoy Christ as milk and honey.
The final aspect of the riches in the good land is minerals, including stones, mountains, iron, and copper. These are for the building, for the kingdom, for fighting, and for security, indicating that some elements in the life of Christ are both materials for God’s building and weapons for spiritual warfare.
Stones signify Christ as building material for God’s dwelling place. He is the foundation stone, the cornerstone (Isa. 28:16; Psa. 118:22), and the topstone. First Peter 2:4-5 says, “Coming to Him, a living stone, rejected by men but with God chosen and precious, you yourselves also, as living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house.” This clearly indicates that Christ is the stone for God’s building. If we experience Him as the stone living in us, He will make us, who were people of clay, living stones, transformed by His stone nature, that we may be built together with others as a spiritual house upon Him as both the foundation stone and the cornerstone.
Stones are always related to mountains and hills. If we want rocks, we must have mountains. Mountains and hills in the Scriptures always signify resurrection and ascension. If we want to be transformed from a piece of clay into a stone, we must be in the resurrection life. If we are living and walking in the resurrection life, we are enjoying the reality of the mountains and the hills, and with these mountains and hills inevitably there are stones.
Mountains and hills are for the building of the house, the city, and the kingdom of God. In Palestine most of the cities are built upon hills and mountains. A city is the center and symbol of a nation, a kingdom. This means that spiritual authority, the heavenly authority, is always in resurrection. If we are in the resurrection life of Christ, we will have the authority of heaven. Daniel 2 shows us that Christ is the stone that is cut out without hands and becomes a great mountain, which is the kingdom of God on earth (vv. 34-35).
The Bible tells us that Christ will rule the nations with a rod of iron. Iron, therefore, stands for the authority of Christ. All authority both in heaven and on earth has been given to Christ (Matt. 28:18). He has been exalted to the heavens, to the right hand of God (Acts 2:33; 5:31), and has been made Head over all things (Eph. 1:22). He has the iron. The rod of iron is in His hand (Rev. 19:15).
Copper stands for the judgment of Christ. Christ’s judging power and judging authority issue from the trials that He suffered. His feet are like shining bronze, as having been fired in a furnace (Rev. 1:15; 2:18). The feet represent the walk, the life on earth. The walk and life of the Lord on earth were refined by God. He was even tested by the enemy and by mankind. By all these tests, the Lord’s life and walk were proved and came forth as perfect, bright, and shining. He has the qualification and the position to judge others.
Our enjoyment of the produce of the good land typifies our enjoyment of the unsearchable riches of Christ. In order to participate in the enjoyment of the good land, we must first eliminate idols and all things related to idol worship. Deuteronomy 12:2-3 says, “You shall completely destroy all the places where the nations whom you will dispossess have served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every flourishing tree. And you shall tear down their altars and crush their pillars; and their Asherahs you shall burn with fire, and the idols of their gods you shall cut down; and you shall destroy their name from that place.” Before they could fully enjoy the riches of the good land, the children of Israel had to completely destroy the places where the nations worshipped their false gods. The worship centers of the pagans had to be completely destroyed. The idols and their names all had to be eliminated from the good land. Today, if we want to enjoy the riches of Christ, we too must eliminate the idols in Catholicism and in the Protestant denominations, any name that is set up other than the name of Christ, and every pagan practice that has been adopted, such as Christmas and Easter.
Deuteronomy 12:5 says, “But to the place which Jehovah your God will choose out of all your tribes to put His name, to His habitation, shall you seek, and there shall you go.” Moreover, 14:23 says, “And you shall eat before Jehovah your God, in the place where He will choose to cause His name to dwell, the tithe of your grain, of your new wine, and of your oil and the firstborn of your herd and flock, that you may learn to fear Jehovah your God always.” The children of Israel had no right to keep the firstborn of their cattle and the top tenth of their produce for themselves. They were not allowed to eat these things at home; they could enjoy them only in the place where God chose to put His name.
In the same principle, we cannot enjoy the choice portion of Christ unless we gather together with the saints on the ground of oneness chosen by God. God prohibits us from abusing His grace. We must go to the meetings of the church in oneness to enjoy the top portion of Christ.
The best produce of the good land must be brought to the unique place of God’s choice and presented to God as offerings to be enjoyed with Him (Deut. 12:5-7, 13-14, 17-18). The children of Israel were required to set aside the top tenth of the produce of the land and the firstborn of the cattle as well. Three times a year—at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the Feast of Weeks, and the Feast of Tabernacles—they brought the tithes and the produce to the house of God in Jerusalem, the unique place of God’s choice, and offered them on the altar. There was a portion for God, a portion for the priests, and a portion for the one who presented the offering. Hence, during the feasts, they enjoyed these riches before God and with God. This signifies that God’s people should offer the riches of Christ to God on the ground of oneness for their enjoyment with God and with all the people, to be the fellowship between them and God and the mutual fellowship among themselves.
The ark is a type of Christ as the salvation of God’s elect in two aspects: the redeeming aspect and the saving aspect. The redeeming aspect is to redeem God’s elect from God’s condemnation and judgment. The saving aspect is to save God’s elect from God’s punishment that they may not suffer the plagues that the world will suffer; it is also to save them from the crooked and perverted generation and to usher them into a renewed age, into a new realm of resurrection, that they may live a new life, the church life, before God and for God.
The good land typifies the riches of Christ as the enjoyment of God’s elect. Christ has saved God’s chosen people into a new age that they may enjoy the riches of Christ in the new age. Christ is all-inclusive and unsearchable, and the good land of Canaan is the type of such an all-inclusive One. The riches of the good land include water—waterbrooks, springs, and fountains, typifying the supply of the life of Christ as the living water within us, which makes us feel refreshed and watered and which also flows out of us to water others. There are eight kinds of rich food in the good land. Among them there are two kinds of grain: wheat, typifying the Christ who was incarnated, the Christ who died, and the Christ who was buried, and barley, typifying the resurrected Christ. There are four kinds of trees: the vine, typifying Christ as the One who cheers God and man, the fig tree, typifying the sweetness and satisfaction of Christ as our supply, the pomegranate, typifying the abundance and beauty of Christ’s life, and the olive tree, typifying Christ as the Son of oil, a man full of the Holy Spirit. Finally, there are milk and honey, signifying the goodness and sweetness of the life of Christ, produced by His generating life—the vegetable life—and by His redeeming life—the animal life. The final stage of the riches in the good land is the minerals, including stones, mountains, iron, and copper. These are for the building, for the kingdom, for fighting, and for security, indicating that some elements in the life of Christ are both materials for God’s building and weapons for spiritual warfare.
In order to participate in the enjoyment of the good land, we must first eliminate idols and all things related to idol worship. Moreover, we must be in the place of God’s choice and we must present the riches of the good land as offerings to God and enjoy them with Him. This shows that if we want to enjoy the riches of Christ, we must eliminate the idols in Catholicism and in the Protestant denominations, any name that is set up other than the name of Christ, and every pagan practice that has been adopted. Moreover, we must gather together with the saints on the ground of oneness chosen by God and present the riches of Christ that we may enjoy them in the presence of God with God and with all the people.
