The Woman In the Bible Who Built An Ark
- Shelly Joylyn
- Apr 10
- 4 min read
Did you know that there is a woman in the Bible who built an ark? When you think of the ark in the Bible I'm guessing your mind jumps to the story of Noah. That ark, if you are unfamiliar with the story, is a huge boat that saved Noah, his family, and all the animals during the flood in Genesis. It's a story almost everyone knows. Some of you may have even visited the museum of the ark in Kentucky. When we think of an ark that is usually the one.
Even so, there is another major story of the Bible that everyone knows that talks about a woman preparing an ark. Can you take a guess who it is? We know her as "a Levite woman." We don't even know her name. But can you guess who her son is?
The Hebrew word "tebah" translates to English as an "ark" or "vessel". It also can refer to a "small basket" or "cradle". Any guesses what momma built an ark?
Exodus 2:1-10 says, "Now a man from the house of Levi went and took as his wife a Levite woman. The woman conceived and bore a son, and when she saw that he was a fine child, she hid him three months. When she could hide him no longer, she took for him a basket made of bulrushes and daubed it with bitumen and pitch. She put the child in it and placed it among the reeds by the river bank.
And his sister stood at a distance to know what would be done to him. Now the daughter of Pharaoh came down to bathe at the river, while her young women walked beside the river. She saw the basket amongst the reeds and sent her servant woman, and she took it. When she opened it, she saw the child, and behold, the baby was crying. She took pity on him and said, "This is one of the Hebrews' children." Then his sister said to Pharaoh's daughter "Shall I go and call you a nurse from the Hebrew women to nurse the child for you?" And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Go."
So the girl went and called the child's mother. And Pharaoh's daughter said to her, "Take this child away and nurse him for me, and I will give you your wages." So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew older, she brought him to Pharaoh's daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses, "Because," she said, "I drew him out of the water."
The same Hebrew word used in the Bible to describe Noah's ark is the exact same word to describe the basket Moses' mother made when she hid him from Pharaoh. Two boats. One that saved a family and all the animals on earth. Another that saved one life that would set free an entire nation. One man and one woman that walked in obedience to God's plan to usher in deliverance to the world.
We are in a season of the Lord asking His Church to build an ark. What is that crazy dream that you keep laying down? Is it huge like Noah's ark? Does it look absolutely crazy to the world? No one in Noah's time had ever seen rain. Can you imagined what he looked like to the world as He started building simply because God told him to? How foolish he must have looked to the world. Yet, God blessed Noah's faith and his obedience and God saved Noah's family and delivered them in His mercy.
The Levite woman feared God just like the midwives. She knew that God was calling her to save her son's life. So what did she do? She built a teeny tiny little ark, placed her son in it, and sent him down the river where Pharaoh's daughter adopted him as her own. Moses grew up as royalty in the very household that wanted to kill him. He then walked in the fear of the Lord and led God's people out of slavery.
Build the ark.
What is God wanting to birth through you right now? What ark is He asking you to create? It might look crazy to you. You might be betrayed, accused, and abandoned along the way. You might not feel like it's something you can even do. You might not have the resources yet. You might be terrified to even try. But, what if we stopped looking at what it will cost and start looking at what it will cause.
Could it save a life? Could it save a family? Could it deliver a nation?
The size of the ark didn't matter in these two stories. They both led to the incredible deliverance of the Lord. The size of your ark doesn't matter either. Just build it.
God is asking you in this season to partner with Him so that He can show you that He is God. Will you trust Him? Will you build before you see the rain? Will you build while Pharaoh's pursuing you? Is it a business or a healthy family? Is it writing a book or creating a ministry? Is it living healthy, healed, and whole so that the generations after you aren't bound by the chains that once held you?
You heard His voice correctly. You know what He's calling you to do in this hour. Grab hold of His Word and move forward in the power of His presence. The fullness of His glory will enter in and you will see His power and majesty.
"This is like the days of Noah to me: as I swore that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, and will not rebuke you. For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed, says the LORD who has compassion on you." -Isaiah 54:9-10
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