“And Noe went in and his sons, his wife and the wives of his sons with him into the ark, because of the waters of the flood. And of beasts clean and unclean, and of fowls, and of every thing that moveth upon the earth, two and two went in to Noe into the ark, male and female, as the Lord had commanded Noe. And after the seven days were passed, the waters of the flood overflowed the earth. In the six hundredth year of the life of Noe, in the second month, in the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the flood gates of heaven were opened: and the rain fell upon the earth forty days and forty nights.”
Noah then goes in with his household, gathered with the animals, into the ark, which becomes, in a sense, a new Eden. It is the paradise in which life dwells as the earth is washed by a recreative deluge, with man and beast in harmony. Noah is a figure of Christ, for it is He that gathers the peoples that will enter into the other side of the flood of this life, and He brings His beloved family with Him through the sanctuary of the Cross: “For the Spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God” (Romans 8:16). In you then is the call to bring into harmony by your love of God a harmony between God, man, and beast, that your love of God may overwhelm all reservations, fears, and shame within you: “Fear is not in love: but perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath pain. And he that feareth, is not perfected in love” (1 John 4:18), which brings your harmony with God. Concerning yourself, when your entire being is oriented to the love of God, loving your Jesus and wanting to make Him loved in the earth, your entire fabric is thus woven of one thread: “Thou shalt not wear a garment that is woven of two sorts” (Leviticus 19:19); while temptations will still arise, because you know for what you are made you can dismiss them as chaff: “Blessed is the man that endureth temptation; for when he hath been proved, he shall receive the crown of life, which God hath promised to them that love him” (James 1:12). Finally, all nature is brought into harmony with you, because all things made by God are beautiful, embodied love that exist to remind you of His love and show you something about Him: “For every creature according to its kind was fashioned again as from the beginning, obeying thy commandments, that thy children might be kept without hurt” (Wisdom 19:6). They waited seven days before waters from the ocean began to rise and rains began to fall, flooding the earth gradually, that those that were not called into the ark may have ample time to repent of their wickedness and cry out to the Lord: “And they cried to the Lord in their tribulation: and he delivered them out of their distresses” (Psalm 106:6), grasping salvation by a dying breath upon seeing the disaster rising around them. It is with tears that the Most Holy Trinity rained these waters down, offering ample time for the call to conversion, never desiring that any of His little ones be separated from Him. Now, the rains fell for forty days and forty nights, which is indicative of a period of fasting, such as is seen with Moses, Elijah, and Jesus, each time preceding a great act or encounter of God. Thus, there is encouragement here, that for every storm, time of aridity, or time of being without, there is a great movement of the Lord to be done at its conclusion, be this ever so subtle: “Behold my beloved speaketh to me: ‘Arise, make haste, my love, my dove, my beautiful one, and come. For winter is now past, the rain is over and gone’” (Canticle 2:11).