model of Ark Encounter
By Mark Ellis & Chad Dou
A mind-blowing full-scale replica of Noah’s Ark is nearing completion in
Williamstown, KY, displaying the remarkable grandiosity of the all-wood
colossus.
While Noah and his family spent 100 years toiling on the ark, Ken Ham and
his construction team — including dozens of Amish carpenters — will have taken
five years by the time they are finished in July and it opens to the
public.
“We want to reach millions more about the truth in the Gospel, the words
of God,” said Ham, who is also the founder of the Creation Museum located 40
miles from the Ark. “I believe that the Ark of Noah is the greatest reminder we
have for salvation.”
At 510 feet long, 85 feet wide and 51 feet high, the replica is so big it
actually shatters previous records — becoming the biggest all-timber structure
in the world, according to Ham.
To mount the massive construction, Ham employed several dozen Amish
carpenters to apply their traditional carpentry skills to meet the Genesis
specs. The interior of the ark will have three stories and 130 exhibits,
including animal specimen and statues of Noah.
The Ark Encounter website hopes the project will dispel the aura of
childhood fantasy that is associated with the Ark story. “We consider the
fairy-tale ark that appears in the drawings, kids’ books and toys, looking like
a bathtub with the giraffes’ heads sticking out and modern animals on board, to
be dangerous. The biblical account of the Ark and the Flood is not a fun story
about an old man and lots of cute animals. It’s about God judging an exceedingly
wicked world while sparing a righteous man, his family, and representatives of
the land animals from destruction.”
