Noah is described as a righteous man. God chose him to build an ark (Genesis 6). Noah and God wanted other people in it too. “Repent! There is room. Come aboard.” 

Noah’s cries became desperate as the floodwaters rose. The skeptics who had laughed at Noah cried in regret because the ark was shut tight. Noah’s heart grieved, “It’s too late.”

Centuries later, Jesus walked the same earth. People who repopulated it were skeptics again. They laughed at Jesus’ claims to be the Son of God and the Savior of sinners. They killed him. 

Jesus was a righteous man. God the Father chose him to build the kingdom. He wants other people in it too. “Repent! There is room. Come aboard!”

Like Noah was lifted up (above destruction and drowning) by beams of wood in the ark, Jesus was lifted up by beams of wood, “the righteous for the unrighteous (1 Peter 3:18). Except Jesus wasn’t spared. 

Jesus was sacrificed into the angry waters of God’s justice for sin. He died, rose to life, and then descended into hell and preached to the same people who had rejected Noah. His heart grieved, “It’s too late.”

The thing is, billions are still alive. It’s not too late for any of us. “Repent! There is room.” It’s not too late for a wicked world or unbelieving friend.

The wooden beams holding up the righteous man can now save the unrighteous ones. The other Noah saves. “Come aboard!”