Introduction. A good illustration can often make a complicated subject easier to understand. Jesus used many parables to illustrate profound spiritual truths. From common events like sowing “good seed,” “tares,” or “finding a treasure hidden in a field,” Jesus could reveal “the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven,” “that many prophets and righteous men desired to see,” but were “kept secret from the foundation of the world.” Yet now, by reading these parables, such deep and incomprehensible subjects are easy to understand.
In the same way, Paul used Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection to illustrate the power of baptism. His question to the Romans made it clear that in the first century, while the pure gospel was being preached by inspired men, everyone knew the answer was yes: “Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Rom. 6:3-4). Only while we are under the water of baptism (immersion) are we buried with Him into death and raised from our own spiritual death to walk in a new life (Col. 2:12-13).
There are four other “illustrations” or “parables” of baptism.
In the same way, Paul used Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection to illustrate the power of baptism. His question to the Romans made it clear that in the first century, while the pure gospel was being preached by inspired men, everyone knew the answer was yes: “Do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death? Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.” (Rom. 6:3-4). Only while we are under the water of baptism (immersion) are we buried with Him into death and raised from our own spiritual death to walk in a new life (Col. 2:12-13).
There are four other “illustrations” or “parables” of baptism.
- Peter called baptism the “antitype” of Noah’s Ark (1Pet. 3:21).
- Paul told those in Corinthian that when Israel went through the Red Sea, they were “baptized into Moses” (1Cor. 10:1-3).
- Paul told the Colossians that baptism is a “circumcision made without hands” and is “the circumcision of Christ.” (Col. 2:11-13).
- Paul spoke of baptism as he told Titus that God “saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit,” (Titus 3:5), the “washing of water with the word” (Eph. 5:26), in which we are “born again” “of water and the spirit.” (Jn. 3:3-5).
While many today either ignore or minimize the power of baptism, Jesus and His apostles placed it among the highest commands and most powerful statutes in the Scriptures. Only when we are baptized do we: “arise, be baptized and wash away our sins” (Acts 22:16), “believe and be baptized to be saved” (Mk. 16:15-16), “make disciples baptizing them” (Acts 22:16), and “repent and be baptized for the remission of sins” (Acts 2:38). If we have not been baptized, then none of these things are ours and the death of Jesus means nothing to us yet.
Peter was among the first four disciples of Jesus (Jn. 1:37-42). He was with Jesus while He made and baptized more disciples than John. When Jesus gave the great commission Peter heard every word. Hence Peter had a unique perspective on baptism, not only through inspiration, but also through personal experience. He used the keys to open the kingdom to Israel (Acts 2:38), and later to Cornelius and the Gentiles (Acts 10:47-48). In both cases baptism was commanded. When Peter wrote the letter we call “1 Peter”, he was an elder and decades had passed. His memory spanned the work of John the Baptist, Jesus, and his work with the other apostles. Nothing in his experience or his inspiration kept him from summing up his evaluation of baptism, as the “antitype” of Noah’s ark:
There are several types and antitypes in the Scripture and they function very similar to parables. They are used when God saw something in His dealings with His people (the type or figure) that could be used to explain a deeper spiritual reality (the antitype). The Holy Place in the tabernacle and later in the temple was a type and heaven where God dwells is an antitype (Heb. 9:23-24). This means God had them build the tabernacle patterned exactly after things that would truly exist in heaven after Jesus returned. So also, the bronze serpent that Moses raised up in the wilderness was the type, and Jesus on the cross was the antitype (Jn. 3:14-15). Another was Jonah in the belly of the fish for three days and nights and Jesus in the tomb for that same amount of time (Mt. 12:39-41).
An old typewriter perfectly illustrates type and antitype. Each key had an image engraved into the metal and every time the key hit the page the type left behind corresponded to it. If the antitype was an engraved “e”, then the type left on the page perfectly corresponded to it. So the relationship between type and antitype is in similarity. By using the tabernacle in Hebrews 8-10, the Spirit could explain the complicated issues that occurred after Jesus returned to heaven with His own blood and became High Priest. By using the bronze serpent (Num. 21:6-9), Jesus could show the similarity of how the sin-cursed Jews needed Jesus lifted up to live as much as the serpent-poisoned Jews need that bronze serpent. Jonah went into the belly of that fish in the midst of the sea and God brought him out of it and Jesus entered the tomb having died for our sins and was raised again.
This is exactly how baptism and Noah’s ark are antitype and type. God saved Noah and his house when the ark was prepared and they entered (Heb. 11:7). In exactly the same way, God saved us when we entered and came out of the water of baptism. As all who passed through the water in the ark were saved, so now all who pass through water in baptism are saved. Just as all refused to enter the ark were lost and perished, so those who refuse to be baptized will be lost and perish. Just as they saved themselves from that crooked generation by building and entering the ark, so now we save ourselves from our own crooked generation by believing in the gospel of Jesus death, burial, and resurrection, and then being baptized to join Him in the same state.
Consider the type. After humanity plunged into evil, God determined to pour his wrath upon them in a flood. Yet in the midst of such evil, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Gen. 6:8). God’s grace led to the command to “make yourself an ark of gopherwood” (Gen. 6:13-14). Entering the ark was their part in a covenant God wanted to make with them: “I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark– you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.” This is why “only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive” (Gen. 6:18; 7:23). They had a clear choice: in the ark they could “remain alive” or outside the ark “all flesh that moved on the earth perished” (Gen 7:21). The ark was the difference between life and death and the difference between making a covenant with God and rejecting it.
This corresponds to baptism! Through baptism we too enter a covenant with God. Wherever the gospel is preached “he who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mk 16:15-16). Ananias told Paul “why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins” (Acts 22:16). Peter said: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” (Acts 2:36- 41). Baptism “corresponds” to the ark in two important ways:
Conclusion. As Noah had been warned by God that “the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished,” so now Peter has warned that “the heavens that now are, and the earth... been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” (2Pet. 3:6-7). Just as only those who entered the ark were saved from the flood, only those who are baptized will be saved from fire.
Peter was among the first four disciples of Jesus (Jn. 1:37-42). He was with Jesus while He made and baptized more disciples than John. When Jesus gave the great commission Peter heard every word. Hence Peter had a unique perspective on baptism, not only through inspiration, but also through personal experience. He used the keys to open the kingdom to Israel (Acts 2:38), and later to Cornelius and the Gentiles (Acts 10:47-48). In both cases baptism was commanded. When Peter wrote the letter we call “1 Peter”, he was an elder and decades had passed. His memory spanned the work of John the Baptist, Jesus, and his work with the other apostles. Nothing in his experience or his inspiration kept him from summing up his evaluation of baptism, as the “antitype” of Noah’s ark:
- when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. 21 There is also an antitype which now saves us — baptism (1Pet. 3:20-21)
There are several types and antitypes in the Scripture and they function very similar to parables. They are used when God saw something in His dealings with His people (the type or figure) that could be used to explain a deeper spiritual reality (the antitype). The Holy Place in the tabernacle and later in the temple was a type and heaven where God dwells is an antitype (Heb. 9:23-24). This means God had them build the tabernacle patterned exactly after things that would truly exist in heaven after Jesus returned. So also, the bronze serpent that Moses raised up in the wilderness was the type, and Jesus on the cross was the antitype (Jn. 3:14-15). Another was Jonah in the belly of the fish for three days and nights and Jesus in the tomb for that same amount of time (Mt. 12:39-41).
An old typewriter perfectly illustrates type and antitype. Each key had an image engraved into the metal and every time the key hit the page the type left behind corresponded to it. If the antitype was an engraved “e”, then the type left on the page perfectly corresponded to it. So the relationship between type and antitype is in similarity. By using the tabernacle in Hebrews 8-10, the Spirit could explain the complicated issues that occurred after Jesus returned to heaven with His own blood and became High Priest. By using the bronze serpent (Num. 21:6-9), Jesus could show the similarity of how the sin-cursed Jews needed Jesus lifted up to live as much as the serpent-poisoned Jews need that bronze serpent. Jonah went into the belly of that fish in the midst of the sea and God brought him out of it and Jesus entered the tomb having died for our sins and was raised again.
This is exactly how baptism and Noah’s ark are antitype and type. God saved Noah and his house when the ark was prepared and they entered (Heb. 11:7). In exactly the same way, God saved us when we entered and came out of the water of baptism. As all who passed through the water in the ark were saved, so now all who pass through water in baptism are saved. Just as all refused to enter the ark were lost and perished, so those who refuse to be baptized will be lost and perish. Just as they saved themselves from that crooked generation by building and entering the ark, so now we save ourselves from our own crooked generation by believing in the gospel of Jesus death, burial, and resurrection, and then being baptized to join Him in the same state.
Consider the type. After humanity plunged into evil, God determined to pour his wrath upon them in a flood. Yet in the midst of such evil, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD” (Gen. 6:8). God’s grace led to the command to “make yourself an ark of gopherwood” (Gen. 6:13-14). Entering the ark was their part in a covenant God wanted to make with them: “I will establish My covenant with you; and you shall go into the ark– you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.” This is why “only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive” (Gen. 6:18; 7:23). They had a clear choice: in the ark they could “remain alive” or outside the ark “all flesh that moved on the earth perished” (Gen 7:21). The ark was the difference between life and death and the difference between making a covenant with God and rejecting it.
This corresponds to baptism! Through baptism we too enter a covenant with God. Wherever the gospel is preached “he who believes and is baptized will be saved” (Mk 16:15-16). Ananias told Paul “why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins” (Acts 22:16). Peter said: “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins.” (Acts 2:36- 41). Baptism “corresponds” to the ark in two important ways:
- Those in the ark entered a covenant with God and were saved. -----> Those baptized enter a covenant with God and are saved.
- Those not in the ark had no covenant with God and perished. -----> Those not baptized have no covenant with God and will perish.
Conclusion. As Noah had been warned by God that “the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished,” so now Peter has warned that “the heavens that now are, and the earth... been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.” (2Pet. 3:6-7). Just as only those who entered the ark were saved from the flood, only those who are baptized will be saved from fire.