Make thee an ark of gopher wood; rooms shalt thou make in the ark, and shalt pitch it within and without with pitch.
	Genesis 6:14
Not coincidentally, I believe, due to its density and strength, gopher wood was used to make coffins. “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross,” Jesus declared (Matthew 16:24). Salvation begins with death. It begins when we say, “I’m dying to self, Lord. I no longer demand my own way, but rather give myself completely to You.” The Hebrew word translated “rooms” is literally “nests.” On the good ship salvation, there is an abundance of rooms, where Episcopalians and Presbyterians, Baptists and Lutherans, Catholics and Methodists alike can nest. How careful we must be to allow room, to give our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ space to “work out their own salvation” (see Philippians 2:12). Each of us thinks we see clearly. But Paul reminds us that on this side of eternity, each of us only sees “through a glass, darkly” (1 Corinthians 13:12). Therefore, we need each other. The ark had plenty of room. So does the Kingdom. This is the only time in the Old Testament where the Hebrew word kapher is translated “pitch.” In many other passages this word is translated “atonement” - a wonderful word that essentially means “at-one-ment.” Just as the salvation God provided Noah was surrounded by the pitch of atonement, so God provided us “at-one-ment” with Him by sending His Son to die for our sins. In whatever storm faces you today, be assured, fellow sailor, that there is no safer place to be than in the ark of God’s election and provision, in the hold of His astounding mercy and amazing grace.