Man’s sin is the cause of the deluge. Noe is commanded to build the ark.
The undisciplined mind will lead to the fall from grace.
“The mind is led astray by pleasure, and the virgin center of the mind, if not disciplined by the Word, degenerates into licentiousness and reaps disintegration as reward for its transgressions. An example of this for you is the angels who forsook the beauty of God for perishable beauty and fell as far as heaven is from the earth.”(4) -St. Clement
Pride in appearances that passeth away is foolishness.
“Strength of arm, swiftness of foot and comeliness of body—the spoils of sickness and the plunder of time—also awaken pride in man, unaware as he is that ‘All flesh is grass and all the glory of man as the flower of the field. The grass is withered and the flower is fallen.’ Such was the arrogance of the giants because of their strength. Such also was the Goddefying pride of the witless Goliath.”(4) -St. Basil the Great
Animals, irrational creatures, were created for the sake of man.
“‘I will blot out man and beasts and creeping things and birds of the air.’ What transgression could the irrational creatures have ever committed? But since they had been created for the sake of man, after that for whom they had been created was wiped out, it was logical that they were destroyed too, because there was no one who could profit from them. This is also clear in a deeper sense. Man is a mind endowed with reason. Man is defined as a living, mortal and rational being. When he, who is the principal element, disappears, every aspect of sensible life also disappears.”(4) -St. Ambrose
We have the complete free will to choose between sin and punishment or virtue and reward.
“Do you see how the Lord created our nature to enjoy free will? I mean, how did it happen, tell me, that while those people showed enthusiasm for wickedness and rendered themselves liable to punishment, this man opted for virtue, shunned association with them and thus felt no effect of punishment? Is it not crystal clear that each person chose wickedness or virtue of his own volition? You see, if that were not the case and freedom did not have its roots in our nature, those people would not have been punished, nor would others receive reward for their virtue. Since, however, everything has been allowed to remain with our choice owing to grace from on high, punishment duly awaits the sinners, and reward and recompense those who practice virtue.”(4) -St. John Chrysostom
To be blameless and virtuous despite obstacles is praiseworthy.
“Therefore, in praise of Noah, Scripture not merely called him ‘blameless’ but added ‘among the men of his day’ to make it clear that he was so at that time when the obstacles to virtue were many. Besides, other men were illustrious after him, yet he will have no less praise than they. For he was blameless in his own time.”(4) -St. John Chrysostom
The ark symbolizes the Church, the body of Christ and the sacraments which we are to be saved by.
“Undoubtedly the ark is a symbol of the city of God on its pilgrimage in history. It is a figure of the church that was saved by the wood on which there hung the ‘Mediator between God and men, himself man, Jesus Christ.’ Even the very measurements of length, height and breadth of the ark are meant to point to the reality of the human body into which he came as it was foretold that he would come. It will be recalled that the length of a normal body from head to foot is six times the breadth from one side to the other and ten times the thickness from back to front. Measure a man who is lying on the ground, either prone or supine. He is six times as long from head to foot as he is wide from left to right or right to left, and he is ten times as long as he is high from the ground up. That is why the ark was made three hundred cubits in length, fifty in breadth and thirty in height. As for the door in the side, that surely, symbolizes the open wound made by the lance in the side of the Crucified—the door by which those who come to him enter in, in the sense that believers enter the church by means of the sacraments that issued from that wound. It was ordered that the ark be made out of squared timbers—a symbol of the foursquare stability of a holy life, which, like a cube, stands firm however it is turned. So it is with every other detail of the ark’s construction. They are all symbols of something in the church.”(4) -St. Augustine
The ark symbolizes our salvation in which we must repent, do penance and meditate on the Word that is Christ.
“We read in Genesis that the ark that Noah built was three hundred cubits long, fifty cubits wide and thirty cubits high. Notice the mystical significance of the numbers. In the number fifty, penance is symbolized because the fiftieth psalm of King David is the prayer of his repentance. Three hundred contains the symbol of crucifixion. The letter T is the sign for three hundred, whence Ezekiel says, ‘Mark THAV on the forehead of those who moan; and do not kill any marked with THAV.’ No one marked with the sign of the cross on his forehead can be struck by the devil; he is not able to efface this sign, only sin can. We have spoken of the ark, of the number fifty, of the number three hundred. Let us comment on the number thirty because the ark was thirty cubits high and finished above in one cubit. First, we repent in the number fifty; then, through penance, we arrive at the mystery of the cross; we reach the mystery of the cross through the perfect Word that is Christ. As a matter of fact, when Jesus was baptized, according to Luke, ‘he was thirty years of age.’ These same thirty cubits were finished off one cubit above. Fifty, and three hundred, and thirty were finished above in one cubit, that is, in one faith of God.”(4) -St. Jerome
God uses water to purify us of our sins.
“From the beginning ‘the spirit of God moved over the waters,’ and over and again Scripture testifies to the fact that water is purifying. It was with water that God washed away the sin of the world in the time of Noah.”(4) -St. John Damascus
Women's Prayer Group In Christ 