Noah, the ark, and "rest" -- part 3 (Enoch's vision of Noah's salvation)

With part 2 in this series about the connections between Noah and the everlasting covenant as a backdrop, let's get into Noah's role in this vision.  Here's what comes next:

42 And Enoch also saw Noah, and his family; that the posterity of all the sons of Noah should be saved with a temporal salvation;

43 Wherefore Enoch saw that Noah built an ark; and that the Lord smiled upon it, and held it in his own hand; but upon the residue of the wicked the floods came and swallowed them up.

44 And as Enoch saw this, he had bitterness of soul, and wept over his brethren, and said unto the heavens: I will refuse to be comforted; but the Lord said unto Enoch: Lift up your heart, and be glad; and look.

45 And it came to pass that Enoch looked; and from Noah, he beheld all the families of the earth; and he cried unto the Lord, saying: When shall the day of the Lord come? When shall the blood of the Righteous be shed, that all they that mourn may be sanctified and have eternal life?

To understand this passage more deeply, it is important to understand that the name Noah means "[divine] rest" and that the passage in Genesis which introduces Noah plays on a root which sounds very similar to his name which can either mean "comfort" or "sorrow/regret." Notice how Enoch's reaction to seeing Noah and his family saved from the flood causes him to say: "I will refuse to be comforted." Quite understandably, he's thinking of all those who weren't saved. Follow this link to Bowen's presentation for a more in-depth analysis of the Hebrew undercurrents in this passage.

The Lord corrects Enoch's refusal to be comforted by reminding him of the most important element of the plan -- the redemption offered by Jesus Christ -- which rightfully gives us reason to "lift up [our] heart, and be glad, and look." The story of Noah is one illustration of how we pass through this probationary period of our journey in safety -- it has everything to do with hearing the voice of the Lord and "entering into" safety.  This is the purpose of the everlasting covenant. 

We see this theme play out as the question "when will the earth rest?" echoes multiple times throughout the remainder of the vision (see verses 48 and 54), with the answer finally arriving after the question is asked one final time in verse 58:

58 And again Enoch wept and cried unto the Lord, saying: When shall the earth rest?

59 And Enoch beheld the Son of Man ascend up unto the Father; and he called unto the Lord, saying: Wilt thou not come again upon the earth? Forasmuch as thou art God, and I know thee, and thou hast sworn unto me, and commanded me that I should ask in the name of thine Only Begotten; thou hast made me, and given unto me a right to thy throne, and not of myself, but through thine own grace; wherefore, I ask thee if thou wilt not come again on the earth.

60 And the Lord said unto Enoch: As I live, even so will I come in the last days, in the days of wickedness and vengeance, to fulfil the oath which I have made unto you concerning the children of Noah;

61 And the day shall come that the earth shall rest, but before that day the heavens shall be darkened, and a veil of darkness shall cover the earth; and the heavens shall shake, and also the earth; and great tribulations shall be among the children of men, but my people will I preserve;

62 And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New Jerusalem.

63 And the Lord said unto Enoch: Then shalt thou and all thy city meet them there, and we will receive them into our bosom, and they shall see us; and we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other;

64 And there shall be mine abode, and it shall be Zion, which shall come forth out of all the creations which I have made; and for the space of a thousand years the earth shall rest.

"Noah built an ark." The Lord "smiled upon it, and held it in his own hand." 

In the first instance, only Noah and his family were preserved from the flood.  Notice how this is inverted in verse 62, where "truth and righteousness" are caused "to sweep the earth as with a flood" to gather those who will hear to safety in Zion. In this verse I see a direct connection between Noah's ark, Enoch's Zion, and the latter-day work of gathering Israel. It all has to do with preparing the elect for the return of Jesus Christ.

Verse 64 offers a remarkably succinct summary of the central purpose of the creation (as a means of dividing the righteous from the wicked). This is the "creation-covenant connection" on full display. When that work of sorting is complete, the earth can finally rest.

In Zion, no one waits for rest

One final point for today's post is that those who enter into His rest by abiding in the covenant begin to experience eternal, unshakable joy immediately and forever (so long as they abide in the covenant). It isn't a future state to anticipate. Rather, it becomes a constant source of "hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God" and "an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God." (Ether 12:4.) 

Perhaps paradoxically, entering into His rest comes with the responsibility to get to work declaring the glad tiding to all the inhabitants of earth. We'll get into this aspect in more depth in the next part of this series, but I'll close with these words from Alma-2. Notice how he speaks of the order of the high priesthood and its high priests in verses 7-9 in a way that transcends time:

6 And thus being called by this holy calling, and ordained unto the high priesthood of the holy order of God, to teach his commandments unto the children of men, that they also might enter into his rest—

7 This high priesthood being after the order of his Son, which order was from the foundation of the world; or in other words, being without beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from eternity to all eternity, according to his foreknowledge of all things—

8 Now they were ordained after this manner—being called with a holy calling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the high priesthood of the holy order, which calling, and ordinance, and high priesthood, is without beginning or end—

9 Thus they become high priests forever, after the order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of grace, equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen.

10 Now, as I said concerning the holy order, or this high priesthood, there were many who were ordained and became high priests of God; and it was on account of their exceeding faith and repentance, and their righteousness before God, they choosing to repent and work righteousness rather than to perish;

11 Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were sanctified, and their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb. (Alma 13)

As discussed above, in a later post in this series, we'll dive into how themes from Enoch's grand vision make their way into the Book of Mormon, specifically four sermons I've studied and connected to each other and Moses 7, given by men who each had access to the brass plates. 2 Nephi 2, Mosiah 2-5, Alma 12-13, and Alma 42. In the next post, we'll go deeper into the meaning of some words related to Noah's ark.