The Ark gets finished and the eight souls get aboard—Noah, his three sons, and their wives. This number eight is associated with baptism in 1 Peter 3:20 since “eight souls were saved by water.” The number eight symbolizes renewal or a new beginning. There are many examples of this—eight years for Lehi and his family in the wilderness, eight barges for the Jaredites, the covenant of circumcision on the eighth day, eight days old for sacrifice of animals, Alma and his people fled from King Noah for eight days in the wilderness, and of course, the minimum age for baptism. These are all new beginnings.
The Seal of Melchizedek is an eight-pointed star formed by two overlapping squares. It represents the morning star Venus and points to Jesus Christ as the “bright and morning star” (Revelation 22:16). It reminds us that every day is a new beginning. This symbol appears in numerous places in the San Diego Temple (see below).
The waters subsided and the Ark rested. Then, in Genesis 8:6-12, there is an interesting narrative. Noah opens the window and sends forth a raven, an unclean bird that would feed on the dead carcasses from the Flood. The raven would symbolize death and the old fallen world. Then Noah sends forth a dove to see if the waters were abated. The dove would symbolize purity, new life, and the Holy Ghost. The dove would not feed upon dead animals and returned to the Ark, signifying that new life was being born again upon the earth.
Then we get some very interesting temple imagery in verse 9:
“But the dove found no rest for the sole of her foot, and she returned unto him into the ark, for the waters were on the face of the whole earth: then he put forth his hand, and took her, and pulled her in unto him into the ark.”
It’s time to introduce a new Hebrew word. “Sole of the foot” is the Hebrew word kaph. Here is the entry for kaph from Strong’s Bible Concordance:
It is usually translated as palm or hand. In this passage, it is the sole of the foot. In Genesis 32, Jacob wrestles with a messenger of God and is touched in the kaph, or hollow of his thigh. This is when Jacob receives a new name and is given the name Israel, meaning “to prevail with God” or “let God prevail.” It is usually associated with covenant making. Kaph is also the eleventh letter of the Hebrew alphabet. You can see all the Hebrew letters in Psalm 119. Each letter is followed by eight verses. The Hebrew letter kaph (spelled caph in Psalm 119) comes right before verse 81. Perhaps the most famous verse (and my personal favorite) involving kaph, or palm of the hand, comes in Isaiah 49:16 as the Savior said, “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.”
The curved shape of the letter kaph is significant. If the letter is turned on its side, it looks like a dome or a crown, signifying our divine potential as kings and queens, and that our highest potential can only be reached by turning upward and reaching out to God.
If we consider the Ark to be a floating temple for the reasons outlined in my last post, it creates an interesting temple scene. When Noah puts forth his hand to take hold of the sole of the dove’s foot, it is the same as taking her by the hand. This would be akin to being taken by the hand and pulled into the Ark, or being pulled through the veil.
I have attached a video from a Jewish scholar explaining the letter kaph or kaf.
