Ark Encounter

Did you know that the average dinosaur was only the size of a bison ? There was plenty of room for representatives of all the animal kinds aboard the ark!

“As we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:18).

We found Noah; he was on Deck 3 releasing a dove.

As visitors go through the Ark Encounter, they learn from various exhibits that the Bible clearly teaches God created everything in six literal days only about 6,000 ago. How long did God take to create? In an effort to fit millions of years into the Bible, some Christians claim the days of creation were long periods of time, not literal 24-hour days. But is the Bible really that unclear about creation—can we add millions of years into the Bible? Well, before we answer that question, consider why some Christians want to add millions of years into Scripture. It’s not because the Bible is unclear (we will see just how clear the Scriptures are in a moment). It’s because they’ve been influenced by evolutionary ideas to believe that millions of years (which means millions of years of death and disease before man) are fact, so we must somehow, someway, squeeze them into the Bible. But we should never start with something outside the Bible and force it into the Bible. That’s called eisegesis. Rather, we start with Scripture and interpret the evidence through the lens of the true history of the world. And that’s called exegesis. So can we add millions of years into Genesis? Consider these three points. Context determines meaning. Old-earth creationists will often argue that the Hebrew word for day, yom, can have a wide range of meanings, which it does (the English word has a similar semantic range). But does that mean we can’t know what it means in Genesis? Well, the golden rule of biblical interpretation is context. It’s not a matter of whether yom can mean something other than an ordinary day, but of what it means in the context of the passage. Whenever the word yom appears in the Old Testament (2,301 times), we know what it means because of the immediate context. And whenever yom appears with the word for night, evening and/or morning, or a number (first, second, third, etc.), it always means an ordinary day. And we find all of those contextual clues in Genesis 1! The context is clear—these were ordinary, 24-hour days. One big problem with trying to add millions of years into the Bible is the order of events in Genesis. You see, according to God’s Word, earth is created first, covered in water. But in the evolutionary story, earth isn’t formed until billions of years after the beginning, and it begins as a hot, molten blob. In the biblical account, the stars and other heavenly bodies are created on day four of creation week—which is after the earth, the atmosphere, and land plants were created. In the evolutionary story, the stars and eventually our sun form billions of years before earth, and once earth forms, plant life is still a long way from evolving! And those are just a few of the differences between the order of events!The evolutionary story of the origins of the universe (the big bang) simply is not compatible with the Bible’s history. There must be death and disease before sin in an old-earth view. The supposed long ages for earth’s history primarily came from an interpretation of the rock layers and the fossils. If those layers and fossils are millions of years old, then there were millions of years of death, suffering, disease, animal carnivory, thorns and thistles, and more in a creation God called “very good” (Genesis 1:31). In other words, there was death and the curse before sin. But Scripture is very clear that death is the consequence of sin—it was not part of God’s “very good” original creation.This verse applies specifically to humans, but interpreting Scripture with Scripture, it’s obvious there was no death of humans or “nephesh” animals before sin. Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. (Romans 5:12) Any attempt to put millions of years into the Bible puts millions of years of death, suffering, and disease before sin. Yes, the biblical text is clear—God created everything in just six 24-hour days. Rather than believing man’s ideas and compromising God’s Word in an attempt to accommodate them, let’s start with God’s Word and allow it to be our authority in all areas . . . beginning in Genesis!

Noah and his wife can be found in the study. Emzara is seen reading a letter while the lifelike animatronic Noah is ready to answer more than a dozen questions. You can learn about his favorite and least favorite animals and his thoughts about the world before the flood. You might even hear him flirt a little with his wife!

Anybody seen Noah lately?

Is the Ark Encounter part of your spring break plans?

What's your favorite exhibit at the Ark Encounter?

Noah’s ark had three decks, and so does the Ark Encounter!

Our extremely popular Animal Care exhibit explores questions that most people have never considered. How could the small cages be designed to minimize precious time for feeding and cleaning up after the animals? How were small reptiles and amphibians housed and fed? How did Noah’s family provide for animals with picky diets, such as koalas and anteaters? The second bay of this exhibit focuses on some large-scale issues concerning the ark. How could Noah’s family collect enough water for drinking and cleaning? How was the Ark ventilated and lit? How could they efficiently remove waste? Dioramas and interactive videos demonstrate possible techniques used on the ark to automate some of the daily chores involved in caring for a large number of animals.

A large asteroid crashed into the earth’s surface; here’s what happened.

The Ark Encounter is 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet high.

Snack time for Sampson! Our rhinoceros iguana loves the nasturtium flowers grown by our horticulture team. Providing a well-balanced, species-specific diet is a big part of how we care for creation here at the zoo.

Want to see a life-size Ark? We Noah guy.

Mark your calendars! This summer, Northern Kentucky once again will become the home of the world’s largest Christian music festival. From July 28–September 5, 2026, the Ark Encounter and the @CreationMuseum will host the sixth annual 40 Days of Christian Music—a worship experience attended by tens of thousands every year. @AiG and Abraham Productions, Inc. are thrilled to announce an incredible lineup of artists across multiple genres, all coming together to lift up the name of Jesus. Check out this year's full lineup at 40DaysofChristianMusic.com. Photographs are from previous events.

When we were building the Ark Encounter, we decided to always go with the larger number of animals when it wasn’t directly specified in Scripture.

The Bible says that God closed the ark’s door after Noah, his family, and all the animals were inside.

Spring is just around the corner. Now is the perfect time to start planning your next visit to the Ark Encounter!

How did your visit to the Ark Encounter change or inspire your perspective on the account of Noah's ark?

Did you know that our oceans are leftover water from Noah’s flood?