"The Ark Encounter," a Life-Size Noah's Ark Museum, Opens in Kentucky

The Ark Encounter, a life-size replica of Noah’s ark described in Genesis, officially opens on July 7th in Grant county, Kentucky.

Built to the specifications given in the Bible, the giant wooden ark is 510 feet long, 85 feet wide, and 51 feet high, making it the largest timber-frame building in the world. Inside the ark there’s a museum dedicated to the story of Noah (offering a literalistic interpretation of the story) and sharing the Gospel.

Ken Ham, president of the Protestant organization Answers in Genesis, led the project. He publicly advocates for young earth Creationism (the view that the earth is only a few thousands years old), about which he famously debated Bill Nye the Science Guy.

The ark is just Phase 1 of a much larger planned Christian theme park that will include an ancient walled city, Tower of Babel, and first century village, among other things.

The day July 7th (or 07/07) was chosen for the opening because Genesis 7.7 is the verse in which Noah and his family entered the ark to escape the rising waters.

Though the organization is clear about its religious positions and goals, Ham expects the ark will attract people from a wide range of religious beliefs.

“I believe you’re going to find all sorts of people from all walks of life,” he told Christian Post, “with all sorts of religious backgrounds who are going to come here and even if they don’t share our biblical view, they can’t help but be impressed by the structure, craftsmanship and by the attention to detail of world class exhibits inside.”

“And who knows? Maybe they’ll be challenged to even talk about the Bible as we do.”