Peter Spier’s Noah’s Ark stands as one of my favorite books from childhood. I marveled at the illustrations as the flood rose higher and higher. I loved looking at the animals and Noah’s exasperated expression inside of the ark. In my memory, I see Noah sending the dove out, both hands extended. Then, I see the rejoicing figure of Noah as the little dove returns with the freshly plucked olive branch in its beak.
Today, when I read Genesis 8 again, I love the patience of Noah. He first sends the raven out to test the condition of the earth, and the raven just flies back and forth on its own to await dry land. Next, a dove. The dove, of course, finds “no place to set its feet” because the water had not receded. So Noah “brought it back to himself in the ark.” He waits. He waits more. Finally, he sends the dove out again. Then, he sees the olive leaf and knows his time of leaving that ark approaches.
The dove could symbolize many things, but I like thinking of the dove like the Holy Spirit who goes ahead of us to test our places of work or potential ministry fruitfulness. Sometimes, we wait a long time, with no evidence in sight of where we are to land to live and work. We bring our gifts and longings “back to [ourselves]. We wait longer. When it’s finally time, the Holy Spirit shows us some kind of fruitfulness to let us know we might leave our own ark of protection, restraint, and growth until the time is just right.
Then. Then! God declares to Noah to “come out of the ark”—to multiply, to be fruitful, to increase. What patience displayed before this time!