We’ve seen religious people do many interesting things throughout the years, but no one has ever decided to go this far. Namely, after having a dream about a terrific flood wiping out one of Netherlands’ regions, Johan Huibers, a building contractor, decided to build an ark.
This true believer said he had seen signs that kept saying he should build an ark, so he decided to build one, just like the one Noah had built when God called upon him.
However, this millionaire did not want to recreate a biblical story of saving animals and humans from extinction, but to help people save themselves from sins and teach them about God.
Johan’s story dates way back to 1992, when he started doing his research, consulting the Bible, watching films about Noah’s Ark and studying reference books. The first version of the ark was completed in 2007 in the Port of Schagen. It cost around $1.6 million and was astonishing 230 feet long. He sailed the seas around Netherlands in this ark for more than 3 years, but decided that this ark was not good enough.
Even though he had built a masterpiece that drew a lot of attention, Johan donated this ark to an organization called Ark of Noah and returned to his research with the goal to build a full-size ark. This time, he decided to meet the criteria given to Noah by God himself and build an ark that would be of exact dimensions that were cited in the Bible.
The “original“, second ark was 430 feet long, 100 feet wide and 75 feet high. It weighed 2,500 tons, had incredible seven floors, was able to accommodate 5,000 people at once and, above all, it was flood-proof! With the help of eight of his colleagues, Johan built the ark using the mix of the materials Noah was given by God and the modern materials that helped the project become a success.
