One practical way that the Bible teaches us to see Jesus in the Old Testament is by noting how certain prominent figures point forward to Jesus. With each significant Old Testament character that you come across you should ask this question: “How does this person foreshadow Christ by analogy and/or contrast?” You can even break that question down into three separate questions as follows:
In what way does this person anticipate the person and work of Jesus?
In what way does Jesus far surpass this person?
In what way does Jesus succeed where this person failed/fell short?
To give an example of how this could be done, allow me to demonstrate how Noah points us to Jesus.
First, Noah points us to Jesus through the promise and anticipation of Rest:
“Noah was a typical rest-giver. Noah’s name meant ‘Rest.’ His father had named him ‘Rest,’ saying, “This one will give us rest from the ground which the Lord had cursed.” Noah only gives typical rest, as the remainder of the Bible bears witness to the ongoing need for redemptive rest. Jesus is the One who finally and fully gives rest to the people of God and to the creation that was brought under the curse at the fall. He is the One who said, “Come unto Me and I will give you rest for your souls.””[1]
Second, Noah points us to Jesus by his standing alone in obedience to God:
“Noah’s life was shaped by his certainty that judgment was coming. And because of this certainty, he was willing to be counted a fool, willing to stand alone in his obedience to God. (Hebrews 11:7) Like Noah, Jesus stood alone in obedience to God, warning of the coming judgment. But rather than condemning the world through his obedience, Jesus saved the world through his obedience.”[2]
Third, Noah points us to Jesus by showing that we are saved through union with the deliverer:
“Noah’s whole family was saved with him—not because of their own righteousness, but because of their connection to Noah. (Gen. 6:18, 7:1)
“But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons' wives with you.” (Genesis 6:18)
Likewise, those who will be saved in the coming judgment against sin will be saved solely by their connection to Jesus. (“In Christ” two of most important words in the whole Bible)”[3]
Fourth, Noah points us to Jesus by helping us anticipate the One who will bring the hope of a New Creation:
After God’s act of judging and cleansing the earth by a flood, Noah waited and waited for the waters to subside so he could step off the ark into a “new world”. Noah used a dove to determine if it was time to come out of the ark. Initially, he sends out the dove but the dove returns because, as Genesis says, the dove found no resting place. Eventually, the dove does not return, signaling that Noah and his family can leave the ark and enter a new post-flood creation. All of that imagery and symbolism is put on display in Matthew 3:13-17 as the Spirit-like dove comes to rest upon Jesus who emerges from the waters to bring about a new creation.
Fifth, Noah points us to Jesus by showing us that God brings salvation through judgment:
Just as the flood revealed that God is holy, hates sin, and is determined to punish it with the full force of his justice, so the first and second coming of Christ reveals the same.
Just as God provides sinners with a divinely approved means of escape (the Ark), so in Christ God provides sinners with a divinely approved means of escape (the Cross).
Just as God protected and saved those who put their faith in Him and used His refuge, so God protects and saves all who put their trust in Jesus Christ as a refuge from God’s righteous wrath.[4]
Sixth, Noah points us to Jesus by showing us that God has set down His “bow” of judgment:
Genesis 9:13-15 describes the sign of the covenant that God made with Noah:
“13 I have set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh.”
The “bow” is not merely a curve of light shining through the rain, it is a warrior’s bow that is meant to be strung with arrows, as Psalm 7:11-13 clearly indicates:
“11 God is a righteous judge, and a God who feels indignation every day. 12 If a man does not repent, God will whet his sword; he has bent and readied his bow; 13 he has prepared for him his deadly weapons, making his arrows fiery shafts.”
By setting his “bow in the cloud”, God is saying that even though humans are sinful, he won’t destroy us. The bow is hung in the sky, not strung tight with arrows at the ready, but loose and hanging at the warrior’s side. God is no longer at war. God can hang up his bow for only one reason. It is not because Noah and his descendants will no longer sin, and it’s not because God will now overlook sin. He can hang up his bow because its arrows have been spent on someone else. God chose to aim the arrows of judgment toward an innocent Christ rather than toward guilty sinners.[5]
