Book of Moses Evidence: The Lord “Smiled” upon the Ark

In Moses 7:43, Enoch witnessed in vision “that Noah built an ark; and that the Lord smiled upon it, and held it in his own hand; but upon the residue of the wicked the floods came and swallowed them up.” The phrase “the Lord smiled upon it” has a close parallel to a passage in 3 Nephi 19:25: “And it came to pass that Jesus blessed them as they did pray unto him; and his countenance did smile upon them, and the light of his countenance did shine upon them.”1

When read in context, 3 Nephi 19:25 clearly alludes to the high priestly blessing in Numbers 6:24–26: “The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace.”2 Interestingly, the New American Bible has a footnote to Numbers 6:25 which indicates that the expression “let his face shine” is “a Hebrew idiom for ‘smile.’”3 All of this suggests that the language in Moses 7:43 (“the Lord smiled upon it”) may indicate that the light of the Lord’s face, countenance, or presence was abiding upon the ark. As noted by Jeffrey Bradshaw, “While the heavens wept for the destruction of the earth, the light of the Lord smiled upon the Ark as a portent of a new Creation.”4

This notion, in turn, has several interesting parallels in extrabiblical sources. In Genesis 7:1, “the Lord said unto Noah, Come thou and all thy house into the ark; for thee have I seen righteous before me in this generation.” Commenting on this passage, Midrash Rabbah connects it to Psalm 11:7 (“For the LORD is righteous; he loves righteous deeds; the upright shall behold his face”)5 and then declares, “‘The upright shall behold His face’ applies to Noah.”6 This suggests that the Lord’s invitation for Noah to enter the ark may also have been understood as an invitation to behold the Lord’s face. This interpretation is interesting when one considers that the imagery of the ark conceptually overlaps with Israelite tabernacle as well as the Garden of Eden—both of which had inner sanctums wherein God or his presence was believed to dwell.7   

A related claim can be found in the Zohar, in which a rabbinic commentator connects Genesis 7:17 (“the waters increased, and bare up the ark, and it was lift up above the earth”) with Psalm 57:5 (“Be thou exalted, O God, above the heavens; let thy glory be above all the earth”). The rabbi explains that the reference to “God” (Elohim) in this passage is actually a reference to his divine presence or glory, known as “the Shekinah.” He then reasons that when the ark was lifted up, God’s presence or glory was also lifted up from the earth, and that wherever the righteous went “the Shekinah descended and made her habitation with them.”8 This is very congruent with the imagery of the Lord smiling (i.e., transmitting the glory of his face/presence) upon the ark in Moses 7:43. The rabbi then notes that, in contrast, “All sins of mankind repel the Shekinah, particularly the sin of him who corrupts his way upon the earth. Therefore such a one will not see the face of the Shekinah.”9 Moses 7:43 similarly contrasts the Lord smiling upon the ark with the floods that came and swallowed up the “residue of the wicked.”

An especially relevant account can be found in a text known as Sefer HaYashar, a rabbinic source that recounts biblical narratives in light of diverse ancient and medieval traditions. When retelling the story of Noah’s ark, this source specifically mentions that Noah prayed for the Lord’s “countenance” to “shine” upon his family:

And the ark moved on upon the face of the ‎waters. And the ark was rolling upon the waters, this way and that way, and all the living ‎beings that were in it were turned over and shaken about, even as a pottage is shaken in a ‎pot; and the ark was likely to be shattered into pieces. And all the animals that were in the ark ‎were frightened …. And Noah prayed ‎fervently, and he cried unto the Lord on account of that trouble, and he said: Oh Lord help us, ‎for there is in us no strength to bear this great evil wherewith thou hast surrounded us; for the ‎wild breakers encircle us, and the whirlpools of the lower regions terrify us and the snares of ‎death are before us. Answer us Lord, oh answer us! Let thy countenance shine upon us and be ‎gracious unto us, redeem us and save us, oh Lord! And the Lord hearkened unto the voice of ‎Noah, and the Lord remembered him.10

Those familiar with the Book of Mormon may notice that a similar description is given in the context of the light-emitting stones that illuminated the Jaredite barges when they were being tossed about by the sea, especially because these barges are directly compared to the ark of Noah:

For it came to pass after the Lord had prepared the stones which the brother of Jared had carried up into the mount, the brother of Jared came down out of the mount, and he did put forth the stones into the vessels which were prepared, one in each end thereof; and behold, they did give light unto the vessels. And thus the Lord caused stones to shine in darkness, to give light unto men, women, and children, that they might not cross the great waters in darkness. … And it came to pass that when they were buried in the deep there was no water that could hurt them, their vessels being tight like unto a dish, and also they were tight like unto the ark of Noah; therefore when they were encompassed about by many waters they did cry unto the Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters. … And thus they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale that could mar them; and they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or under the water. (Ether 6:2–10)

These details are fascinating because rabbinic traditions likewise mention that Noah’s ark was lit by shining stones!11 The Babylonian Talmud reports that the Lord instructed Noah to “set therein precious stones and jewels, so that they may give thee light, bright as the noon.”12 Midrash Rabbah states that “During the whole twelve months that Noah was in the Ark he did not require the light of the sun by day or the light of the moon by night, but he had a polished gem which he hung up.”13

The important point here is that, at least according to some traditions, the ark itself was filled with a supernatural light. This, in turn, provides a new possible interpretation of Moses 7:43. Its statement that the Lord “smiled” upon the ark could mean that he literally filled it with his divine light, similar to the manner in which he illuminated the Jaredite barges. 

Conclusion

The phrasing in Moses 7:43 may be significant on multiple fronts. The first thing to consider is that forms of the word “smile” are not found anywhere in the King James Bible. Nevertheless, some modern translations of the high priestly blessing in Numbers 6:25 use “smile” as an appropriate idiom to describe the favorable light of the Lord’s face or countenance, just as seen in 3 Nephi 19. Although we can’t be certain that this light-transferring connotation is intended in Moses 7:43, that conclusion seems likely when one considers that three of the four other usages of “smile” in Joseph Smith’s revelations employ the term in this manner.14

The case is further strengthened when one considers that extrabiblical sources indeed associate Noah’s ark with God’s glorious presence or Shekinah, and also that Noah apparently saw the Lord’s face in connection to entering the ark. Traditions about the ark being filled with divine light facilitated by precious gems or stones are especially intriguing, since a similar motif arises in a similar context in one of Joseph Smith’s other revelations.

Based on sources reasonably available to Smith in 1830, he would have had little reason to believe that Noah’s ark was filled with divine glory.15 Nor does it seem likely that he knew the term “smile” would appropriately communicate the transference of divine light upon an object or person.16 Thus, in addition to illuminating the meaning of Moses 7:43, these subtle connections provide support for the authenticity of the Book of Moses.