Bede : We read in the story of holy Noah how he miraculously escaped the flood which destroyed the impious by being preserved with his household in the ark. From this it is evident to everyone that the Lord who loves righteousness and hates iniquity knows how to deliver the pious from temptation and to punish the impious with the punishment they deserve.… Through spiritual understanding this same text is shown to be full of more sacred mysteries, when the ark is discerned to signify the catholic church; the water of the flood, baptism; the clean and unclean animals, those in the church both spiritual and carnal; the wood of the ark which was smooth and covered with pitch, the teachers who are stalwart as a result of their faith. — On the Tabernacle 2.7.69 Justin Martyr : For when Moses had the rod in his hands, he led your nation through the sea. And you believe that this was spoken to your nation only, or to the land. But the whole earth, as the Scripture says, was inundated, and the water rose in height fifteen cubits above all the mountains: so that it is evident this was not spoken to the land, but to the people who obeyed Him: for whom also He had before prepared a resting-place in Jerusalem, as was previously demonstrated by all the symbols of the deluge; I mean, that by water, faith, and wood, those who are afore-prepared, and who repent of the sins which they have committed, shall escape from the impending judgment of God. — Dialogue with Trypho, Chapter CXXXVIII