The Ark And Salvation

In quae pauci, id est, octo animae salvae factae sunt... Formam baptismi assimilatam dicit arcae et aquis diluvii. Et recte omnino, quia et ipsa fabricatio arcae de lignis laevigatis constructionem significat Ecclesiae, quae fit de collectione animarum fidelium per architectos verbi. Et quod pereunte orbe toto, pauci, id est, octo animae, salvae factae sunt per aquam, significat quod ad comparationem pereuntium gentilium, Judaeorum, haereticorum, et falsorum fidelium, multo brevior est numerus electorum. Unde de angusta porta et arcta via, quae ducit ad vitam, dicitur: Et pauci sunt qui inveniunt eam. Et iterum: Nolite timere, pusillus grex, quia complacuit Patri vestro dare vobis regnum. De quo pusillo grege et hic apte subjungitur: Non carnis depositio sordium, sed conscientiae bonae interrogatio in Deum , per resurrectionem Domini nostri lesu Christi. Ubi enim est conscientia bona, nisi ubi est et fides non ficta? Docet namque apostolus Paulus quia finis praecepti est charitas de corde puro, et conscientia bona, et fide non ficta. Quod ergo aqua diluvii non salvavit extra arcam positos, sed occidit, sine dubio praefigurabat omnem haereticum, licet habentem baptismatis sacramentum, non aliis, sed ipsis aquis ad inferna mergendum, quibus arca sublevatur ad coelum. Ipse quoque octonarius numerus animarum quae salvae factae sunt per aquam significat quia sancta Ecclesia in sacramentum dominicae resurrectionis baptismi lavacrum percepit, ut sicut ipse resurrexit a mortuis per gloriam Patris, ita et nos, expurgati a peccatis per aquam regenerationis, in novitate vitae ambulemus. Octava namque die, hoc est post septimam Sabbati, Dominus, a mortuis resurgens, et exemplum nobis futurae resurrectionis, et mysterium novae conversationis, qua in terris positi coelestem vitam ageremus, ostendit. Sancta Beda, In Primam Epistolam Sancti Petri, Caput III Source: Migne PL 93.59d-60b

In which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved...1 He says that the form of baptism is likened to the ark and the waters of the flood. And quite rightly because the making of the ark from the arrangement of smoothed wood signifies the Church, which is made from the gathering of the souls of the faithful by the architects of the Word. And passing through the whole world, a few, that is, eight souls, are saved through water, which signifies that compared to the passing through of the pagans, Jews, heretics, and the falsely faithful, the number of the chosen are very few. Whence it is said of the narrow gate and difficult way which leads to life, 'And few there are who find it.' 2 And again, 'Do not fear, little flock, because it has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.' 3 Concerning which flock it appropriately continues: Not as dirt removed from the flesh, but as an interrogation of good conscience in God, through the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. For where is good conscience unless where there is faith and not falsehood? The Apostle Paul teaches that the end of the commandment is love from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith not falsehood. 4 Because, therefore, the waters of the flood did not save those outside the ark, but killed them, it without doubt prefigured every heretic, for it is possible to have the sacrament of baptism, but not the rest, and then those waters drag down to hell, which same waters lifted the ark to heaven. That eight is the number of the souls that were saved through the waters signifies that the holy Church understands the resurrection of the Lord in the cleansing sacrament of baptism, that as He rose from the dead in the glory of the Father, so even we, cleansed from sin through the waters of regeneration, shall walk in the new life. 5 For on the eighth day, which is after the seventh of the Sabbath, the Lord, rising from the dead, gives us an example of the future resurrection and the mystery of the new life, which heavenly life we should live placed on the earth. Saint Bede, Commentary on the First Letter of Peter, Chapter 3 1 1 Pet 3.20 2 Mt 7.14 3 Lk 12.32 4 1 Tim 1.5 5 Rom 6.4