The time had come for Noah and his family to enter the ark. The flood was coming very soon now. Seven more days and then the water would come. God showed that the command to enter the ark now was a command of his love and mercy. The Lord had seen that Noah wanted to follow him in love. It is also for this very reason that Noah and his family were allowed to enter the ark, as a means of salvation (for the ark and for baptism as means of God’s salvation, see 1 Peter 3:20–21). It should be noted with regard to the latter that in 1 Peter 3:21 the NKJV unfortunately and unjustly translates “antitype,” while it should actually be “prefiguration.”
1 Then the LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your household, for I have seen that you are righteous before me in this generation.