Noah showed how grateful he was. He showed his love for the Lord. He did this by building an altar before the Lord and offering a great sacrifice on it. He did not sacrifice just one animal. He took one of every clean animal that was in the ark. He brought many burnt offerings on that day. In a burnt offering, the man who sacrifices burns everything. Nothing remains. This shows that the man who sacrifices wants to dedicate his whole life to the Lord. For the place of the burnt offering later in Israel, see for example, Exodus 29:38–42; Leviticus 1:4; Leviticus 9:7; Leviticus 12:6–8; Leviticus 14:20; Leviticus 15:14–15; Leviticus 15:29–30; Leviticus 22:17–25; Numbers 6:10–11; Numbers 15:1–11.

The history of the new humanity begins with the promise to the Lord that life will be consecrated to him. It begins with a great sacrifice of thanksgiving to the Lord.

This is good in the eyes of the Lord. He is pleased with it. To him it is a wonderful fragrance (see e.g., Leviticus 1:9; Leviticus 2:2; Leviticus 3:5). This also has to do with atonement. Literally this sacrifice is said to have sent forth a calming fragrance. You also see here an allusion to the name Noah meaning rest. God accepted this sacrifice; it shows that his burning wrath had come to rest. It is Christ who later, through his ultimate sacrifice, puts God’s wrath to rest forever for the believers.