The artwork we see about Noah and his family and the animals leaving the Ark looks idyllic. But think about what a coastline looks like after a hurricane or a tsunami. Does it look like it is washed clean? No, it is shattered. Now multiply that beyond imagination and you get a picture of the wreckage after the Flood.
God makes a solemn promise to Noah (and the world) that life on earth will never again be wiped out by the waters that surround us. God tells Noah to be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with life, and He gives the promise of the Rainbow, so that as they go forward to live and walk with God, they don’t need to fear when the rains fall and the storms rage. As they begin their lives amid the wreckage, they can know that God is with them to help them in love. They can trust Him.
God offers even more hope than the Rainbow, however. He promised to send His Son, Jesus. He was born at the right time to redeem the world. All who believe in Him have forgiveness of sins and eternal life. This is important because God is the Creator and the Judge of the world. At some time He will again judge the world for the sins it commits so rampantly. This world will end. Not with water, but with fire (2 Peter 3:7). We have a better sign than the rainbow. We have the Cross of Christ.
The rainbow gave hope to those who survived the judgment of the Flood. But the Cross stands as a statement of hope to all people in the world today who live before the next judgment.
Come to Christ.
In Him, you are safe.
In His blood, you have life.
In the waters of Holy Baptism, you are safe from the judgment for you are in the Ark of Christ Jesus.
In Christ, you have peace with God, and with yourself and with others.
So remember, whenever you see a Rainbow, it tells you to repent of your sin and to find salvation in Christ while there is time. He is an Ark that is big enough for you, and for all the world, to be saved.