The Importance of Pitch

Pitch is very important. No, I’m not talking about hitting the right note with your voice or instrument. And no, I’m not talking about the person on the mound trying to get a fastball past a batter. I’m talking about the asphalt-like substance found in the Bible. 

Pitch is found in connection to Noah’s ark. In Genesis 6:14 God instructed Noah this way: “Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch.” The word pitch in Hebrew literally means to cover, specifically with bitumen. Bitumen was an ancient asphalt used by many different people groups in the Middle East similar to our cement and mortar. Since the word meant to cover, it was used figuratively for covering a debt, as in forgiveness or appeasement. 

The same Hebrew word translated as pitch in Genesis 6:14 is translated as atone or atonement throughout the Old Testament. This is incredible. The reason the ark was covered in pitch was to ensure that water did not come in the cracks and spoil the vessel. Remember, the floodwaters were part of God’s judgment on man’s sin, so the pitch, or atonement, kept Noah and his seven relatives safe from God’s judgment. In a similar way, Moses’ mother used pitch to cover the basket that she placed her young son in (Exodus 2:3). 

That bitumen used as pitch covered Noah and his family from God’s wrath, and animal sacrifices were later made for the same reason. Leviticus 17:11 says blood makes atonement for the soul. In the Old Testament atonement was made to cover sins, but sin could not be forgiven because the blood of goats and bulls is not sufficient for that task. In this regard God’s wrath was appeased, but a better covering was needed. 

In the New Testament atonement carries the idea of man being reconciled to God, but that is only possible because of the death of Jesus. Pitch—whether covering a boat, a basket, or a believer—was only a foreshadowing of what Jesus would do once and for all at Calvary. Moses and Noah were covered; so were all who trusted in God’s sacrificial system. The only question now is, have you been covered by the blood of Jesus?