Genesis 6:18

I establish my covenant. The first recorded agreement between God and Noah (see on ch. 15:9-17 for the procedure followed in effecting a covenant). By concluding a covenant with Noah, God strengthened that righteous man’s confidence in the surety of the divine watchcare. Whatever might occur, Noah knew that he and his family would be saved.

And thy sons. These promises included even Noah’s unborn sons and their wives, because at the time Noah was still childless, although already 480 years of age (see on ch. 5:32). Not one of Noah’s ancestors had waited so long for offspring, and he may have given up the hope of being blessed with children. On many occasions God prepared His chosen agents for times of crisis by leading them through long periods of disappointment, that they might learn patience and trust in Him. This very experience came to the parents of Isaac, Samuel, and John the Baptist. The commission to build the ark, then, included indirect assurance that in preserving life, the family line of Noah would not become extinct. The birth of his sons would then be to Noah a sign of the equal certainty of the coming deluge. In faith he went forward, believing “things not seen as yet” (Heb. 11:7).