Build An Ark
#1060 Hymns—For Home and ChurchLyrics
The Story Behind “Build An Ark”
Asked to speak on preparedness in a brand-new ward, Marianne Porter read one verse about Noah — and had her children singing a new song by the next Sunday.
A Talk That Became a Song
In 2003, Marianne Porter's family moved into a new ward, and the bishopric wasted no time: would the family speak on preparedness and provide a musical number? Preparing her talk, Porter read Hebrews 11:7 — Noah, 'warned of God of things not seen as yet,' who 'prepared an ark to the saving of his house.'
The verse struck her as the perfect way to teach children faith and preparation, and she was no stranger to songwriting. She quickly composed both words and music, taught the song to her children, and the family sang it in sacrament meeting the very next Sunday.
Two Verses, One Ark
The song's design mirrors its scripture: verse one tells Noah's story — the warning, the building, the rain — and verse two hands the hammer to the singer, teaching that faith itself is the ark we build against the storms that come to everyone.
The Church published it in the Friend magazine in 2010, and a generation of Primary children learned it there — singing about arks decades before the hymnbook came calling.
In the Old Testament Batch
'Build an Ark' was released February 26, 2026, as hymn #1060, in a batch deliberately themed to the Old Testament for that year's Come, Follow Me study — Noah taking his place beside Elijah and the shepherd psalms.
Its lesson scales from a child's world to anyone's: the time to build the ark is before the rain.
Did You Know?
- The song went from idea to congregation in under a week — written for a sacrament meeting assignment and sung by her children the next Sunday.
- It was published in the Friend magazine in 2010, so many Primary children knew it 16 years before it entered the hymnbook.
- Verse one is Noah's story; verse two makes faith itself the ark.
- It arrived in the hymnbook's Old Testament–themed batch, timed to the 2026 Come, Follow Me curriculum.
- The spark was a single verse: Hebrews 11:7 — Noah 'prepared an ark to the saving of his house.'
Scripture Connections
- Hebrews 11:7 — Noah, 'warned of God of things not seen as yet... prepared an ark' — the verse that sparked the song.
- Genesis 6:13–22 — The original commission — and the last line: 'thus did Noah; according to all that God commanded him.'
- Moses 8:22–30 — The Restoration's fuller account of Noah's preaching and the world that wouldn't listen.
Talk About It
Questions to spark a conversation with your family or Primary class:
- Noah built the ark before the rain started. What is something your family should prepare before you need it?
- The song says faith is like an ark. What do you do each day that adds a board to yours?
- It took Noah years to build the ark while people doubted him. How do you keep going when others don't understand your choices?
- If the bishop asked your family to teach preparedness, what would you teach — and could you make it a song?
Teaching Resources
Attribution
Music by: Marianne Porter, 2003; alt.
Text by: Marianne Porter, 2003; alt.
Audio files from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints