Dialogue with Trypho
Chapter 138: Noah is a Symbol of Christ, who has Rejuvenated us through Water, Faith, and Wood: [i.e., the Cross.]
"You understand, then, gentlemen," I said, "that God has said in Isaiah to Jerusalem: 'I saved you in the flood of Noah.' What God meant by this is that the mystery of saved people was revealed in the flood. Righteous Noah, together with the other humans at the flood—meaning his wife, his three sons, and their wives, totaling eight people—symbolized the eighth day when Christ appeared by rising from the dead, forever the first in power. Christ, being the firstborn of every creature, became the leader of a new human race, regenerated by Himself through water, faith, and wood, symbolizing the mystery of the cross; just as Noah was saved by wood when he floated over the waters with his family.
So, when the prophet says, 'I saved you in the times of Noah,' as I've already mentioned, he is addressing those who are equally faithful to God and bear the same signs. For when Moses had the rod in his hands, he led your nation through the sea. And you believe this was spoken only to your nation or to the land.
However, the entire earth, as Scripture states, was flooded, and the water rose fifteen cubits above all the mountains, making it clear that this was not spoken to the land, but to the people who obeyed Him: for whom He had prepared a resting place in Jerusalem, as previously shown by all the symbols of the flood; meaning that by water, faith, and wood, those who are prepared beforehand and repent of the sins they have committed will escape from the coming judgment of God."