Genesis 8:15

 "Then God said to Noah,"  Genesis 8:15

After all this time confined to the ark, when Noah sees the hope for going outside again, God is speaking to him once more.  I've got to wonder if Noah was a little bit anxious about God speaking to him now.  After all, the last time God spoke to him, it was to tell him to go into the ark with all the animals and his family before the rain started.  Now that's finally over and God is speaking to him once more.

Genesis 8:14

"By the twenty-seventh day of the second month the earth was completely dry."  Genesis 8:14

 

Almost two months after Noah removed the covering from the ark, the earth is now completely dry.  It's hard to be patient, but sometimes all we need to do is wait.

Genesis 8:13

 "By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth.  Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry."  Genesis 8:13

 

So Noah was 601 when he removed the covering from the ark and saw dry ground.  So they were closed up for a long time, even after the rain stopped coming, but now there is hope.

Genesis 8:12

 "He waited seven more days and sent the dove out again, but this time it did not return to him."  Genesis 8:12

 

Noah gave it another week after getting the olive leaf from the dove and then he sent it out again.  This time, the dove didn't come back.  It had found a good place to rest and it didn't want to go back to being cooped up in the ark with all the other animals.