Saved by Christ’s resurrection
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Having spoken of Noah as a messenger of salvation, Peter then sees in Noah a parallel with salvation itself. He and his family were “saved through water” (20), by the flood lifting their ark from God’s judgement. So the water of the flood “symbolises baptism that now saves you” (21). What does he mean by that?
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In New Testament times baptism was usually by immersion, providing a dramatic symbol of death, burial and resurrection (Rom.6:4). It is not that we are saved by being baptised – that would make baptism a human ritual, no more effective than the Jewish sacrifices (Heb.10:4). Rather, baptism is an outward symbol of the inner “washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit” through the mercy of God and the grace of Jesus our Saviour (Tit.3:4-7; Heb.9:14).
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Peter is clear – baptism “saves you by the resurrection of Jesus”. Baptism is our response to Christ’s death for our sins (3:18), expressing repentance and faith in good conscience but relying on the grace of God (Heb.10:22; 2 Cor.1:12). By baptism into Christ’s death and resurrection, God’s gifts of forgiveness and the Holy Spirit are symbolised, so that “we too may live a new life” (Rom.6:4; Acts 2:38).