It is interesting to note that Peter describes baptism here as an antitype—the fulfillment of a type in the Old Testament. That Old Testament type was the flood at the time of Noah—God’s judgment upon the sin of the antediluvians, and His salvation of Noah and his household. Christian baptism, Peter says, is typified in the Old Testament, but it is not to be considered as something magical or automatic. After all, Noah was in the ark, along with his family, because of his faith. In the same way, we come to Christian baptism on the basis of our faith in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
