What was the Ark’s single entrance called in Genesis?

In Genesis, the Ark’s single entrance is called “the door.”

Genesis 6:16 describes the Ark’s design and says that it was to have a door in its side. Later, Genesis 7:16 says that Noah, his family, and the animals entered, and that the LORD shut the door behind them. The wording presents one specified entrance rather than several gates or hatches.

Illustrations often show a large loading ramp, multiple openings, or a door at the front because artists must visualize a vessel that the text describes only briefly. Those artistic choices are not additional biblical details. Genesis specifically places the door in the Ark’s side.

The door is also important to the narrative’s structure: it marks the completion of boarding and the beginning of the Flood’s judgment. The text does not provide a surviving blueprint or explain the door’s exact construction, hinges, dimensions, or mechanism.