OK, let me try this again. Land is Israel, sea is Gentiles. A boat is a bit of land floating on the sea, and a boat with Jesus in it is a perfect picture of the little flock of disciples that constitutes Jesus’ first church. It’s a bit of Israel floating unsteadily in the sea of nations.

From the boat, Jesus tells parables that reveal the mystery of the kingdom. But His place and posture also reveal mysteries. The boat is the mustard seed and the leaven, too tiny to be noticed but eventually transforming the sea into dry land by the wind of the Spirit (another Exodus). At first, it’s just Jesus in the boat; He doesn’t even have any fishers of men with him. Someday, there will be a boat as big as the sea, so there will be no more sea, and we can all walk across the sea without sinking.