London (CNN) -- A Dutchman has built a replica of Noah's Ark to biblical proportions, following a dream his homeland would be flooded. Johan Huibers, a wealthy businessman, used the ancient measurement of the cubit -- the length of a man's arm from elbow to fingertips -- to build the vessel to the dimensions specified in the book of Genesis. The finished craft -- which has just been opened to the public on the Merwede River in the Dutch town of Dordrecht -- is 300 cubits long (about 450 feet or 137 meters), 50 cubits wide (about 70 feet or 21 meters), and 30 cubits high (about 45 feet or 14 meters).
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A Dutch businessman has built a replica of the Biblical Noah's Ark
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It is built to the proportions specified in the Bible, and filled with plastic animals
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The man built the ark after a nightmare that the Netherlands was flooded
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He hopes it will help spread the message of the Bible
"We wanted to build something that can help explain the @placeholder in real terms."