“The waters…bore up the ark, and it rose high above the earth. ”
To be lifted “higher than the mountains” is to prefigure the eternal Mount Zion, which “shall be established as the highest mountain and raised above the hills.” This place of communication with the one, true God is a place of holiness. Only those with “clean hands and pure heart” can climb the Lord’s mountain. Likewise, only Noah, who was just before God, was worthy to ascend above the waters in the sacred ark.