Corresponding (499) (antitupon from anti = over against, opposite to + tupos = mark of a stroke or blow, figure formed by a blow or impression) first of all means striking back or struck back (of sound - echoing, of light - reflecting back) and then corresponding to, a copy or an exact representation.
See the related discussion of type and antitype (Typology - Study of Biblical types, rationale, cautions, guidelines, contrasts with allegory)
In English antitype refers to a person or thing that represents the opposite of another. And so it can convey the meaning of the opposite, as the flesh is opposite the spirit, but it is not strictly speaking used that way in the NT. (but see example from Hebrews 9:24-note)
Thayer states that antitupon is "a thing resembling another, its counterpart; something in the Messianic times which answers to the type".
Here in the NT it refers to an earthly expression of a spiritual or heavenly reality. It indicates a symbol, picture, or pattern of some spiritual truth. Antitype is a thing that is foreshadowed or represented by a type or symbol, especially a character or event in the New Testament prefigured in the Old Testament.
Here is antitupon in a secular Greek writing - "I am placed opposite something that has gone before"
Antitupon is used only here and in Hebrews 9:24-note.
For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (see note Hebrews 9:24)
Peter is teaching that the fact that 8 people were in an ark and went through the whole judgment, and yet were unharmed, is analogous to the Christian’s experience in salvation by being in (union with) Christ, identified with Christ our "Ark" of salvation so to speak.
Peter is not teaching (as some twist the Scriptures) that immersion in water by a particular denomination saves you. Peter pictures the waters of baptism as corresponding to (prefigured by) the deliverance of Noah’s family by water. Noah and his family's identification with the Ark (by going into the ark when the flood came) is a type of the believer's identification with Christ (by grace through face) in which he or she identifies with Christ's finished work on the Cross and in so doing in a manner of speaking that person is now safe within the "Ark", Who is Christ Jesus Himself.
This is message of security in Christ is one that Peter's recipients who were experiencing persecution needed to hear, so that might be stabilized when the waves of affliction came upon them.
Application: Biblical Truth sets us free from our fears of what might occur in this life. If one is suffering for the sake of righteousness, they have nothing to fear but can entrust their faithful Creator, Who will deliver them either in the storm or through the storm. Trust in God's faithfulness is the same shield that Shadrach, et al, took up to deflect the fiery missiles of doubt and which enabled them to say...
"If it be so (that "you will immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire"), our God Whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up." (Daniel 3:17, 18)
John Piper answering the question "does baptism save?" writes...
In verse 19, Peter reminds the readers that, in the spirit, Jesus had gone to preach to the people in Noah's day, whose spirits are now in prison awaiting judgment. (I don't take the position that verse 19 refers to Jesus' preaching in hell between Good Friday and Easter.) But there was tremendous evil and hardness in Noah's day and only eight people enter the ark for salvation from the judgment through water.
Now Peter sees a comparison between the waters of the flood and the waters of baptism. Verse 21 is the key verse: "And corresponding to that [the water of the flood], baptism now saves you - not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience - through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." Now there are some denominations that love this verse because it seems at first to support the view called "baptismal regeneration." That is, baptism does something to the candidate: it saves by bringing about new birth. So, for example, one of the baptismal liturgies for infants says, "Seeing now, dearly beloved brethren, that this child is regenerate, and grafted into the body of Christ's Church, let us give thanks."
Now the problem with this is that Peter seems very aware that his words are open to dangerous misuse. This is why, as soon as they are out of his mouth, as it were, he qualifies them lest we take them the wrong way. In verse 21 he does say, "Baptism now saves you" - that sounds like the water has a saving effect in and of itself apart from faith. He knows that is what it sounds like and so he adds immediately, "Not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience - through the resurrection of Jesus Christ." (Or your version might have: "the pledge of a good conscience toward God").
But the point seems to be this: When I speak of baptism saving, Peter says, I don't mean that the water, immersing the body and cleansing the flesh, is of any saving effect; what I mean is that, insofar as baptism is "an appeal to God for a good conscience," (or is "a pledge of a good conscience toward God"), it saves. Paul said in Romans 10:13, "Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord - everyone who appeals to the Lord - will be saved." Paul does not mean that faith alone fails to save. He means that faith calls on God. That's what faith does. Now Peter is saying, "Baptism is the God-ordained, symbolic expression of that call to God. It is an appeal to God - either in the form of repentance or in the form of commitment.
What is Baptism? Now this is fundamentally important in our understanding of what baptism is in the New Testament. James Dunn is right I think when he says that "1Peter 3:21 is the nearest approach to a definition of baptism that the New Testament affords" (Baptism in the Holy Spirit, p. 219). What is baptism? Baptism is a symbolic expression of the heart's "appeal to God." Baptism is a calling on God. It is a way of saying to God with our whole body, "I trust you to take me into Christ like Noah was taken into the ark, and to make Jesus the substitute for my sins and to bring me through these waters of death and judgment into new and everlasting life through the resurrection of Jesus my Lord." (See full sermon What is Baptism & Does it Save?)
NOT THE REMOVAL OF DIRT FROM THE FLESH BUT AN APPEAL TO GOD FOR A GOOD CONSCIENCE THROUGH THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST: ou sarkos apothesis rhupou alla suneideseos agathes eperotema eis theon di anastaseos Iesou Christou: (Eze 36:25,26; Zec 13:1; 2Cor 7:1) (Acts 8:37; Ro 10:9,10; 2Cor 1:12; 1Ti 6:12)
Appeal (1906) (eperotema from epí = intensifies verb + erotáo =, to ask, inquire of, beg of) was a technical term used in making a contract. Here it refers to agreeing to meet certain conditions required by God before being placed into the ark of safety (Christ). Salvation requires the desire to obtain a cleansed conscience from God and a willingness to meet the conditions necessary to obtain it.
The baptism Peter speaks of is not water baptism. The Greek word translated "baptism" is more specifically translated "immerse." Noah didn't experience Christian baptism, but was immersed in judgment though protected by the ark. Noah and his family didn't miss the judgment--they were there--but were preserved through it. That's what happens to believers in Christ. Peter made it especially clear he wasn't talking about Christian baptism when he said, "Not the removal of dirt from the flesh." He wasn't speaking of an earthly ordinance but a spiritual reality, specifically of "an appeal to God for a good conscience--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ".
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Greek Word Studies ( - )
Read freely Greek Word Studies from the Austin Precept text commentary of the Bible in text and pdf format. Precept Austin is an online free dynamic bible commentary similar to wikipedia with updated content and many links to excellent biblical resources around the world. You can browse the entire collection of Commentaries by Verse on the Precept Austin website.We have been "bought with a price" to be "ambassadors for Christ" and our "salvation is nearer to us than when we believed" so let us "cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God" "so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not shrink away from Him in shame at His coming." (1Cor 6:20, 2Cor 5:20, Ro 13:11, 2Cor 7:1, 1Jn 2:28)