There are many suppositions about what the universe looks like. In all honesty, every one of them is theoretical since there is no one alive today which has ever seen the universe. So, let's do what Christians should do and look at what the Bible says.
In the Scriptures there is reference to three different types of heavens. We can call them the sky, the universe, and where God dwells to differentiate.
The first heaven is the sky where the clouds float and the birds fly.
Genesis 1:20-21- And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
The second heaven is the universe where the sun, moon, and stars reside.
Genesis 1:14-16- And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
The third heaven is where God dwells, which most people think of as literal heaven.
Matthew 12:50- For whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in heaven, the same is my brother, and sister, and mother.
II Corinthians 12:2,4- I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth;) such an one caught up to the third heaven. How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.
The Bible also makes reference to something called the Deep or the Great Deep. And It appears that this is a reference to waters deep inside the earth and waters in the universe
First, the waters in the universe are separated by a firmament where the sun, moon, and planets reside- see Genesis 1:14-16 above. On either side of this firmament is water which separates where we dwell from where God resides.
Genesis 1:2- And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
How do we know that this is a reference to the universe? The last part of Proverbs 8 speaks of wisdom being with God before the creation of the heaven and the earth. And Psalms 148 tells of waters that are above the heavens.
Proverbs 8:27-28- When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep:
Psalm 148:3-4- Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light. Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.
Out in the universe, there is water. And the very top of that water is frozen. This frozen water is reference as a sea of glass on which God's throne sits.
Job 38:30-33- The waters are hid as with a stone, and the face of the deep is frozen. Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth in his season? or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knowest thou the ordinances of heaven? canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?
Psalm 29:3,10- The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. The LORD sitteth upon the flood; yea, the LORD sitteth King for ever.
Revelation 4:2,3,6- And immediately I was in the spirit: and, behold, a throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne. And he that sat was to look upon like a jasper and a sardine stone: and there was a rainbow round about the throne, in sight like unto an emerald. And before the throne there was a sea of glass like unto crystal: and in the midst of the throne, and round about the throne, were four beasts full of eyes before and behind.
Whether God originally created the top frozen solid, or whether it was one of the consequences of Adam's sin that separated God from mankind, we don't really know.
There is water deep inside the earth. God separated the waters from above the firmament with the waters below the firmament and dry land appeared.
Genesis 1:9-10- And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
Just like heaven can refer to three different places, the firmament refers to two different areas. When God gathered the waters into seas, he divided them with the firmament.
Science is just now catching up to the Bible.
In 2014, Researchers from Northwestern University and the University of New Mexico report evidence for potentially oceans worth of water deep beneath the earth's mantle, which they claim may represent the planet's largest water reservoir.
"The presence of liquid water on the surface is what makes our "blue planet" habitable, and scientists have long been trying to figure out just how much water may be cycling between Earth's surface and interior reservoirs through plate tectonics. Geological processes on the Earth's surface, such as earthquakes or erupting volcanoes, are an expression of what is going on inside the Earth, out of our sight," said Jacobsen, a co-author of the paper. "I think we are finally seeing evidence for a whole-Earth water cycle, which may help explain the vast amount of liquid water on the surface of our habitable planet. Scientists have been looking for this missing deep water for decades."
Scientists have long speculated that water is trapped in a rocky layer of the Earth's mantle located between the lower mantle and upper mantle, at depths between 250 miles and 410 miles. Jacobsen and Schmandt are the first to provide direct evidence that there may be water in this area of the mantle, known as the "transition zone," on a regional scale.
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Schmandt, an assistant professor of geophysics at the University of New Mexico, uses seismic waves from earthquakes to investigate the structure of the deep crust and mantle. The study combined Jacobsen's lab experiments in which he studies mantle rock under the simulated high pressures of 400 miles below the Earth's surface with Schmandt's observations using vast amounts of seismic data from the USArray, a dense network of more than 2,000 seismometers across the United States.
Jacobsen's and Schmandt's findings converged to produce evidence that melting may occur about 400 miles deep in the Earth. H2O stored in mantle rocks, such as those containing the mineral ringwoodite, likely is the key to the process, the researchers said. If just one percent of the weight of mantle rock located in the transition zone is H2O, that would be equivalent to nearly three times the amount of water in our oceans, the researchers said.
A more recent post on Daily Galaxy says:
A massive underground ocean, three times larger than all surface oceans combined, has been found 700 kilometers beneath the Earth's surface. The monumental reservoir lies hidden within a blue rock formation known as ringwoodite, deep within Earth's mantle. This layer of scorching rocks, situated between the planet's surface and core, harbors an aqueous secret of immense proportions. The underwater expanse is not a traditional ocean but rather water molecules trapped within the crystal structure of ringwoodite. This unique arrangement allows for an enormous amount of water to be stored in a relatively compact space.
Steven Jacobsen, lead researcher from Northwestern University in Illinois, states, "We should rejoice at the presence of this reservoir. If it weren't there, it would be on the Earth's surface, and mountain tops would be the only visible land."
What we do know is that the waters in the universe and the waters deep inside the earth were how God flooded the earth in Noah's day.
A theory that I find very credible is the hydroplate theory. It explains a lot of the science behind things we see in the geological record. I believe that this theory combined with the waters in the universe is the only plausible explanation for Noah’s flood.
Remember that before the Great Deluge, there had never been rain. Water didn't drop from the sky. Everyone in Noah's time knew that it was a mist that came up out of the earth that watered the plants.
Genesis 2:5-6- And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.
This is why people mocked Noah and wouldn't believe him. God sent a mist up from the earth that formed drops like dew on the ground and that's how the plants were watered. So, where would enough water to cover the mountains of the entire planet come from?
God knew. He'd send it down from the universe and pull it from the great deep. And it would dramatically change the earth’s environment. That’s why people before the flood lived hundreds of years and people after the flood barely lived past the age of 100.
Waters breaking forth from deep under the earth’s mantle mixing with waters pouring forcefully down from the universe would be enough to cut through the earth’s top layers creating higher mountains and deeper valleys, like the Grand Canyon. It can also explain the deep trenches in the oceans that look like something exploded out of it.
Genesis 7:11-12- In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, the seventeenth day of the month, the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. And the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights.
The Lord dropped the water from the universe onto the earth. He allowed it to break forth from deep under the earth’s mantle. He let it gush and fall for 40 days and 40 nights. And then when He was ready, he sent it all back.
Job 38:8- Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb?
Genesis 8:2-3- The fountains also of the deep and the windows of heaven were stopped, and the rain from heaven was restrained; And the waters returned from off the earth continually: and after the end of the hundred and fifty days the waters were abated.
They returned back to the second heaven, the universe, and back deep into the earth under the mantle. That's why you won't find enough water, icebergs, or rain/ snow to actually flood the entire world on earth; it's hidden.
Now, regarding the waters in the universe…
Back during the Middle Ages, people were afraid that they would go sailing out too far and get attacked by a sea dragon. It seems silly to us today, but they had a good reason to fear a dragon in the water, it just wasn't in the waters on the earth!
Job 41:1,15,19,20,31-34- Canst thou draw out leviathan with an hook? or his tongue with a cord which thou lettest down? His scales are his pride, shut up together as with a close seal. Out of his mouth go burning lamps, and sparks of fire leap out. Out of his nostrils goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron. He maketh the deep to boil like a pot: he maketh the sea like a pot of ointment. He maketh a path to shine after him; one would think the deep to be hoary. Upon earth there is not his like, who is made without fear. He beholdeth all high things: he is a king over all the children of pride.
This is no ordinary creature. This Leviathan is a dragon who can travel through the universe from earth to the throne of God and back.
Revelation 12:3- And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads.
The Bible wants to make certain that you understand exactly who this dragon is. He will fight against the angels of God and will be cast out of the third heaven. This hasn't happened yet, but it will.
Revelation 12-7,9- And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.
Isaiah 14:12- How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
You must understand that when Lucifer was created he was the anointed cherub that covered the throne of God. He was a beautiful creation, and his beauty led to his demise. He became prideful and wanted to be like God, and for that he was removed from his position along side the other cherubim. But he can still come before God any time he desires; and it seems like God actually calls him to attendence often.
Job 1:6- Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them.
Job 2:1- Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD.
In the future, Satan will be cast out of heaven and out of the universe and sent to the earth. After the Tribulation is over, Christ will chain him inside the earth in the bottomless pit for a thousand years.
Isaiah 27:1- In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.
Revelation 20:2,3- And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season.
God says that one day He will destroy this current creation.
2 Peter 3:10,12- But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
Revelation 20:11- And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
God is going to fold up this universe like you would an old unusable piece of clothing and destroy it.
Psalm 102:25-27- Of old hast thou laid the foundation of the earth: and the heavens are the work of thy hands. They shall perish, but thou shalt endure: yea, all of them shall wax old like a garment; as a vesture shalt thou change them, and they shall be changed: But thou art the same, and thy years shall have no end.
There is a theory that the universe is actually shaped like a poncho, or a pyramid without a top because of the verse in Psalm 102 and the verse about Christ's coat in John 19.
John 19:23-24- Then the soldiers, when they had crucified Jesus, took his garments, and made four parts, to every soldier a part; and also his coat: now the coat was without seam, woven from the top throughout. They said therefore among themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it shall be: that the scripture might be fulfilled, which saith, They parted my raiment among them, and for my vesture they did cast lots. These things therefore the soldiers did.
This is how it's speculated to look. Please excuse my artwork, I'm not the best artist, but it gives you the idea.
Like I said before, we don't know for certain what the shape of the universe is. God didn't see fit to spell it out in the Bible. But what we do know is that one day this current creation will be destroyed and recreated brand new and there will be no more sea to separate man from God.
Revelation 21:1- And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
