Although Noah left the ark, he was hesitant to fulfill G‑d’s command to procreate and repopulate the earth, fearing that his descendants might one day be wiped away in another Flood. G‑d therefore swore to Noah that there would be no future Flood.
Elevating Earthiness
וַהֲקִמֹתִי אֶת בְּרִיתִי אִתְּכֶם וְלֹא יִכָּרֵת כָּל בָּשָׂר עוֹד מִמֵּי הַמַּבּוּל וְלֹא יִהְיֶה עוֹד מַבּוּל לְשַׁחֵת הָאָרֶץ: (בראשית ט:יא)
[G d said,] “Never again will there be a flood to destroy the earth.” Genesis 9:11

When the Torah says that G‑d “destroyed the earth,” it means that He destroyed “earthiness” – i.e., the mistaken belief that the world exists independent of G‑d. The Flood completely submerged the world in Divine awareness, and thus purified it from its moral degeneration and made it permanently receptive to Divine consciousness. Thus, no further Flood would ever be necessary.

Now, thanks to the Flood, we can bring Divine consciousness even into our “earthly” lives. First, we must periodically immerse ourselves in Divinity – in daily prayer and Torah study, the weekly observance of the Sabbath, and the annual Jewish holidays. Then, we must bring this Divine awareness into every facet of our daily lives. These efforts will hasten the world’s attainment of complete Divine consciousness in the Messianic Era.1