Genesis 8:13
And it came to pass in the six hundredth and first year, in the first month, the first day of the month, the waters were dried up from off the earth: and Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry.
This moment comes after Noah sent out the raven and then the dove twice to report conditions outside the ark, and after the dove's evening return bearing an olive leaf brought great rejoicing, when Noah removed the covering of the ark and found the waters receded and the face of the ground dry. Noah and his family had been anxiously watching the floodwaters decrease and longing to go out on the earth again. When the face of the ground was dry Noah himself could remove the covering from the top of the ark and look out.
Although he could look out upon dry land, Noah remained patiently inside because he had entered at God's command and waited for special directions to depart. He could not open the door that God had shut. God then sent an angel to open the door, speaking through the angel to command Noah to bring his family and every living creature out of the ark with him.
The account is inspired Scripture and true history with a literal Noah and a historical Flood. It shows God's destruction of the world for its iniquity by the Flood and His use of the massive ark to save all who would hear warning and turn from unrighteousness. Only eight persons believed the truth Noah preached and were saved, while all others tested by that preaching were lost. By the time of this drying of the waters and uncovering of the ark, Enoch had already been translated without seeing death for his righteousness in his generation.
The Flood stands as an example of God's judgment on human sin, with the sins increasing in the present being the same kind that brought the Flood upon the earth. The events of Noah's time prefigure the present age before Christ appears in the clouds of heaven.