We cannot live it. Salvation does not come by trying but by dying. Jesus death fully pays for our life of sin. Their best efforts could not get them back to land. You can throw all your cargo overboard but it will not stop the storm or save you.
Salvation comes from above.
We can't row our way to heaven. For salvation to come, Jonah had to be sacrificed. We are saved because of the death of Jesus our substitute. Jonah here becomes a symbol of Jesus. Both spent 3 days and 3 nights buried in a tomb thereby saving others.