who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ark was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.
Days of Noah ... Why is Noah introduced in this context?  It was because of the figure of our salvation inherent in the event related here; and what the apostle designs to show by this is that the same spirit that preached through Noah is exactly the same Spirit now preaching through the apostles, a fact Peter had already categorically stated in  1 Peter 1:11.  Another very obvious purpose of Peter is to encourage the saints under threat of impending persecution by calling attention to the fact of "few" being saved through the great debacle of the flood, with the inherent warning that it may also be "few" who will be saved through the looming terror.  Thus it is clear that the preaching Jesus did  (1 Peter 3:19) was done through Noah. The surmise that Christ in some spiritual state would have done any preaching is only that.  If Christ had desired to communicate to either spirits or living souls in any kind of spiritual state, it would not have been necessary for him to enter our earth-life at all.  Not even the Holy Spirit addresses men directly; as Jesus said, "He shall not speak from himself" (John 16:13).