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.
while the ark was a preparing: Specifically this was the "sometime" of disobedience. This was the time of Noah’s preaching (Genesis 6:3; 2 Peter 2:5). This was the time when Christ, through Noah, preached. Peter does not state that the disobedient were disembodied at the time the preaching was done. It was done when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah and while the ark was preparing.