The Bible has much to say about the eternal future that God’s people will enjoy. God speaks of our future in order to challenge true believers to decide once-and-for-all whether we will obey Him and be committed to Him, regardless of our circumstances.
History and experience both prove that it is difficult to make and keep a Christian commitment for the people of today. Many commit for a little while, but for various reasons they cast aside their commitment. Many once dedicated believers have stopped praying, stopped studying their Bible, stopped going to church and assembling with other believers. Is it right that this is happening? No. But, is it happening? Yes.
“Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath.” Hebrews 6:17
First thing we see is this: God’s promise regarding our future is intended for us to be strongly encouraged. In what way are we encouraged? We are encouraged that God’s purpose for us is changeless, it is clearly spoken, and it’s affirmed with an oath.
“God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope offered to us may be greatly encouraged.” Hebrews 6:18
The writer of Hebrews tells us that God’s oath should be and is for us today. The word ‘have’ is used twice, showing God’s oath is in the present tense and intended for us to be, ‘strongly encouraged’ and ‘an anchor for our souls’ right now, today.
However, it’s only for those “who have fled for refuge to lay hold the hope set before us.” We all, as Christians, have fled something (the world), in order to lay hold of something (eternal life). God speaks of the future to give hope to the believer: that we will have an anchor for our souls: an anchor to hold us steadfast and firm, a hope in Him, Jesus our Savior.
"We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure”. Hebrews 6:19a
God’s use of the word ‘anchor’ to represent the Christian’s hope gives us an accurate word picture. An anchor keeps the boat from drifting away, from being blown off course by the currents of the sea (everyday life) or the winds of a storm (life’s tragedies). So, using an anchor to describe the believers hope makes perfect sense.
When we have a clear vision of what lies ahead in our future, the reason for the hope that is in us, especially the rewards promised in God’s word, it helps to keep us for drifting away from our commitment and becoming involved in the sinful pleasures and abundant temptations of this world.
Let me share some interesting historical facts concerning the symbolism of the anchor as it pertains to the Christian faith. Some information found in “The New International Dictionary of Biblical Archeology” by E.M. Blaiklock and R.K. Harrison
The anchor was the earliest known Christian symbol. It was used to represent the hope of resurrection into everlasting life. At Pompeii, the Roman city buried in lava in 79 AD when Mt. Vesuvius erupted, a ring was discovered with a beautiful image of an anchor and the Greek word ‘elpis’ or ‘hope’ inscribed on it. Some of the earliest Christian graves have an anchor carved into the rock next to them.
Christians today use a cross as their common symbol, but there is no reference to the cross being a revered Christian image until after the Roman Empire became Christian. The cross was so abhorred as an instrument of torture that no early Christian venerated it.
Historically, the first interest in the image of the cross came after Queen Helena, the mother of the Roman emperor Constantine, reportedly found the ‘true cross’ on her trip to Israel in 326 AD. Before that time, the anchor was the symbol that the early church used to show their hope of resurrection and a wonderful everlasting future.
What an awesome symbol to represent our eternal hope! I think I will adopt it once again, now back to the Word.
“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure”. Hebrews 6:19a
The author of Hebrews tells us what we have laid hold of: the hope set before us. We have found refuge in this hope. The refuge concerns our hope for heaven, the thing to be fled, must be this world and it’s temptations. He is describing what we have already done. The writer says ‘we’ have this anchor – he and his readers, the followers of Jesus, all of us who have come to Christ. We may not truly appreciate it yet the way we should, but it is there for us none-the-less. It is still ours, it has been given to us, an anchor for our soul that is firm and secure, that is sure and steadfast.
“It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain.” Hebrew 6:19b
Our hope is inside the curtain or veil. The curtain marked off the Most Holy Place in the Jerusalem temple, the place occupied by God. This really shows us what this hope is all about; it’s about being in the presence of God.
If we have an anchor in heaven, that means we can deal with our restlessness here on earth. We are restless because nothing seems to work the way we want it to in this place. If we think our anchor is in this world, our restlessness will never end. We’ll keep looking for a place to drop anchor, and when we find it, it will disappoint us. We’ll wander from place to place, job to job, person to person, and church to church – always looking for something better, always looking for some harbor worthy of our anchor. The reality for the believer is that our anchor is in heaven but our ship is on earth.
The writer tells us that God has promised us heaven and taken an oath to verify the promise. That seems to be all the evidence we need. God speaks. He tells us to believe Him. And as we believe, we know we have an anchor for our soul.
God Bless and Press On
Larry
The Anchor of The Soul
by, John W. Schoenheit
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