What does it mean that we have this hope as an anchor (Hebrews 6:19)?

The hope is the anchor. We are like ships in the midst of a storm; the waves are beating against our frail barks; tribulation, temptation sorely try and test us. If it were only the frail bark, who could weather the storm, who would not be dashed to pieces upon the rocks, who would not be apostates like the rest? But oh, that anchor of the soul is sure and steadfast! There is nothing in us sure and steadfast. It is not the stability of our purpose, nor the loyalty of our devotion. The anchor has laid hold upon that which is within the veil, which separates the unseen from the seen, which also barred the way into the presence of a holy God. The anchor has reached hold of that solid anchorage beyond all that is seen, and taken hold even there. So we can sing — "The storm may roar without me. My heart may low be laid, But God is round about me, And shall I be dismayed?" We are held fast by the anchor, on the hope that is set before us. And lest there should be any misunderstanding as to what that anchor is, he says, Whither Christ the forerunner, has entered, — the pledge that we too shall enter, in God's good time. Christ has entered within the veil, a High Priest forever, after the order of Melchisedec.

The Christian's hope is heavenly; therefore it is said to enter into "that within the veil." Within the veil was the holiest of all, typical of the third heaven; that is, the immediate presence of God. That within the veil was the ark of the covenant, typical of Christ. Now Christ is entered into the immediate presence of God, and that on our behalf. He is entered as Forerunner and as High Priest. Our hope being centred in Him acts as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast. Our hope has anchored itself already in the glorified Lord Jesus. We are already anchored to the Person and the place, to whom and to which we are going. It is as though an outgoing Atlantic liner found herself securely attached to New York by an anchor pitched in New York harbour, before ever she had got clear of the English Channel!

Hebrews 6:19. Vol. III. 310, 386. — "The hope set before us" is the expectation of heavenly glory as secured and displayed in Christ exalted on high. Of course, the "hope" implies something yet to be done or manifested; though, being of God in Christ, it has not the smallest shade of uncertainty about it like what men call hope. This hope has present effects too, "by the which we draw nigh to God." (Compare Heb. 10:23, which ought to be "hope" rather than "faith," as in the Authorised Version), as it ought to fill us with joy (Heb. 3:6). It is clearly in the future alone that all will be realised, and therefore it is justly called "hope:" still the work being finished, and Christ having entered within the veil, our hope is said to penetrate there too. That is, besides being sure for us and stedfast in itself, it is heavenly as entering into the immediate presence of God on the basis of the precious blood of Christ. It counts upon God fulfilling all He has promised, according to the faithfulness which has raised up Christ from the dead (like Isaac in the type), and set Him in the atmosphere of unchangeable blessing inside the veil. As Abraham had his son given back as it were, and the promise confirmed by an oath, so have we our hopes confirmed in a yet more precious way in Christ glorified above, though still having "need of patience."

There can be little doubt that an allusion is found in this scripture to the cities of refuge in the Old Testament. (Numbers 35:9-34.) There are indeed two points of comparison which can scarcely be overlooked; viz., fleeing for refuge, and the hope set before those who have found refuge. As in the Old Testament the manslayer fled for refuge to one of the appointed cities, and, if he had a claim to the shelter, was in perfect safety from the revenger of blood, so in this scripture believers are looked upon as having fled from coming judgments to a sanctuary guaranteed by two "immutable things" - the word and the oath of God. As likewise the manslayer, while he was sheltered in his refuge, lived in hope of the death of the high priest, inasmuch as then he would return to the land of his possession, so also believers have their hope, together with strong consolation, while they abide in their sanctuary. But their hope is the coming out of the High Priest; for it is then that He appears the second time without sin unto salvation. It is this hope which is described here "as an anchor of the soul," during the time of waiting, "both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; whither the Forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an High Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." What pains God has taken to assure the hearts of His people, to give them present confidence and security in the provision He has made, and to dispel every doubt concerning the future by exhibiting to their gaze Jesus as the Forerunner within the veil? For the fact that He is there is the divine pledge that He will return and have us there also with Himself in the glory. It is this hope (not faith, as in the English Bible) that we are exhorted to hold fast without wavering, on the ground that He is faithful who has promised. (Heb. 10:23.) E. D.

In showing Jesus as the immutability of His counsel, God has consulted glory to Himself while ministering to the heirs of promise a strong consolation. And let the weak-hearted Christian ponder well the meaning of these simple yet most blessed words. The strength of our comfort is derived from the discovery thus made to us of the infinite extent of the obligation under which the God of all grace has bound Himself in Christ to our blessing. A Christian's question is no longer with himself and his ability to keep his own soul safely for the day of hope. He has to do with the power, and faithfulness, and truth of Him who has said, "Blessing I will bless." He is to stay himself on God with full and joyful affiance, seeing that what was once only promise, is now both a present testimony, and a never-failing hope. For He who will bless, hath already blessed. God, who uttered from heaven His promissory oath to Abraham, from the same heaven now announces its fulfilment, in speaking to us by His Son. He preaches peace by Him. He has already blessed the children of His counsel in heavenly places with all spiritual blessings in Christ. In revealing Jesus at His own right hand, God aims at settling His people on the firm and solid footing of a complete intelligence with Himself. To doubt the fulness and endurance of His love, when thus commended on the double evidence of word and oath, is to grieve the gracious Spirit of His truth. Our consciousness of inward evil and weakness is a natural suggestion of these doubts. Looking at Jesus in His perfection as our Great High Priest, alone suffices to dispel them and to bring back confidence and joy.

Verses 19, 20. We have, then, in the hope of the Gospel that which is as an anchor of the soul. By it the buffeted believer may ride out every tempest of affliction, and endure the stress of all that sea of tribulation which is the appointed portion of the children here below. The entrance of Jesus as our Forerunner has settled fast this anchor of the soul within the mil. Unceasing and effectual intercession can alone sustain the soul in peace, while sensible, by daily experience, of its own intrinsic wretchedness. Despair, which is the natural result of any excursion of the thought in contemplation of God's holiness within the vail, is turned to hope by seeing Jesus there. In the full glory of the Melchisedec title He is there for us, not in figure or in promise, but as the End of promise, in, living Truth and Power. The Resurrection and the Life is the efficient minister of consolation to our troubled souls. Amid the sorest stress and fiercest opposition of the things which are against us, we have in Him a stay for our souls which does not move. That anchor neither yields to adverse pressure, nor is ever shifted from its place by Him whose love has cast it so deep and abidingly for our sakes. The victory of the believer over the world, as well as over his own flesh, is, to be habitually in spirit where his anchor is. Christians are worshippers within the vail. The force of the figure here employed is not only to assure us of our eventual security as believers, but to show us where that safety lies — to remind us that our faith is not concerned with truth remotely, but by near and present contact. Our calling is to have to do with God. We learn Him without dread in Jesus. The glory of the Son of God, so distant as it yet remains from sight, is expounded to us by the Spirit as a present object and enjoyment of our faith. The knowledge of the Son is the enjoyment of the Father. The blessed God shines, steadily and without cloud, in love upon His children, from the face of Jesus Christ. He blesses them according to His riches in glory by His Son. The comfort of the Father's countenance is not withheld from any heir of promise. But their enjoyment of it will be as the measure of their knowledge of the Forerunner, who is for them entered into that within the vail to be their everlasting Minister of grace and truth.

(Vv. 16-18). Moreover, it was not for Abraham's sake only that God gave this twofold guarantee, His Word and His oath. Thus the principles on which God acted towards the fathers of old are applied to the children of faith now that “we might have a strong encouragement.” God, in His condescending grace, to convince the heirs of promise of the unchangeable character of His Word, confirmed His promise with an oath, even as men do in their dealings with one another. As He could swear by no greater, He swore by Himself. Thus, by two immutable things, His Word and His oath, in which it was impossible for God to lie, He gives strong encouragement to all those who have fled to Christ for refuge from judgment, to lay hold on the hope set before them, instead of turning back by reason of the difficulties on the way. The allusion is to the city of refuge for the manslayer. The Jews had murdered their own Messiah and brought themselves under judgment. The believing remnant, separating themselves from the guilty nation, fled for refuge to the living Christ in glory.

(Vv. 19, 20). The believer that flees to Christ has a hope that is sure and stedfast, as Jesus, our great High Priest, has entered within the veil of heaven. Christ appears before the face of God for us as the Forerunner and as our High Priest. The Forerunner implies that there are others coming after. We have therefore not only the Word of God, but Jesus, a living Person in the glory, as the everlasting witness of the glory to which we are going, and the guarantee that we shall be there. Until we reach the rest of heaven, Christ is our great High Priest to sustain us by the way. Thus again, as in the end of Hebrews 4, the Apostle keeps the Word of God and the living Christ before our souls. Here it is the Word of God as the firm foundation of our faith, and the living Christ as the anchor of our soul, the One who links us with heaven and holds the soul in calmness amidst all the storms of life.

But let us turn now to the blessed resources of grace in Hebrews 6:18-20. The Christian brought out of Judaism fled also from the judgment which was ready to fall upon the people, but with no uncertain hope; he fled with the purpose of laying hold of the hope set before him. Moreover the Christian's hope is that of possibly some time entering into the enjoyment of an earthly inheritance, but it is a hope that we lay hold of, that we have, it is the present position of our souls. Moreover, it is no more vague than it is uncertain; it is personified, so to speak. It is a heavenly Christ, the great subject of the Epistle to the Hebrews, a Christ in contrast with the best things that earth could offer, Christ, a Man in glory, the fulfilment of all the counsels and promises of God. This hope (Christ) we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast; it is made fast to an immovable rock. There is no uncertainty; having laid hold of it, we can no longer be "tossed to and fro, and carried about by every wind of doctrine." And more, we are thereby introduced now into the very presence of God, into the sanctuary itself. It enters into that within the veil, where we find Jesus who has gone in as our Forerunner. Already we are there in peace, whilst waiting to receive the promised inheritance, so soon to be possessed. For this, there is no need as with the poor manslayer, that the Aaronic priesthood of Christ should come to an end, linked as we are eternally to Him who is "a Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec," and who is so by virtue of the work which has obtained for us an eternal salvation.

This hope is an anchor for our soul. Sailors cannot see the anchor, but they know they can rely on it. So what does it mean in practical terms that we have this "sure and steadfast anchor of the soul that goes even inside the curtain"? The well-known Bible commentator Frank B. Hole once put it this way: "It is as if a transatlantic liner, before it has even left the English Channel behind, were already securely connected to New York by an anchor sunk in New York harbour".

This anchor is likened to a hope. An earthly hope is the very reverse of certainty. It may materialize or it may not. Till realization or disappointment comes, one never knows. But this hope being GOD-GIVEN, the fulfilment is as sure as if it had already taken place. God’s own character is pledged to the fulfilment of His own word. Scripture tells us, that we ARE saved by [or, in] hope not in the future, but NOW] … but if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it” (Rom. 8:24-25), as being sure of it.

The believer’s anchor is “both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil.” We are here reminded of the two flukes of an anchor, designed to take firm grip of the ocean bed. We have two immutable things, given to the believer by God to make him absolutely sure—His counsel and His oath. The writer remembers well a scene which occurred in Jamaica over fifty years ago. At six o’clock in the morning about one hundred and fifty coloured people were gathered in a tent for a Bible talk before the great heat of the day came on. An aged coloured woman was seen laboriously thumbing a large print Bible. She then asked a question, “There is a word in Hebrews 6:8,” she said, “I cannot pronounce it, but I can spell it—i-m-m-u-t-a-b-l-e. Tell me, what does it mean?” I replied, “It means something that cannot by any possibility change or alter.” This answer gave her great comfort.

Look at that lonely old man, without a foot of ground to call his own, and yet the inheritor of it all! We will see when we come to the eleventh chapter that he had his eyes on a better inheritance, even a heavenly. But look at him here, without a thing to call his own, yet what did he have? O brethren, he had God's word and God's oath; and so have we; a strong consolation for us who have fled for refuge to lay hold of — not upon some present possession, not upon something that we can hold up to the world and say, See our wealth, or our glory — but upon the HOPE set before us. These are evidently the "two immutable things in which it was impossible for God to lie" — His word, confirmed by His oath. Abraham had these, and so have we. It has been suggested that these two things are our Lord's eternal priesthood and kingship — His Melchizedec priesthood. While these do abide eternally, and are the witness of the perpetuity of all our blessings, they are not what is immediately before us here, and we would be obliged to ignore the oath and promise of God given to Abraham.

This, then, is the basis of that strong consolation which the weakest saint has. Put that side by side with the apostasy. There we saw those who, with their backs turned to Christ, and, like thorns and briars, are going on to the burning: here are those who have fled for refuge to Christ and laid hold of the hope set before them, and it is for them a strong consolation, that which buoys up the soul, which sustains it in every difficulty until faith and hope are changed to sight, and we enter into the joy of the Lord — the inheritance that is reserved for us. So God is not unrighteous to forget the fruits which His own grace has produced, and He is not untruthful to deny Himself and the oath which He has given.