What is the significance of the anchor in the Bible?

The anchors used by the ancients were in shape somewhat like the modern ones, as may be seen on some of the coins. When Paul was on his way to Rome, four anchors were needed to hold the ship. Acts 27:29-30, 40. The anchor is used metaphorically for the hope set before the Christian, it enters into that within the veil, and is sure and steadfast. It was a great thing for the Hebrew believers to have their eyes turned to heaven; the anchor of their hope was there; no matter what storms they might meet with, the realisation of their hope was certain if set on Christ. Heb. 6:19.

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."

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!

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.

(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.

A Sure Hope. — But hopes are with men often so vague, and rest on no real foundation. Was that the case with them? No. Their hope was a definite one, even blessing in and with the Lord Jesus in heaven; and it rested on a sure foundation. "Which hope," the sacred writer states, "we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast, and which enters into that within the veil. Whither" (we here quote the Revised Version) "as a Forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a High Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek" (19, 20). God's counsels are immutable. Every one who believes in God will subscribe to that. But He desires to assure His people of it. He did that to Abraham. His word and His oath are immutable. So He turns us here to that history, and bids us learn from it what He then impressed upon him. How encouraging must this have been when first, as here, pointed out! Age after age passes by, generation after generation of men appear, and give place in time to others. This life is a moving scene. Created things form, as it were, the background of a picture, across which a continuous flow of people pass, each one having to own that earth is not the rest yet sustained, each and all, who are real saints of God, by the sure hope of the future, of which God's word and His oath sworn to Abraham are the guarantees. In blessing He would bless him, in multiplying He would multiply him. Of this Israel after the flesh were an illustration. And we are illustrations of the spiritual seed. Then, too, in Abraham's seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed. To this we can say Amen, whilst waiting for the full development of this promise, never by us to be known in its completeness whilst upon earth.

A Forerunner. — For in heaven, not on earth, is our destined home. And now a new title of our Lord confronts us. Varied have His titles been already, for full indeed is the teaching this Epistle contains about Him. He is, we here learn, our Forerunner, a title only met with in this place, but the significance of which all can understand. Yet to these Hebrews it must have been of especial interest. To have a high priest entering the holiest was a thought they were all acquainted with. But to learn of their High Priest that He had entered in as the Forerunner was something new indeed, and wholly foreign to the teaching of Judaism. Aaron entered into the innermost sanctuary once a year. He entered there for a people, whom indeed he represented before God, but who personally could never tread the floor of that curtained-off enclosure. The sanctuary, however, into which our High Priest has passed will one day resound with the footsteps of a countless throng — His heavenly saints, redeemed by His precious blood. Partakers of the heavenly calling the Hebrews were. In the sanctuary on high will they find themselves, following after their great High Priest. For if He is the Forerunner, His people will certainly follow after Him. What had Judaism to offer compared with this? What loss, if any turned back ere the end was reached!

As an anchor of the soul sure and steadfast, firmly fixed where we cannot see it, is the hope set before us. The mariner trusts to his anchor holding the ground in the depths of the sea, though he cannot see it. We are to trust to our hope, that we shall be on high, and shall enjoy the fulfilment of the promises — promises assured us on the word and oath of our God, and an earnest of which we possess in the knowledge that our High Priest has entered the holiest as our Forerunner. High Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek has He become. Of the perpetuity of His priesthood, as well as of the order of it, the writer reminds them. He had quoted the Psalm with reference to His appointment to this priesthood in chap. 5:6. He had reminded his readers of the order of it in ver. 10 of that chapter. Here he recalls to them the perpetuity of it (6:20). All then for Christians is sure. Both these points, however — namely, the order and the perpetuity — will receive further elucidation in the Epistle.

"The hope set before us" is heavenly in contrast to Jewish earthly hopes, - "an anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil." Let us observe that this hope allows no element of doubt, but involves rather the utmost certainty of anticipation. What an anchor of the soul! Stability, consistency, stedfastness will be ours in proportion as our souls lay hold upon the blessed reality of such hope.

Nor is this all. The hope set now before the believer far transcends all that could be for the saints in O.T. times. We have it as "anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast and entering into that which is within the veil, where as forerunner for us entered Jesus, become for ever high priest according to the order of Melchizedek." Here the security is enhanced and crowned by One who is God no less than man, Jehovah-Messiah the Saviour, who is gone back to heaven for us, after having made the purification of sins and found an eternal redemption.

A. It 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 steadfast 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 a risen Christ glorified above, though still having "need of patience."

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.