My Soul Is Anchored

My Soul Is Anchored

Scripture: Matthew 27:50-51: Hebrews 6:17-19;

Introduction

The title of my message this morning is “My Soul Is Anchored”.

Several years ago I was having dinner with a dear friend who had undergone surgery during a stressful time in her life. During that dinner we discussed what God had done for her even though she had to go through the surgery. With tears in her eyes she said that she had to reach beyond the veil for the strength that she needed to make it through what she was dealing with. This morning I want to encourage each of you to ensure you’re anchored while you continue reaching through the veil of hope. You see, some of you are facing some dark days ahead and the storms are raging all around you. I want to encourage you and remind you that your soul is anchored and because your soul is anchored, you too can reach beyond the veil to have a personal interaction with God.

I. The Temple and Veil

The books of Kings and Chronicles tell the story of Solomon building the first temple of the Lord. David, Solomon’s father, wanted to build the temple but God would not allow it because David was a man of war so the job became Solomon’s (1 Kings 5:3). When Solomon built the first temple, it had two courts. The inner court was for the priests and the outer court for the people. On the inside of the temple was the Holy Place. The Holy Place held the ten golden candlesticks, symbolic of God, the light. It also held the tables of showbread and the altar of incense. The next room was the Holy of Holies (Most Holy Place.) Within this room was the Ark of the Covenant. Later it became viewed as the place where God’s Spirit dwelt. The High priest for a given year entered this room once on the Day of Atonement to offer sacrifices to God for the sins of the people. Only the priests could enter into the temple and worship God and only the High Priest of that year could enter into the Holy of Holies.

The Holy Place was separated from the Holy of Holies (Most Holy Place) by a veil. This veil hung from the ceiling to floor and it symbolically separated God from man and his sin. On the Day of Atonement, the priests would prepare the Chief Priest to enter into this room to make the sacrifice for the people. They would tie a rope around his waist just in case something went wrong and he died and they needed to pull him out. Remember, they were not allowed to enter into that room as they were not the Chief Priest. Without the rope, if something went wrong and the Chief Priest was slain, he would have to stay until the next year. This all changed when Christ died on the cross. Matthew 27:50-51 says “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom, and the earth shook; and the rocks were split.”

When Jesus died, the veil separating God from man was torn in two. No longer was God separated from man because of man’s sin. Jesus paid the price and opened the door for man to have immediate access to God at all times. No longer did man have to wait a year for one man to enter into the presence of God on their behalf. Through Jesus Christ all were given the opportunity to enter into God’s presence for themselves. Think of this like this: if when you came to Church on Sunday you had to stand in the yard because only the ministers could actually enter into the building. You would stand outside in the rain, snow, heat and cold because that was your place when it came to the time for public worship. You would wonder what the priests were doing inside on your behalf, but you would not know. Some of you would not come to worship if you had to stay on the outside, especially if the weather was bad (hence the term fair weather Christians.) But this was the role for many who practiced Judaism prior to Jesus’ crucifixion. They could not enter and had no idea what it was like to be in God’s presence. Now imagine that this opportunity was suddenly given to you. You could enter into the forbidden place and worship and interact with the God that you had heard about but never experienced. You would enter in amazement not knowing what you would be experiencing. This is what we have been given and what we take from granted. Through Jesus Christ we are allowed beyond the veil – into the Holy of Holies because the One who is most holy dwells within us through His Son. His dwelling within us now anchors our souls through all of our storms. It is important that we understand that it is not our spirit that needs anchoring, but our soul; that part of us that tends to shift depending on what is happening around us.