Today’s message is entitled “Our Anchor of Hope,” and I would like to open with an illustration. A naval officer from World War II once described how the battleships he was on survived terrible hurricanes in Chesapeake Bay. When storms or turbulent seas threatened a ship that was docked in harbor, a crew of some eight or nine sailors would be sent out in a motor launch. Their mission was to haul the ship’s anchor onto planks set across the stern of the launch. Motoring out in the middle of the storm, as far as the chain would take them into the bay, the anchor would then be let down and the ship winched forward into the deeper water on the anchor chain.(1) But this maneuver has been around for centuries, and Paul alludes to it in today’s passage to provide us a spiritual application. So, let us look at what the Scripture teaches about our anchor of hope.
God’s Future Promise (vv. 13-15)
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, 14 saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” 15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
The promise referred to, in verses 13-14, is the one that God made to Abraham when he proved that he was willing to offer his one and only son Isaac on the altar.(2) In Genesis 22:17-18, God promised that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars in the heavens, and that from his seed all nations of the earth would be blessed. The blessing that God promised is none other than Jesus Christ, the Messiah and Savior. Abraham’s hope, which provided direction for his life, was a promise made in the present – during Abraham’s present, that is – with a fulfillment at some time in the future; and so, Abraham looked ahead to anchor his hope in the future, like an anchor that is cast ahead to pull a ship forward.
Verse 15 says that “after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.” The phrase “patiently endured,” means that the promise was not fulfilled immediately. In fact, Abraham would not live long enough to see the Savior born, for it would be another 2,000 years! According to commentator Adam Clarke, the statement “he obtained the promise,” probably refers to how he saw the prophecy beginning to unfold as God multiplied the seed of his son Isaac.(3) I think it is important to mention that, according to Galatians 3:6 and James 2:23, through faith, Abraham would be counted as righteous; and through faith, he would one day himself behold the Messiah in heaven.
The statement “he obtained the promise” (v. 15) also refers to Abraham’s descendants who waited and watched for the Messiah. They looked ahead and their vision was made clear, so that when the Savior finally came, they knew Him; and through faith many confessed Him as Savior and Lord (John 11:45, 12:11). They obtained the promise; the promise of salvation, that is. But, not all of Abraham’s descendants believed. Those who failed to believe remained lost, as being Jewish did not entitle them to eternal life. Galatians 3:7 says that “only those who are of faith are sons of Abraham” (cf. Romans 4:16), which includes Gentiles (cf. Galatians 3:13-14); and Galatian 3:39 says, “If you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”
For those of us today who know Jesus as Savior and Lord; I want us to consider how our salvation and the promise of heaven happened on a specific day and time in the past. Many of us can remember the day when we walked the aisle and prayed to receive Jesus Christ into our heart and life. We were given a promise on that day that we would enter heaven when we die; and so, the promise was made on a day in the past, but the fulfillment of entering heaven is set before us, cast sometime ahead in the not-so-distant future, on the day that God calls us home. Like Abraham, we too are patiently enduring until we behold the promise of heaven and see our Savior face to face.
The Promise is Sure (vv. 16-18)
16 For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. 17 Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, 18 that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us.
Back in verse 13, we read, “When God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself.” The oath was a significant tradition among the Jews. Allow me to share a quote by Eleazar ben Azariah, a first-century Rabbi, to illustrate this fact. Here is what Eleazar wrote, “Thus said Moses to the holy blessed God, Lord of all the world. If Thou hadst sworn to them by the heavens and the earth, then I should have said, ‘As the heavens and the earth [will] pass away, so [will] Thy oath pass away.’ But now, Thou hast sworn unto them by Thy great name, which liveth and which endureth forever; and . . . therefore, Thy oath [will] endure forever.”(4) Eleazar implied that, because God swore by His own name, you could take His promise to the bank!
Commentator Kenneth Wuest says that the writer of Hebrews illustrates the security of the divine promise by using an analogy of the human practice of oath-making or swearing. This practice is exemplified in Deuteronomy 19:15, which says, “By the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.” You see, once the witnesses have presented themselves and sworn to the truth of a matter, then it is “established” (Deuteronomy 19:15) and becomes “an end of all disputes,” as we read in verse 16.
In the King James Version, verse 17 begins with, “Wherein God,” instead of “Thus God.” The word “wherein” refers to the entire previous clause; and the idea is “in accordance with this universal custom”(5) of oath-making. God made an oath to prove that He spoke the truth and did not lie. He also did it to prove His immutability (v. 17). The word “immutability” is the translation of ametatheton. Remove the letter “a” (alpha) from the front, and metatheton means “to change place,” with the derived noun meaning “a turncoat.” But placing the letter “a” (alpha) as a prefix to the word makes it mean just the opposite. The meaning, therefore, is that “God will NOT change His position as to His promise. Having made the promise, He will stand by it. He is ‘not’ a turncoat.”(6)
According to verse 18, we have strong consolation that our hope of eternal life is secure, based on two immutable things. Now, listen as I read Deuteronomy 19:15 in its entirety: “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.” It takes at least two witnesses to confirm what someone has sworn; and thus, it takes two immutable things to confirm the truth of our hope in heaven. According to commentator Kenneth Wuest, the two immutable things are: “the act of God making a promise” and “the act of God taking an oath.”(7)
So, with these two things in mind – “the promise of a blessing” and “God swearing by His own name” – we have strong consolation (v. 18); meaning, we can trust the Lord that His promise is sure. In fact, according to Paul in 2 Corinthians 1:20, “all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God.” In the words of Maverick City Music, “If You said it, we believe it; ’cause You’re a Man of Your word.” God is a Man of His word.
Anchor of the Soul (vv. 19-20)
19 This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, 20 where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
“The writer [of Hebrews] speaks of the hope of eternal life as an anchor of the soul. He uses two adjectives to describe this anchor, ‘sure’ and ‘steadfast’.”(8) The word “sure” comes from the Greek word asphale, meaning “steady,” which is where we get our English word “asphalt” for the black aggregate used in paving. The Greek word for “steadfast” means “sustaining one’s steps in going.” So, the acquired concept from combining these two words is “something which does not break down under the weight of something that steps on it.”(9) There is no greater foundation than Christ onto which we place our hope of eternal life (1 Corinthians 3:11).
The phrase “which enters” (v. 19) is referring to the anchor. It is the anchor that enters the Presence behind the veil.(10) It enters “where the forerunner has entered for us” (v. 20). The word “forerunner” (v. 20) was an old word for a “spy” or “scout.”(11) Our spiritual forerunner is Jesus, and He has scouted out the Promised Land of heaven and entered there ahead us. He, therefore, has become our Rock and immovable foundation. He has planted Himself within the veil as a banner and an anchor-hold; something onto which our hope can grasp. Wiersbe says that He “has gone on to heaven so that we may one day follow,”(12) and we will see how this works in just a moment.
Jesus was able to enter “the Presence behind the veil” (v. 19), because He was a “High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek” (v. 20). So, why is this significant? A high priest in “the order of Aaron” could enter the Holy of Holies only one time per year on the Day of Atonement. He entered there to minister on behalf of the sinner, but the sinner could not enter there himself. But a high priest in “the order of Melchizedek” is much different. Commentator Kenneth Wuest notes that Melchizedek had no recorded parents and no recorded date of birth or death.(13) Psalm 110:4 says, “You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek,” the key word being “forever” – not only to live forever, but to remain forever in the Presence behind the veil.
The Holy of Holies was a frightening place, because if someone entered there being spiritually unclean or ill-prepared, then he would have been struck dead. Therefore, when the high priest entered the Holy of Holies, he went in with a rope fastened around his ankle and bells on the hem of his garment. If the bells stopped tinkling, then it meant that he was dead and needed to be pulled out. In contrast to a priest in “the order of Aaron,” Jesus, the great High Priest (Hebrews 4:14), in “the order of Melchizedek,” overcame death. He does not falter and cannot be yanked out of the Holy of Holies. The rope that was once used to remove a fallen priest, has become the chain of an anchor.
“The anchor of the believer’s soul, his hope of eternal life . . . is fastened securely to a Rock within the veil of the Holy of Holies in heaven.”(14) In 1 Corinthians 10:4, Paul tells us that Jesus is our Rock; and we read in Psalm 62:6-7, “He only is my Rock and my salvation . . . and my refuge is in God.” This is why we can “flee for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us” (v. 18). Back in Hebrews chapter 4, we are encouraged as follows: “Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God . . . let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14, 16).
Because of Jesus, we too can go behind the veil to experience the grace and glory of the Father! Jesus is our High Priest who goes before us, pulling us ahead into the bay of heaven to gather with the saints at the heavenly sea (Revelation 15:2). In the hymn “I Will Sing the Wondrous Story,” Francis Rowley declared, “He will keep me till the river rolls its waters at my feet; then He’ll bear me safely over, where the loved ones I shall meet. Yes, I’ll sing the wondrous story of the Christ who died for me; sing it with the saints in glory, gathered by the crystal sea.”(15) Wiersbe says, “We are anchored upward to heaven . . . anchored, not to stand still, but to move ahead! Our anchor is ‘sure’ – it cannot break – and ‘steadfast’ – it cannot slip. No earthly anchor can give that kind of security!”(16)
In Christ, we are anchored to move ahead straight into heaven, like an anchor carried on a motor launch and dropped into the deeper waters of the bay to pull the ship to safety. Commentator Kenneth Wuest says, “We have some rich [imagery] here. This present life is the sea; the soul, a ship . . . The soul is seen as storm-tossed on the troubled sea of life. The soul of the believer, as a tempest-tossed ship, is held by the anchor within the veil, fastened by faith to the blessed reality within the veil.”(17)
Jesus is the hope set before us. He is not someone who lived in the past, died in the past, and was left in the past to be looked back on and venerated as some long dead prophet. He is someone who arose from the grave and lives forevermore. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). In Jesus, the hope of heaven is in front of us. We often talk about Jesus being our anchor. We fashion anchor necklaces to look like a cross. We say that an anchor never changes and never moves. I will agree that an anchor never changes. It is sturdy and solid. However, it can move. We must cast the anchor of our hope before us into the storms of life, always placing Jesus ahead of us.
Time of Reflection
We may feel like the storms are too great and that we will eventually bottom out and sink, but if we cast Jesus out in front of us, He will take us into deeper water where we will stay afloat. We just need to set aside our fears and trust Him to take us through. The song “Oceans,” by Hillsong United, declares, “You call me out upon the waters; the great unknown where feet may fail. And there I find You in the mystery; in oceans deep, my faith will stand . . . Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders, let me walk upon the waters wherever You would call me. Take me deeper than my feet could ever wander, and my faith will be made stronger in the presence of my Savior.”
Remember, Jesus is our hope set before us; our great High Priest who has gone before us through the veil, to make atonement for our sins and bridge the gap between God and man (1 Timothy 2:5-6); and if we hold on to Jesus, He will carry us onward into heaven; and so, I want to close this morning by asking you, “Do you know Jesus Christ?” and “Have you confessed Him as your Savior and Lord?”
The Bible says that everyone in the world has sinned (Romans 3:10, 23); and the penalty for sin is death (Romans 6:23). But God wants to “forgive you” and “give you.” He wants to “forgive you of your sins” and “give you eternal life.” John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” So, as we have our time of invitation, I invite you to step out in faith, move into the deeper water and come receive the gift of eternal life.
NOTES
(1) Leonard Sweet, Aquachurch (Loveland: Group, 1999), p. 73.
(2) Adam Clarke, Clarke’s Commentary, vol. 6 (Nashville: Abingdon), p. 728.
(3) Ibid., p. 728.
(4) Ibid., p. 728.
(5) Kenneth S. Wuest, Wuest’s Word Studies, vol. 2 (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1973), p. 122.
(6) Ibid., p. 122.
(7) Ibid., p. 123.
(8) Ibid., p. 124.
(9) Ibid., p. 124.
(10) Ibid., pp. 124-125.
(11) A.T. Robertson, Word Pictures in the New Testament, vol. 5 (Grand Rapids: Baker, 1960), p. 379.
(12) Warren Wiersbe, The Bible Exposition Commentary, vol. 2 (Wheaton, Il: Victor, 1989), p. 298.
(13) Wuest, p. 126.
(14) Ibid., p. 125.
(15) Francis Rowley, “I Will Sing the Wondrous Story,” The Baptist Hymnal (Nashville: Convention Press, 1991), Hymn #535.
(16) Wiersbe, p. 298.
(17) Wuest, p. 125.
