Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Hebrews 6:19

Which [hope] we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

19. as an anchor of the soul ] An anchor seems to have been an emblem of Hope being something which enables us to hope for safety in danger from very early days (Aesch. Agam. 488), and is even found as a symbol of Hope on coins. The notion that this metaphor adds anything to the argument in favour of the Pauline authorship of the Epistle, because St Paul too sometimes uses maritime metaphors, shews how little the most ordinary canons of literary criticism are applied to the Scriptures. St Paul never happens to use the metaphor of “an anchor,” but it might have been equally well used by a person who had never seen the sea in his life.

“Or if you fear

Put all your trust in God: that anchor holds.”

Tennyson, Enoch Arden.

and which entereth into that within the vail ] This expression is not very clear. The meaning is that the hawser which holds the anchor of our Christian hope passeth into the space which lies behind the veil, i.e. into the very sanctuary of Him who is “the God of Hope” (Rom 15:13). “The veil” is the great veil ( Parocheth) which separated the Holy from the Holy of Holies (Exo 26:31-35; Heb 10:20; Mat 27:51, &c.) The Christian’s anchor of hope is not dropped into any earthly sea, but passes as it were through the depths of the aerial ocean, mooring us to the very throne of God.

“Oh! life as futile then as frail!

What hope of answer or redress?

Behind the veil! Behind the veil!”

In Memoriam.

The word katapetasma usually applies to this veil before the Holy of Holies, while kalumma (as in Philo) is strictly used for the outer veil.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul – Hope accomplishes for the soul the same thing which an anchor does for a ship. It makes it fast and secure. An anchor preserves a ship when the waves beat and the wind blows, and as long as the anchor holds, so long the ship is safe, and the mariner apprehends no danger. So with the soul of the Christian. In the tempests and trials of life, his mind is calm as long as his hope of heaven is firm. If that gives way, he feels that all is lost. Among the pagan writers, hope is often compared with an anchor. So Socrates said, To ground hope on a false supposition, is like trusting to a weak anchor. Again – A ship ought not to trust to one anchor, nor life to one hope. Both sure and steadfast. Firm and secure. This refers to the anchor. That is fixed in the sand, and the vessel is secure.

And which entereth into that within the veil – The allusion to the anchor here is dropped, and the apostle speaks simply of hope. The veil here refers to what in the temple divided the holy from the most holy place; see the notes on Mat 21:12. The place within the veil – the most holy place – was regarded as Gods special abode – where he dwelt by the visible symbol of his presence. That holy place was emblematic of heaven; and the idea here is, that the hope of the Christian enters into heaven itself; it takes hold on the throne of God; it is made firm by being fastened there. It is not the hope of future riches, honors, or pleasures in this life – for such a hope would not keep the soul steady; it is the hope of immortal blessedness and purity in the world beyond.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 19. Which hope we have as an anchor] The apostle here changes the allusion; he represents the state of the followers of God in this lower world as resembling that of a vessel striving to perform her voyage through a troublesome, tempestuous, dangerous sea. At last she gets near the port; but the tempest continues, the water is shallow, broken, and dangerous, and she cannot get in: in order to prevent her being driven to sea again she heaves out her sheet anchor, which she has been able to get within the pier head by means of her boat, though she could not herself get in; then, swinging at the length of her cable, she rides out the storm in confidence, knowing that her anchor is sound, the ground good in which it is fastened, and the cable strong. Though agitated, she is safe; though buffeted by wind and tide, she does not drive; by and by the storm ceases, the tide flows in, her sailors take to the capstan, wear the ship against the anchor, which still keeps its bite or hold, and she gets safely into port. See on “Heb 6:20“.

The comparison of hope to an anchor is frequent among the ancient heathen writers, who supposed it to be as necessary to the support of a man in adversity, as the anchor is to the safety of the ship when about to be driven on a lee shore by a storm. “To ground hope on a false supposition,” says Socrates, “is like trusting to a weak anchor.” He said farther, , a ship ought not to trust to one anchor, nor life to one hope. Stob., Serm. 109.

The hope of eternal life is here represented as the soul’s anchor; the world is the boisterous, dangerous sea; the Christian course, the voyage; the port, everlasting felicity; and the veil or inner road, the royal dock in which that anchor was cast. The storms of life continue but a short time; the anchor, hope, if fixed by faith in the eternal world, will infallibly prevent all shipwreck; the soul may be strongly tossed by various temptations, but will not drive, because the anchor is in sure ground, and itself is steadfast; it does not drag, and it does not break; faith, like the cable, is the connecting medium between the ship and the anchor, or the soul and its hope of heaven; faith sees the haven, hope desires and anticipates the rest; faith works, and hope holds fast; and, shortly, the soul enters into the haven of eternal repose.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast: which, taketh in both the good hoped for, and the grace and act itself of hope exercised about it; which grace is by a metaphor set out to be to the soul what an anchor is to ships in a tempest, when tossed with gusts, and storms, and billows of thoughts rolling one upon another to the oversetting of it; this hope stayeth, strengthens, settleth it, even the hope and certainty of eternal rest and happiness secured to them by the promise and oath of God. This hope is safe and firm efficiently, and makes the soul, in the midst of all the threatening temptations from a tempestuons world, safe, because fastened on Gods promise; and firm, because strengthened by Gods oath, which will hold out all tempests.

And which entereth into that within the veil: this hope, like an anchor, is firmly placed, hath wrought itself into the best holdfast, even the innermost part of the veil.

The veil was that in the tabernacle and temple which separated the holy place from the holy of holiest. This typical veil was rent at the death of Christ, and the holy of holiest in heaven, the truth of that type, was then laid open unto all believers, whether Jews or Gentiles: compare Heb 9:24; 10:19-21. Here it is that the anchor of the Christians hope is fastened; this sure harbour, where no tempest can reach or loosen it, but into which their souls, after all their tossings in the tempestuous ocean of this world, by the hurricanes of temptations, which made them quiver again, shall be over, will enter with a full gale, and enjoy that rest and blessedness for ever, which they had by Gods promise and oath, on which they relied, secured to them: see Col 1:5; 1Pe 1:3-9.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

19. Hope is foundrepresented on coins by an anchor.

sure and steadfastsurein respect to us: steadfast, or “firm” [ALFORD],in itself. Not such an anchor as will not keep thevessel from tossing, or an anchor unsound or too light [THEOPHYLACT].

which entereth into thatthatis the place

within the veiltwoimages beautifully combined: (1) The soul is the ship:the world the sea: the bliss beyond the world,the distant coast; the hope resting on faith, theanchor which prevents the vessel being tossed to and fro; theencouraging consolation through the promise and oathof God, the cable connecting the ship and anchor. (2) The world isthe fore-court: heaven, the Holy of Holies; Christ, the High Priestgoing before us, so as to enable us, after Him, and through Him, toenter within the veil. ESTIUSexplains, As the anchor does not stay in the waters, but enters theground hidden beneath the waters, and fastens itself in it, so hope,our anchor of the soul, is not satisfied with merely coming to thevestibule, that is, is not content with merely earthly and visiblegoods, but penetrates even to those which are within the veil,namely, to the Holy of Holies, where it lays hold on God Himself, andheavenly goods, and fastens on them. “Hope, entering withinheaven, hath made us already to be in the things promised to us, evenwhile we are still below, and have not yet received them; suchstrength hope has, as to make those that are earthly to becomeheavenly.” “The soul clings, as one in fear of shipwreck toan anchor, and sees not whither the cable of the anchor runswhereit is fastened: but she knows that it is fastened behind the veilwhich hides the future glory.”

veilGreek,“catapetasma“: the second veil which shut inthe Holiest Place. The outer veil was called by a distinct Greekterm, calumma: “the second (that is, the inner) veil.”

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

Which [hope] we have as an anchor of the soul,…. This world is as a sea; the church in it, and so every believer, is as a ship; the port that is bound unto is heaven; Christ is the pilot, and hope is the anchor: an anchor is cast on a bottom, out of sight; and when the ship is in a calm, or in danger of a rock, or near the shore; but is of no service without a cable: and when cast aright, keeps the ship steady: so hope is cast on Christ; whence he is often called hope itself, because he is the ground and foundation of it, and who is at present unseen to bodily eyes; and the anchor of hope without the cable of faith is of little service; but being cast aright on Christ, keeps the soul steady and immovable: in some things there is a difference between hope and an anchor; an anchor is not of so much use in tempests as in a calm, but hope is; the cable may be cut or broke, and so the anchor be useless, but so it cannot be with faith and hope; when the ship is at anchor, it does not move forward, but it is not so with the soul, when hope is in exercise; the anchor of hope is not cast on anything below, but above; and here it is called the anchor of the soul, to distinguish it from any other, and to show the peculiar benefit of it to the soul. Pythagoras makes use of the same metaphor x;

“riches (he says) are a weak anchor, glory: is yet weaker; the body likewise; principalities, honours, all these are weak and without strength; what then are strong anchors? prudence, magnanimity, fortitude; these no tempest shakes.”

But these philosophical moral virtues are not to be compared with the Christian’s grace of hope, which is

both sure and steadfast; it is in itself a grace firm and stable; it is permanent and can never be lost: and it is still more sure and steadfast, by virtue of what it is fixed upon, the person, blood, and righteousness of Christ; and by the immutability, faithfulness, and power of God it is concerned with; and through the aboundings and discoveries of divine love, grace, and mercy; and from the instances of grace to the vilest of sinners:

and which entereth into that within the vail; the holy of holies, heaven itself; in allusion to the vail which divided between the holy and the holy of holies: the things within the vail, or in heaven, which hope entering into fixes upon, are the person of Christ, who is entered there, and appears in the presence of God for his people; his blood which he has carried along with him, and by which he is entered there; his justifying righteousness, by which the law is fulfilled, the two tables of stone in the ark of the testimony; the sweet incense of his mediation, which is continually offered up by him; the mercy seat, or throne of grace, on which Jehovah sits as the God of grace; and all the glories of heaven; all which hope is concerned with, and receives strength and rigour from: and their being within the vail, is expressive of their hiddenness and invisibility at present, and of their safety and security, as well as of their sacredness; and this shows a difference between the hope of believers and others, whose hope fixes upon things short of these; and likewise the great privilege of a believer, who being made a priest unto God, has liberty and boldness to enter into the holiest of all. The Jews y speak of a vail in the world to come, which some are worthy to enter into.

x Apud Stobaeum, Serm. I. y Zohar in Gen. fol. 73. 3.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

Which (). Which hope. What would life be without this blessed hope based on Christ as our Redeemer?

As an anchor of the soul ( ). Old word, literally in Ac 27:29, figuratively here, only N.T. examples. The ancient anchors were much like the modern ones with iron hooks to grapple the rocks and so hold on to prevent shipwreck (1Ti 1:19).

Both sure and steadfast ( ). This anchor of hope will not slip (alpha privative and , to totter) or lose its grip (, from , to go, firm, trusty).

That which is within the veil ( ). The Holy of Holies, “the inner part of the veil” (the space behind the veil), in N.T. only here and Ac 16:24 (of the inner prison). The anchor is out of sight, but it holds. That is what matters.

Fuente: Robertson’s Word Pictures in the New Testament

An anchor of the soul [ ] . The same figure is implied 1Ti 1:19.

Sure and steadfast [ ] . The distinction between the two adjectives expresses the relation of the same object to different tests applied from without. jAsfalh, not, sfallein to make totter, and so to baffle or foil. Hence, secure against all attempts to break the hold. Bebaian sustaining one’s steps in going [ ] : not breaking down under what steps upon it.

Which entereth into that within the veil [ ] . Const. the participle eijsercomenhn entering with anchor. jEswteron only here and Act 16:24. Comparative, of something farther within. So ejswteran fulakhn “the inner prison,” Act 16:24. Katapetasma veil, o Class. Commonly in N. T. of the veil of the temple or tabernacle. See Mt 27:51; Heb 9:3. That within the veil is the unseen, eternal reality of the heavenly world. 199 Two figures are combined :

(a) the world a sea; the soul a ship; the hidden bottom of the deep the hidden reality of the heavenly world.

(b) The present life the forecourt of the temple; the future blessedness the shrine within the veil. The soul, as a tempest – tossed ship, is held by the anchor : the soul in the outer court of the temple is fastened by faith to the blessed reality within the shrine.

Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament

1)“Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul,” (hen hos agkuran echomen tes psuches) “Which we possess as an anchor (stabilizer) of the soul;” Even Jesus Christ in us, “the hope of glory,” Col 1:27; 1Ti 1:1. The anchor is a symbol of hope and security from drifting and danger.

2) “Both sure and steadfast,” (aspale te kai bebaian) “Both safe and firm,” our security is in Christ, not in ourselves; Tho we err, fail, do wrong, he has pledged eternal life, given it to every believer, and he can not (by virtue of his nature), promise, and oath, take it from even one erring saint, Joh 10:27-29; 1Jn 5:13; 2Ti 2:13; Joh 5:24.

3) “And which entereth into that within the veil,” (kai eiserchomenen eis to esoteron tou katapetasmatos) “Even entering into that (one) within the inner side of the veil,” even Jesus Christ. Our faith is centralized in him for salvation from every care so that he is personified as our anchor that is stabilized within the veil, the holy place, the sanctum sanitarium, heaven itself, where he “ever liveth to make intercession for us,” Heb 7:25; 1Jn 2:2. We rightly sing:

“My hope is built on nothing less,

Than Jesus’ Blood and righteousness

On Christ the solid rock I stand,

All other ground is sinking sand,”

Fuente: Garner-Howes Baptist Commentary

19. As an anchor, etc. It is a striking likeness when he compares faith leaning on God’s word to an anchor; for doubtless, as long as we sojourn in this world, we stand not on firm ground, but are tossed here and there as it were in the midst of the sea, and that indeed very turbulent; for Satan is incessantly stirring up innumerable storms, which would immediately upset and sink our vessel, were we not to cast our anchor fast in the deep. For nowhere a haven appears to our eyes, but wherever we look water alone is in view; yea, waves also arise and threaten us; but as the anchor is cast through the waters into a dark and unseen place, and while it lies hid there, keeps the vessel beaten by the waves from being overwhelmed; so must our hope be fixed on the invisible God. There is this difference, — the anchor is cast downwards into the sea, for it has the earth as its bottom; but our hope rises upwards and soars aloft, for in the world it finds nothing on which it can stand, nor ought it to cleave to created things, but to rest on God alone. As the cable also by which the anchor is suspended joins the vessel with the earth through a long and dark intermediate space, so the truth of God is a bond to connect us with himself, so that no distance of place and no darkness can prevent us from cleaving to him. Thus when united to God, though we must struggle with continual storms, we are yet beyond the peril of shipwreck. Hence he says, that this anchor is sure and steadfast, or safe and firm. (108) It may indeed be that by the violence of the waves the anchor may be plucked off, or the cable be broken, or the beaten ship be torn to pieces. This happens on the sea; but the power of God to sustain us is wholly different, and so also is the strength of hope and the firmness of his word.

Which entereth into that, or those things, etc. As we have said, until faith reaches to God, it finds nothing but what is unstable and evanescent; it is hence necessary for it to penetrate even into heaven. But as the Apostle is speaking to the Jews, he alludes to the ancient Tabernacle, and says, that they ought not to abide in those things which are seen, but to penetrate into the inmost recesses, which lie hid within the veil, as though he had said, that all the external and ancient figures and shadows were to be passed over, in order that faith might be fixed on Christ alone.

And carefully ought this reasoning to be observed, — that as Christ has entered into heaven, so faith ought to be directed there also: for we are hence taught that faith should look nowhere else. And doubtless it is in vain for man to seek God in his own majesty, for it is too far removed from them; but Christ stretches forth his hand to us, that he may lead us to heaven. And this was shadowed forth formerly under the Law; for the high priest entered the holy of holies, not in his own name only, but also in that of the people, inasmuch as he bare in a manner the twelve tribes on his breast and on his shoulders; for as a memorial for them twelve stones were wrought on the breastplate, and on the two onyx stones on his shoulders were engraved their names, so that in the person of one man all entered into the sanctuary together. Rightly then does the Apostle speak, when he reminds them that our high priest has entered into heaven; for he has not entered only for himself, but also for us. There is therefore no reason to fear that access to heaven will be closed up against our faith, as it is never disjoined from Christ. And as it becomes us to follow Christ who is gone before, he is therefore called our Forerunner, or precursor. (109)

(108) “Safe,” that is safely fixed; and “firm,” that is strong, so as not to be bent nor broken, as Parens says. Stuart seems to have inverted the proper meaning of the words, as he applies ἀσφαλὢ to the anchor as having been made of good materials, and θεβαίαν as signifying that it is firmly fixed. The first word means what cannot fall, be subverted, or overthrown, and must therefore refer to what is safely fixed; and the other means firm, stable, constant, enduring. So Schleusner renders the words, “ tutam ac firmam,” safe and firm; and he quotes Phavorinus as giving the meaning of the first word ἕδραιος, steadfast. — Ed

(109) Calvin’s version is “Where our precursor Jesus has entered.” The πρόδρομος is one who goes before to prepare the way for those who follow him. It is used in the Sept. to designate the first ripe grapes and the first ripe figs. Num 13:20; Isa 28:4. These were the precursors for us (or, in our behalf) Jesus has entered.” He has not only gone to prepare a place for his people; but he is also their leader whom they are to follow; and where he has entered they shall also enter. His entrance is a pledge of their entrance. — Ed

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

SAFELY ANCHORED

Heb 6:19.

A WEEK ago, I spoke to the smaller company who came through the storm, upon the subject of Drifting, attempting to point out both the ways and dangers of drifting. It is quite appropriate, therefore, that I should follow that with a sermon from the text read, and the subject Anchored, Safely Anchored!

I call your attention to the fact that the same inspired writer who set before us the danger of drifting away from the things which we hear, speaks to us through this text, to show us how we may be anchored in the truth.

It is a gracious thing that we need not stop with the discussion of the first subject, but may present its complement, for his would be a cruel business who told men that they were adrift, unless he could also follow the statement with anotherYou may be anchored safely and eternally.

Since last Sunday evening, I have talked with some who have frankly confessed that they were adrift. The number who know this to be their spiritual state, but have not confessed it, is legion. There are not a few of those who hear me tonight, who have departed from the teachings of youth, walked away from the Word of God, and have spread their sails before evil winds, and are driving, they know not whither. Such a state is not desirable, and those who are conscious of that condition are not content.

The measure of a mans interest in the anchor is exactly the measure of his consciousness of drifting, his dread of being drowned in the seas of infidelity or the waves of immorality. I want, therefore, to say some things that may be of assistance to many souls. Because many of you were kept away last Sunday night, I may be pardoned for turning back again to the discussion of that hour, namely,

SOME WAYS IN WHICH SOULS ARE SET ADRIFT

I said last Sunday evening that there was the way of the current, the way of the tide, the way of the winds; but the thought of drifting has still other illustrations in the natural world.

A vessel may be set adrift by loosened floats. Another vessel, when loose, is likely to drift into it. Great rafts of logs sometimes break the cables and send skiffs and even steamers afloat.

In 1884 I was in college at Hanover, Indiana, hard by the Ohio River. The waters rose to such heights that houses were swept in great numbers; property was destroyed to the extent of millions; and every craft in that stream, from the small skiff to the mail-line steamer was in greater or less danger. The great coal barges, freighted with tons on tons of black diamond, loosed from their moorings, and with irresistible momentum swept down the Ohio. Sometimes they crashed into tethered vessels and sank them. Other times they cut their cables and set them afloat.

There is something wonderfully like that in human life. Its waters are alive with floaters, men and women who have long since loosed from their early education, who long ago broke the cables that bound them to the faith of the fathers. Some of these men are in pulpits. More of them, however, are not only out of pulpits, but very far from attendance on the preaching of evangelical pulpits, to say the least. Those who pose as preachers, while often men of unstained reputation, are none the less dangerous. Possibly they are the more dangerous, because falsehood from a good man has more weight than the lie of an immoral, irresponsible man. Just why a man should feel called upon to preach doubts, we have never been able to comprehend.

Some time ago I sat in an auditorium and listened to one harangue his fellows for almost an hour in an effort to destroy faith, and I could but askWell what good have you accomplished? Even though you get your desire, are the faithless men and the faithless women of the world the holy men and holy women, the happy men and happy women?

Do you build a man up in moral character, or in spiritual might, when you have insinuated into his mind infidelity, and have set him afloat? Such work seems to me a work well pleasing to devils.

Years since, off the coast of Halifax, the schooner, Lord Eldon, heavily loaded with a precious cargo, was adrift with sails spread at full mast and filled with a furious storm. It was without a single soul on board. No captain, no mate, no pilot, no sailor, but driving madly on the bosom of the mighty deep. Does that picture give you pleasure? How much less pleasure can we possibly get from seeing a human soul with all of its immortal interests and destinies similarly situated. If Owen and Hume and Rousseau and Voltaire and Payne and Ingersoll were alive today, would they look on the subjects of their preaching with satisfaction? Bob Ingersoll! could he get joy out of seeing men accept his infidelity?

Years since a man in Kansas read one of the Colonels addresses, accepted it as true, and made his way north to Lake Superior, and committed suicide in its waters, just out of Duluth.

Is that the sort of gospel that the world needs? It is sad enough for a man to be afloat himself, but the greater sadness arises out of the circumstance that he has power to set others adrift. Fools we are to bring ourselves into touch with those who are drawn from their moorings, and whose business it is to destroy the faith of their fellows.

Then, sometimes, a vessel goes adrift through the failure of the flukesthe anchor points. When one of these breaks an anchor cannot hold unless it be turned and the opposite fluke fastens itself in the rock. There are not a few people who have been brought up in a religious faith that is false in part, and when, upon their own study, they discover that fact, the danger is that they will conclude that all of their teaching was in error; and instead of eschewing the evil and holding fast that which is good, they loose themselves from it all.

Goethe attempted, when a boy, to make an offering unto the Lord, but in the slovenliness of youth, he forgot to put the porcelain dish under his burning pastils, and so they spoiled his fathers hand-painted music stand.

The lad reasoned that this damaging result was indicative of the fact that God could not be worshiped. That day the flukes of his early faith lost their grip on the stable rock, and he never tried to fasten them to the Rock of Ages, but spread his sails to the hot winds of license and lust and drove madly till the day of his death. A kindred experience is not uncommon.

The child of wrong religious teaching has a good chance to wake up to the errors of that system; to see in it many things that are not in the Scriptures, not even faintly suggested by them, but are utterly opposed to them. When that time comes, it is usual for him to have his faith so shaken as to be set adrift. Instead of turning to the True God, he turns to infidelity. Instead of turning to the Scriptures to see what they say, he turns himself over to Satan and leads an out and out irreligious life. We find that there are many people in these days, in our Protestant churches, the flukes of whose faith are breaking. They have discovered that their fathers have taught them wrongly that their mothers have taught them wrongly touching the formalism that characterizes the high churches. They discover that their preachers have practically denied the teaching of the Word of God touching the matter of baptism; they discover truth touching the Holy Spirit, the Second Coming of Christ, the restoration of the Jews, the evangelization of the world, the healing of mens bodies in answer to prayer, and so forth, and so they are coming out of the churches and saying, Well have nothing more to do with them! Poor reasoning in my judgment. If the church of my blessed Christ has departed from His faith at one point, or at a hundred points, then I have the more serious obligation to stay in it, and show the better way. Every one is bound by this fact that the Word of God shall be the infallible rule of his faith and practice; and so I turn myself to the study of the Bible and invite my fellows to come with me to that Book. It is better than beating about the world, resting in no bay, anchored nowhere, and by nothing.

Martin Luther was rudely awakened to the horrible superstitions of the church of his day, but he did not cease to believe simply because he found he had been believing a lie. With an open Word before him, he turned to the work of knowing the eternal Truth, and while the soul of his German brother Goethe went on the rocks of infidelity and was lost, that of the great Reformer rode triumphantly in the haven of Gods promises, anchored by the Word to the Rock of Ages.

Then again, as I suggested on last Sunday evening, crafts are set adrift by winds.

So are men! The ministry just now is full of so-called Liberalism, another name for the narrowest bigotry in religious opinion. The philosophy is as full of error as an egg is of meat; it is one that seeks to destroy the inspiration and it practically dethrones God by putting degenerate men in His seat of holiness. Ptolemaic astronomers used to suppose that the world was the center of the universe, and they sought by every possible means to make the sun, moon and stars revolve around it. It was a great shock to their faith when they had to see that the sun was the center, and the earth an insignificant planet. There are those, in our pulpits, who would make man the center of the theological universe, and have God describing ellipses about him, but the philosophy is only a theory. In fact God does nothing of the sort, nor will He.

Truly, as Dr. A. J. Gordon once said, Liberalism is the religion of human nature. It does not make strong and rigid claims on men. It does not hold them up to strong convictions on such subjects as sin and retribution and the need of regeneration. Consequently, when men get careless and easy-going in their opinions, they drift into what is called Liberalism as inevitably as water runs down a hill. You never find men backsliding into orthodoxy. You never find men drifting into Calvinism, and you never will until you find water running up hill and iron floating upward in the air.

On the contrary, one has to climb to get into this kind of faith, trampling on pride, and self-esteem, and holding himself rigidly up to that conviction which is hardest to receive, namelythat human nature is naturally depraved and needs regeneration and God is righteously holy and must punish sin.

If one gets tired of believing this, he is only to shut his eyes and slide; by the simple gravitation of depravity, he lands among the liberals as certainly as a stone, loosened from the mountainside, stops in the lowest valley.

Any sort of a man can give up his faith and descend to doubt, but it takes .a man or woman of some moral courage to keep up his faith and climb toward holiness and Heaven.

Any sort of a man can practice infidelity, but it takes a noble man to lay the foundations of intelligent belief.

It is more probable that we will have another Caesar than another Augustine; another Bacon than another Luther; another Watts than another Edwards; another Stead than another Spurgeon.

The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.(Psa 14:1), and of such individuals the number is not small; but of the men who not only worship God but show their fellows how, the number of such can never be great enough.

Dr. Cuyler said sagely, Skepticism never won a victory, never slew a sin, never healed a heartache, never started a ray of sunshine, never saved a soul. It is foredoomed defeat. Dont risk your eternity on that spiders web.

THE ONE WAY FOR THE SOUL TO KNOW SECURITY AGAINST EVERY STORM

Read this context,

That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to tie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us;

Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil. (Heb 6:18-19).

The Apostle is speaking of the Son of God. He is the unseen One who has entered through the veil. Unto Him the line of faith reaches, and on Him the anchor of hope takes hold, just as the anchor from the vessel goes down through the veil of the waters and fastens on the invisible, though eternal rocks that rib the sea. It is a strong figureChrist the immovable Rock.

In this world of change, it is good to find something that changes not. You remember how Drummond, in his address on the Greatest Thing in the World, illustrates the passing away of all knowledge and science, but the endurance of love. He who loved was eternal and He who gave His life for us is equally stable and everlasting.

That is what the soul of man needs. Someone has said, The soul wants certainty and cannot rest in doubt. Oscillation between favor and despair, assurance and unbelief will never satisfy. Is everything on a ceaseless flow? Does nothing abide? Is there no truth or doctrine upon which we can place our hand and say it will be here tomorrow? Is it the work of each succeeding age to explode the faith of the preceding? We cannot believe it. Just as the sailors know that there are rocks at the oceans bottom that cannot be broken up, that will hold the vessel if the cables and anchors hold, so we are persuaded that the Rock of Ages is from the everlasting to everlasting, and can anchor any soul, no matter before what storm it is driving, if only by faith it lays hold on Him.

Edward Mote, more than one hundred years ago, sang this truth and the believing world is singing it still; and whatever advance may be made by new theologians and boastful scientists, the succeeding generations who can join with him in that familiar verse will be happy men and women:

My hope is built on nothing less Than Jesus Blood and righteousness;I dare not trust the sweetest frame,But wholly lean on Jesus Name.

When darkness veils His lovely face I rest on His unchanging grace;In every high and stormy gale,My anchor holds within the veil.

On Christ the solid Rock, I stand;All other ground is sinking sand.

But, there is no power in the eternal Rock to save except our hope lays hold on Him. There are many rocks at sea, near to which vessels have gone down because the sailors, either through ignorance or slothfulness, did not cast the anchor where it could lay hold on them. So there are many souls driving past the proffered Christ, either ignorant of the salvation that is in Him, or indifferent to the same. How soon some of them will find need of Him and yet awake to learn that they have driven past the place of salvation, only God knows.

Forty-five years ago, I was holding special meetings in Burlington, Kentucky. I preached from the text, Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation (2Co 6:2), and pled with the people to appreciate the value of present opportunities.

When I had finished, the pastor arose and said, Mr. Riley has not set this before you any too strongly. I have seen in the course of my ministry, most forcible, I might say, terrible illustrations of the truth of his words. It is only a while ago that I was pleading with the unsaved in a certain church to cease sinning against God, and accept the salvation offered. Closing my remarks I added, I know it is the purpose of most of you to do this, but I also know that Satan is getting into your minds the suggestion that there will be a more convenient season, and your danger is in your delay. Perhaps none of you intend to let five years go without accepting the Son of God. I doubt if the devil dare to ask you to let three years go by. Who is there among you that even thinks tonight and would say,I would risk my soul for a twelve month for the pleasures of this world.

A young lady whispered something to a friend at her side and laughed. At the close of the meeting this friend came and told me that the young lady had said, I confess I am in love with the world and I guess I will risk it a year more at least.

Nine of the twelve months went by, when one day I was riding to an appointment in the country, I heard behind me a rider in a death run. Turning my face, I saw her brother lashing his foaming horse with every leap until he reined up at my side. Mr. Fullilove, come to our house and come quickly. Then he was gone, and I followed as fast as my horse could go, but when I entered the door the broken-hearted sister said, It is too late, Pastor, for Jennie is dead. She had taken a fatal risk.

It is sad in the extreme to deliberately drive past salvation, to come short of anchoring the soul, when Gods opportunity is offered; to try treacherous sea for twelve months without pilot or compass is cruel to ones self. It is unspeakably painful to ones Christian friends. It is an immeasurable sorrow to the great Son of God, and the only one who can get any satisfaction out of it is Satan, that deceiver and destroyer of souls.

Some of you are close to the Eternal Rock tonight. Will you not anchor now? Will you not heed the injunction of Isaiah, as he cries to us over the ages, Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while He is near (Isa 55:6)?

Some of you may say, Well, we have tried to anchor our souls and have not succeeded. If we perish, therefore, will the fault be ours?

My reply is, that no soul that has ever tried its utmost can fail of finding the Rock and of anchoring thereby, provided we conform our attempt to the instruction of Scripture; but I warn you against making your own philosophy the cables of your faith.

Dont try to anchor in your own moral character. That is mud at best, and the anchor will not hold. You may be free from out-breaking sins, from what the laws class as crimes, but are your thoughts pure? No! Then you come short! Have you served God as you ought? If not, then you come short. Have you done everything for your friends and family that you could possibly do? Then you come short. Have you yielded your soul unreservedly to the Lord Jesus, who died to save it? If not, then you come short. And the moment you attempt to stand on your own morality and think to anchor by it, God comes forth and says, Therefore by the deeds of the Law there shall no flesh be justified in His sight; and the flukes pull through the mud and you are driving again, or perhaps the cable made of the rags of self-righteousness snaps, and you are lost.

Some of you may be saying, Well, there are many preachers, good men, who tell us that everybody is going to be saved, and I guess Ill trust them, and anchor in their larger hope. Well, that is your privilege; but as a preacher of the Gospel, it is my solemn duty to remind you that if you follow men, and forget the Word of God, you have no right to complain of Him when you go down! And what does Gods Word say? He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned (Mar 16:16). What does Gods Word say? For there is none other name under Heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved (Act 4:12).

The ships of the earlier times carried several anchors, and cast out one or more according to the strength of the wind. They had on board a special anchor, larger and stronger than the others, corresponding to our sheet anchor. They called it the Sacred Anchor, and they never used it except when all others had failed to hold and their expression concerning casting it out was, Flying to the last refuge. It had unusual strength against the most furious storms. I want to beg of you tonight that you do not trust the stone of good works, nor yet the cables of excuses, and human philosophy of salvation, but the sacred anchor instead that lays hold of the eternal Rock Christ Jesus; that is flying to the last refuge indeed, and to the only refuge.

You recall how it was with Paul on board the vessel, shipping to Rome. When about to put out to sea, the preacher advised them not to do so. They said, He is a land-lubber; preachers have no practical sense you know; and so they loosed and let her go. Fourteen days of darkness, fourteen days of driving before the storm; fourteen days of fear of dreadful death swept over them before they came near to land.

Then they sounded and found the sea depth twenty fathoms; a moment later they found it but fifteen, and a greater fear filled their hearts for now the hoarse breakers could be heard, growling as if hungry to crush the little craft. They heaved out an anchor, but it would not hold; a second one, and yet they were going toward the shoals; a third was thrown, but still the storm swept them on. The great sacred anchor was brought and cast. There was a shock to the vessel. They could scarce stand on their feet; the vessel was lifted high in the air, riding the crest of a wave, and then it sank into a trough. The wave had swept under it and men saw that she stood and then the shout of joy went upShe holds! She holds! We are safe! Safe!

Men and women, sound and see how near the rocks you are tonight, great jagged rocks of immorality. Are you going on them, some of you? threatening dreadful rocks of doubt and infidelity. Are you driving on them? Do you hear already the hoarse sounds that threaten your soul? Then something must be done, and ought to be done now tonight, lest it be eternally too late.

Cast the sacred anchor. Make the cable of your faith and the anchor of your hope the means of tethering you to the Son of God, and you will be safe against every storm.

John Foster tells of a vessel which was threatened with imminent destruction against a rough coast, and after having cast two or three anchors, the steersman forsook the helm and ran about crying, Oh, God, we are all lost, we are all lost; we are all lost. But some cooler members of the crew heaved out the great anchor, and suddenly she righted about and the men cried to the passengers, The anchor holds, and then in a chorus of voices they answered, We are safe, we are safe, and if, tonight, you make Christ the Rock of your salvation, you are safe!

Fuente: The Bible of the Expositor and the Evangelist by Riley

(19) Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul.A beautiful image, introduced for a moment only to set forth the security of the soul, though tossed by the waves of trouble. This symbol of hope, so familiar to us in Christian art, is not mentioned in the Old Testament, but is found in Greek proverbial sayings, and (it is said) appears on ancient coins.

Both sure and stedfast.These words and the following may, indeed, form part of the figure; but more probably relate to the hope itselfa hope unfailing, firm, which entereth where no human sight can follow, even into the Most Holy Place, into heaven itself. The hope becomes personified, that the readers thought may be led to Him who is Himself our hope.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

19. Anchor entereth Usually an anchor cast forth from a ship descends to the bottom, and there fastening, holds the ship firm. But of this ship of Christian faith the cable stretches upward; and the anchor fastens, not into the mud of the sea-bottom, but it enters within the veil that hides eternity from the earth, and firmly fastens itself upon the veracity of Jehovah.

The veil An allusion to the temple veil, behind which is the Holy of Holies; typifying the firmament, beyond which is the Presence of God. Note on 2Co 12:2.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

‘Which we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and entering into that which is within the veil, whither as a forerunner Jesus entered for us, having become a high priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek.

And that hope, which is like an anchor of the soul, is fixed on Jesus Who has entered (compare Heb 4:14) as our Forerunner ‘within the veil’, that is into the very presence of God, as our eternal High Priest. It is both sure and steadfast.

It should be noted that it is our hope in Him that is the anchor of the soul, not Jesus Himself, although Jesus is the One in Whom our hope is fixed. And therefore our anchor is grounded in Him. It is our ‘certain hope’ that anchors us to Jesus, and to all that He is for us. Such an anchor will not slip (is sure) or lose its grip (is steadfast) It is thus a hope sure and steadfast for it is fixed on and anchored in our Forerunner Jesus, the perfect representative of Manhood and Great High Priest appointed on our behalf Who has gone ahead on our behalf. But it is not suggested that this is the point at which He became High Priest, for the High Priest’s entry within the veil followed sacrifices. And thus we may see Jesus as High Priest as having first offered up Himself in sacrifice before His entry. At what point He did become High Priest is never clearly stated, but there are grounds for suggesting that it was when He was declared to be God’s Son and Servant at His baptism.

The picture of the anchor is vivid. An anchor is cast out into the sea where it sinks and is lost to sight in invisibility, and reaches out to the bottom of the sea where it takes hold on some invisible strength. So is our anchor of hope cast out and disappearing into invisibility in the great Beyond is caught up in our great Forerunner Who will hold us firm to the end. We can thus live our lives in the full confidence that we are safely anchored to Jesus. The anchor in fact became a recognised Christian symbol, being found engraved on Christian funeral memorials in the catacombs.

The use of the name ‘Jesus’ emphasises that in mind is Jesus as perfect, reinstated representative Man (Heb 2:9), but the whole sentence indicates that as such He has also become our eternal High Priest, not one bound by Levitical ordinances, but as a High Priest after the order of Melchizedek, and thus free from earthly restraint, and made higher than the heavens. As the next chapter will reveal (Heb 7:26), His ministry as High Priest is superior to that of Aaron in every way.

‘Forerunner.’ One Who has gone before as Man to prepare the way and lead us into glory (Heb 2:10). And yet He is not only perfect man but also perfect High Priest (Heb 7:26-27), Who has offered a perfect Sacrifice on our behalf (Heb 7:27; Heb 9:28; Heb 10:12; Heb 10:14) and makes perfect intercession for us (Heb 7:25; Heb 9:24), ‘a High Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek’. And because he is our Forerunner, we will eventually follow Him within the veil into the very presence of God Most High. Nothing could be more amazing to a Jew than this, for to him that within the veil was for ever barred.

‘Within the veil.’ The veil separated the part of the sanctuary into which the priest could enter from the Most Holy Place where none could enter, except the High Priest once a year on the Day of Atonement after certain complicated special sacrifices, and where he could only remain for a short while (Leviticus 16). To enter within the veil at any other time would be blasphemy of an extreme kind, for God was envisaged as being there, usually invisibly, in all His awful holiness. (Although the belief also grew that in the Most Holy Place shone the Shekinah, the glorious light that depicted God’s presence unseen by man).

‘A High Priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek’. He will not die as earthly High Priests did. The death of a High Priest was no ordinary event. It was seen by Israel as an event having great significance a reminder of man’s frailty and itself a kind of atonement for the manslayers, an atonement no longer required now that the great Atonement has been made (Num 35:25; Jos 20:6). Nor will He be required to come out from within the veil after a short period, as an earthly High priest was compelled to do, His ministry is perfect and heavenly and unceasing and triumphant for ever. He remains within the veil.

Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett

Heb 6:19-20. Which entereth into that within the vail; The apostle means, that the hope set before us, is not limited to any thing temporal or present, but reaches to heaven and heavenly things; which he compares to the holy of holies, that part of the tabernacle which was behind, or within the second vail. Compare ch. Heb 9:3. Into which (Heb 6:20.) Jesus is entered. See ch. Heb 9:24. The sacred writer here assigns a verymaterialdifferencebetweenthehighpriest’senteringwithintheearthlysanctuary, andJesusourHighpriest’senteringwithintheheavenlysanctuary. The Aaronical high priests did not enter the sanctuary as forerunners of the people, who were utterly debarred an entrance into it at any time: but Jesus is entered for us as a forerunner, and who will take care that all his faithful saints shall come after him into it.

Inferences.In every respect, both with regard to knowledge and practice, let us go on to perfection. For this purpose, as Christians, let us remember what foundation has been already laid, of repentance and faith, of baptism, of a resurrection, and a future judgment; a judgment, eternal in its consequences, and therefore infinitely important. And let us remember, that as the building, in its highest advances, rests upon the foundation, and owes its stability to its union with it; so in like manner does our progress and advance in Christian piety stand in a near connection with our retaining these truths, though we by no means confine ourselves to them.

It is by a continual care to improve in them, that we shall most happily escape the danger, the dreadful danger of apostacy, to which we may otherwise be exposed. And O! let the awful passage before us be duly attended to in this view! Let us not rest in any enlightening that we may have received, in any taste that we may have had of the heavenly gift, of the good word of God, or the powers of the world to come, nor in any operation of the Spirit of God upon our minds. Men may now have all these, and yet fall away, and their guilt become more aggravated: they may injure the Redeemer so much the more in proportion to all that they have known of him; and indeed will be capable of wounding him the deeper by their apostacy, and of exposing him to greater infamy. Let us daily pray to be delivered from so great an evil! We are not left to be like a barren wilderness; the rain from on high comes often upon us, and we enjoy the choicest cultivation: may we bring forth fruits meet for him by whom we are dressed, the genuine fruits of practical, vital religion. So shall we receive a blessing from God, and flourish more and more, till we are transplanted to the paradise above.

But as for those unhappy creatures who bring forth briars and thorns, let them dread that final rejection which will be the portion of those who persist in abusing the divine goodness; let them dread the curse, the awful, irrecoverable curse, to be pronounced on such; let them dread the everlasting dearth with which their souls shall be parched, when ordinances, when the workings of the Spirit of God, when the common comforts and supports of this mortal animal life, shall be no more. Gladly do the ministers of Christ entertain better hopes concerning those committed to their care, while yet there is room for hope; though faithfulness to God, and to the souls of men, obliges them to speak in the language of such cautions as there. May divine grace apply it to those who are particularly concerned in it; and plant what is now a barren and abandoned desart, with such fruits of holiness, as may transform it into the garden of the Lord!

REFLECTIONS.1st, The apostle,

1. Exhorts the Hebrews to advance in spiritual attainments. Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, to a far more advanced state of grace and understanding; even to love God with all our hearts, and all our souls, and all our mind: not laying again the foundation, and continuing still to insist on the first principles of the Christian doctrine, but proceeding to greater heights in heavenly wisdom and holiness. The principles that I speak of are those, (1.) Of repentance from dead works, implying a sense of the evil and danger of sin, the wages of which is death, an abhorrence of it, and the real conversion of heart from the love and practice of all iniquity. And, (2.) Of faith toward God, since all who come to him, must believe his being, attributes, and perfections; and especially that he is our reconciled God in the Son of his love, Christ Jesus. And these two principles of Christianity were typified under the Mosaical dispensation by the doctrine of baptisms, or divers washings prescribed to the temple worshippers, which signified the purification of the conscience, through faith in the blood of Jesus, and by the power of his Spirit, and of laying on of hands, for the receiving of the gifts of the Holy Spirit, or as used for any other purpose in the Christian church. (3.) And of the resurrection of the dead, which may be reckoned another first principle of Christianity. And, (4.) Of eternal judgment, when every man must appear to give account at God’s bar, and to receive his sentence to be happy or miserable for ever, in body and soul, according to his deeds. These having been so often insisted upon, we design to leave them to your serious reflection, and pass on to sublimer things. And this will we do, if God permit. Note; (1.) When the foundation of religion is laid, the superstructure must be raised in an increase of knowledge, grace, and holiness. (2.) All that we purpose must be undertaken in dependance upon God’s support; for without him we can do nothing aright.

2. To quicken them to diligence, he sets before them the fearful case of apostates. For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and so far received the knowledge of the truth as to experience the power of it, and have tasted of the heavenly gift in its genuine and divine consolations; and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, enjoyed the indwelling presence and witness of the divine Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God in its enlivening and regenerating influences; and of the powers of the world to come, enabled to perform many wonderful works; if after all this, they shall fall away from the gospel to Judaism, or Heathenism, the case is desperate, it is impossible to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, approving the wickedness of those who nailed him to the tree as an imposter; and put him to an open shame, by assenting in words or actions to the black calumnies of his murderers: apostacy, being a sin against the very remedy, cannot but be necessarily fatal. Note; Satan will often seek to distress the souls of the sincere, when under darkness or temptation, with these terrible declarations; let it therefore be remembered, that it is never impossible to renew those unto repentance, in whom the Lord still awakens a desire to repent and turn to him.

3. The different states of the gracious soul and the apostate are here described. For the earth which drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth herbs meet for them by whom it is dressed, receiveth blessing from God; so the faithful heart, watered with the dew of divine influences from the Lord, brings forth the fruits of righteousness, which by Christ Jesus are acceptable and well pleasing to God, who blesses his own work, and gives a more abundant increase of every holy and gracious disposition. But that ground which after all the culture bestowed upon it, now beareth thorns and briers, is rejected by the owner as barren, and is nigh unto cursing; whose end is to be burned: so where, amid the means of grace, unbelief and hardness of heart remain, or return, and after all their professions and experience men turn aside to error in principle, and ungodliness in practice, such are in God’s sight reprobate, his curse lieth upon them, which soon shall be fearfully executed; when, cast into the belly of hell, they shall lie down in everlasting burnings which none can quench.

2nd, The apostle, from these awful warnings, passes on to the most powerful encouragements to steadfastness and perseverance.
1. He professes his good opinion of them, in general at least. But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that accompany salvation, though we thus speak; that you will never prove apostates, but, taking warning by the fatal examples of others, will perseveringly cleave to the Lord Jesus Christ in faith and holiness.

2. He suggests the reason on which his confidence was built. For God is not unrighteous or unfaithful to his promises, and therefore will not forget your work and labour of love, the genuine principle of all holy obedience, and assured proof of your interest in the blessings of the gospel; which love ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the saints, and do continue to minister unto them under all their afflictions. Note; (1.) Our love to God must appear in every work and labour of love for the good of his people. (2.) They who perseveringly give genuine proofs of their faith unfeigned, by a conversation such as becometh godliness, will find God faithful to his promises, and their bounteous rewarder.

3. He exhorts them to persevere. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence, in every good word and work, your fruits of righteousness abiding and abounding, to the full assurance of hope unto the end, growing up to a more satisfied confidence of your interest in the eternal blessedness, invariably attached to your living Head and Saviour, and carried as a ship under full sails into the port of eternal rest. See therefore that ye be not slothful, but diligent in every means of grace, and in the duties of your calling, as followers of them who have trod before this holy path, and, through faith and patience amidst every trial, persevering unto the end, are now gone to inherit the promises in glory everlasting. Note; (1.) If we have good hope through grace, we should seek to grow up to the full assurance of hope unto the end. (2.) Diligence in religion, as in every thing else, is the only way to thrive. (3.) The examples of those who are gone to glory before us, should encourage and quicken us to follow them.

4. The faithfulness of God to his promises, should engage their fidelity to him. For when God made promise to Abraham concerning the Messiah, his future Seed, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself, to give him the strongest assurance of the fulfilment of the promise, Saying, Surely, as I live, my being and perfections are engaged to accomplish my word, blessing, I will bless thee, and multiplying, I will multiply thee, so that thou shalt be a father of many nations, and on thy spiritual seed shall thy blessing descend to the latest ages. And so after he had patiently endured, through manifold afflictions, he obtained the promise of a son, the pledge of that Messiah who should descend from him; and at last departed himself in the faith, and entered the eternal world of glory. For men verily swear by the greater, solemnly appealing to God as the witness of truth, and avenger of falsehood; and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife, this being judged the most solemn and decisive evidence which can be given to silence doubt, and terminate dispute. Wherein God, willing more abundantly to shew unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, confirmed it by an oath, in condescension to our weakness, and to give us the utmost satisfaction with regard to his fidelity on his part in the accomplishment of all his promises: that by two immutable things, the promise and oath of God, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, filled with the sweetest delight, and supported under all our trials, who have fled for refuge, as the manslayer to the appointed city, (Num 35:11-12.) with eagerness, under an awakened sense of our guilt and danger, to lay hold upon the hope set before us, even Christ, the rock of his people’s confidence: which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the vail; Christ, the object of our hope, being ascended into heaven, thither the grace of hope follows him, keeping the soul unmoved amidst all the storms of temptation: whither the forerunner, our representative, is for us entered, even Jesus the exalted Saviour, gone to prepare a place for all his faithful saints, made an high-priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. Note; (1.) In Christ there is a refuge provided for the chief of sinners, and all who flee to him shall not only be safe but happy. (2.) In this tempestuous world we shall be hourly exposed to shipwreck, if hope do not enable us to ride out the storm, having cast anchor within the vail.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Heb 6:19 . Description of the absolute certainty of this Christian hope.

] sc . . The referring back to (Grotius and others) is possible only in connection with the erroneous interpretation of this word as “solatium,” whereas, with the right apprehension of Heb 6:18 , serves for the mere introduction of ; thus most naturally links itself with as the last preceding leading thought. To this must be added the consideration that frequently also elsewhere in antiquity though nowhere else in Holy Scripture the anchor is already employed as a figure of hope, and appears also upon coins as a symbol thereof. See Wetstein, Kypke, and Kuinoel ad loc .

] which we possess even as an anchor of the soul, i.e. in which we possess, as it were, an anchor of the soul, which affords it support and protection against the storms and perils of the earthly life.

There exists no good reason for making equivalent to (Abresch, Dindorf, Bloomfield, and others).

. . .] which ( sc . anchor) is sure and firm, and reaches into the interior of the veil . Wrongly does Carpzov (and so also Reuss) construe all these words with ( sc . ). For, in order to render this possible, must have received its place only after , in such wise that should admit of being separated by commas from that which precedes and follows. Equally inadmissible is it, however, when Abresch, Bhme, Bleek, Bloomfield, and others take only along with , and then refer back to ( sc . ). For although the figure of an anchor reaching on high, instead of penetrating into the depths, is an incongruous one, yet metaphors are never to be pressed, and in our passage the choice of the expression points to the retention of the figure of the anchor, as well as the closely uniting to the intimate coherence of the three characteristics.

] with the LXX. usually (Exo 26:31-35 ; Exo 27:21 ; Lev 21:23 ; Lev 24:3 ; Num 4:5 , al .), in the N. T. always (Heb 10:20 ; Mat 27:51 ; Mar 15:38 ; Luk 23:45 ) of the second (Heb 9:3 ), or innermost curtain of the temple, the curtain before the Most Holy Place ( ). Comp. also Philo, de vita Mosis, iii. p. 669 B (with Mangey, II. p. 150): , , , , . Ibid. p. 667 C (II. p. 148): , . . .

] the interior of the veil, i.e. that which is the interior with respect to the veil, or exists within the same, thus behind it. Designation of the Most Holy Place. Comp. Exo 26:33 ; Lev 16:2 ; Lev 16:12 ; Lev 16:15 . The Most Holy Place is spoken of as a symbol of heaven, where God is enthroned in His glory, and at His right hand is enthroned the exalted Christ.

Fuente: Heinrich August Wilhelm Meyer’s New Testament Commentary

DISCOURSE: 2295
THE CHRISTIANS ANCHOR

Heb 6:19-20. Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the vail; whither the Forerunner is for us entered.

THIS life, we know, is but a passage to a better world; a wilderness state, leading to the heavenly Canaan. In it we meet with trials, which are necessary for the exercise of our faith and patience: but in the midst of trials, we are favoured with consolations and supports, perfectly adequate to our necessities, and sufficient for our wants. The lives of Abraham and the patriarchs are very instructive to us, in this view. They had promises in abundance; but did not actually possess the things promised. They were called to endure much, before their course was run; and through faith and patience they inherited the promises [Note: ver. 12.]. Thus are we also to walk by faith, and not by sight; and patiently to endure our destined trials, in the assured expectation of obtaining in due season the promised blessings [Note: ver. 15.]. In the mean time, like mariners, we have an anchor provided for us, which shall hold us fast amidst the storms and tempests with which we are assailed, and secure our ultimate arrival at the desired haven. This is declared in the words which we have just read; and which will lead me to shew you,

I.

What is the anchor here spoken of

The universal voice of commentators has, together with our English version, determined it to be hope; and from such an host it seems the greatest presumption to differ. Nor indeed would we be guilty of such presumption, if we could by any means acquiesce in the general sentiment. But the word hope is printed in italics, to shew that it is not in the original; and, consequently, the only question is, What is the word which should have been supplied from the foregoing context? or, What is the antecedent to which the relative in our text refers? I will, with the diffidence that becomes me, state my view of this question: and leave every one to adopt, or reject, my alteration, as he shall see fit.

I will first, then, state my reasons why I think the word hope is not the word to be supplied.

The word hope, in the preceding context, must unquestionably mean the object of hope; but in the text it is put for the grace of hope: for it is something within ourselves which we have as an anchor, and which is to he cast by us on something that is without. But to use the relative in a sense so essentially different from that in which its antecedent is used, is a construction that should never be admitted, without an absolute and indispensable necessity.

If it be said, that in the text it may be used for the object of hope, I answer, that it cannot with any propriety; for it can scarcely be made sense. Moreover, if taken in that sense, it will be the same as the Forerunner, who is said to have entered where that is.

The true antecedent, I conceive, and consequently the proper word to have been inserted, is, the word consolation: and this will appear from a minute consideration of the context. It is true, the word hope occurs in the last member of the preceding sentence, whilst the word consolation is more remote; but the member of the sentence immediately preceding the text is nothing but a periphrasis for we, or a description of the persons spoken of; and if the word we be taken without that particular description annexed to it, the connexion between the relative and antecedent will be perfectly clear: God has confirmed his promise with an oath, that we might have strong consolation; which consolation we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. The remarkable parallelism also between the wordsa parallelism sufficiently observable in the translation, but still more marked in the originalrenders this construction yet more obvious. God designed that we should have consolation; which consolation we have: he designed that we should have strong consolation; and strong it is, even an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast [Note: , .]. Thus, to say the least, there is nothing forced in this construction; but, on the contrary, it is plain and simple, and such as could not possibly have been avoided, if that member, which is a mere periphrasis, or description of the persons possessing that consolation, had not intervened.

But can consolation properly be called an anchor of the soul? Most assuredly it may: for where consolation is wanting, the soul is liable to be tempest-tost, and driven to and fro by every wind of temptation; but where consolation abounds, there the soul is kept firm and immoveable; agreeably to what God himself has said, The joy of the Lord is our strength [Note: Neh 8:10.]. And hence St. Paul unites the two, in his prayer for the Thessalonian converts: Now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God, even our Father, which hath given us everlasting consolation and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts, and stablish you in every good word and work [Note: 2Th 2:16-17.].

I say then, that the word consolation should, if my view of it be right, have been here supplied; even the consolation arising from a view of the immutability of Gods counsels, which are made over to us in express promises, and confirmed to us with an oath: it is this consolation, I say, which is indeed the anchor of the soul spoken of in our text. And it is remarkable, that in other parts of this same epistle, the Apostle speaks of his consolation in precisely the same view: We, says he, are Christs house, if we hold fast the confidence, and the rejoicing of the hope, firm unto the end: and again; We are made partakers of Christ, if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast unto the end [Note: Heb 3:6; Heb 3:14. , in both places.]: and again; Cast not away your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward [Note: Heb 10:35.].

That hope may be fitly represented as an anchor, there can be no doubt; but the doubt is, what is the anchor here spoken of: and that, I say again, is the consolation arising from an assured confidence in the promise and oath of an unchanging God.

Let us now proceed to consider,

II.

On what ground it must be cast

It is said to enter into that within the vail. Other anchors descend into the deep: this ascends to the highest heavens, and lays hold on the very throne of God.
We might here speak of the things which were within the vail; as the mercy-seat, on which abode the bright cloud, the Shechinah, the symbol of the Deity; and the ark, which contained the law, and which was covered by the mercy-seat: and we might shew how this anchor of the soul fixes on them, even on a reconciled God and Father, and on the Lord Jesus Christ, who has fulfilled the law for us. But it will be better to adhere more simply to the preceding context, and to speak of the anchor as fixing on the immutability of a promise-keeping God. This is a proper foundation for it to rest upon: nor can we by any means lay too fast hold upon it. For, God has from all eternity entered into covenant with his only-begotten Son; engaging, if he would assume our nature, and make his soul an offering for sin, he should see a seed who should prolong their days, and the pleasure of the Lord should prosper in his hand [Note: Isa 53:10.]. To this the Son consented: and, having taken our nature upon him, he has fulfilled every part of his engagement; never ceasing from his work till he could say, It is finished. Now, will the Father recede from his engagements? Assuredly not: for He is not a man, that he should lie; or the son of man, that he should repent [Note: Num 23:19.]. Having confirmed his promise with an oath, it is impossible for him to lie; since both the one and the other are absolutely immutable [Note: ver. 18.]. On this covenant, then, we may lay hold; and on it we may rest, as ordered in all things, and sure [Note: 2Sa 23:5.]. In it, every thing is provided for us that we can stand in need of, whether for time or for eternity: it engages to impart to every one that has been given to Christ, pardon and peace, and holiness and glory.

On nothing short of this must our anchor fix. It must rest on nothing that is in us; no frames, no feelings, no experiences, no attainments. From Gods covenant all our hopes flow; and on that must they all rest. We, alas! are changeable; and on us can no confidence be placed: but God is unchangeable, in all his purposes, which are unalterably fixed, according to the counsel of his own will [Note: Eph 1:11.]; in all his promises, which are all yea, and amen, in Christ Jesus [Note: 2Co 1:20.]; and in all his gifts, for his gifts and calling are without repentance [Note: Rom 11:29.]. This is a foundation which will hold us fast; as it is said, The foundation of God standeth sure; the Lord knoweth them that are his [Note: 2Ti 2:19.].

But, as this anchor is said to be sure and steadfast, it will be proper for me to shew,

III.

From whence it derives its power and tenacity

In order that a tempest-tossed vessel may be preserved in safety, it is necessary that the anchor itself should be of a good quality, and that the anchorage should be firm. And both these are requisite for the establishing of the soul: the consolation must be, not like that of the hypocrite, which is but for a moment [Note: Job 20:5.]; or that of the novice, which will give way on the very first assault of temptation [Note: Mat 13:20-21.]: it must be far more solid; but it must be formed in us by God, even by the Holy Ghost, the Comforter: and it must lay hold on God himself, and derive all its efficacy from him.

But still, it is not from the strength of the anchor that our stability will be derived; but from the Lord Jesus Christ, who will render it effectual for its desired end.
It is not obvious, at first sight, why the Forerunner should be mentioned: for what has Jesus, as our Forerunner, to do with our anchor entering within the vail? But, on a closer inspection, it will be found, that though there is an apparent change in the figure, there is a perfect unity in the subject; the whole power and tenacity of our anchor being derived from Him, who is entered into the very place where that anchor is cast: for it is by means of the very same anchor that he himself has entered there, even as all the saints before him did [Note: Heb 11:10; Heb 11:14; Heb 11:16; Heb 11:26; Heb 11:35.]: and he is entered there expressly for us, that he may secure to us the very same issue as he himself has attained.

Let us enter a little more distinctly into this. I say, that it was by means of the very same anchor that Jesus himself rode out the storms with which he was assailed, and is now at rest in the desired haven. See him in the midst of all his storms: hear his reply to the most powerful of all his adversaries: Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above [Note: Joh 19:11.]. Here his perfect confidence in an unchanging God is the manifest source of his stability. But to see this anchor in full operation, mark it as described by the Prophet Isaiah: The Lord God will help me: therefore shall I not be confounded: therefore have I set my face like a flint; and I know that I shall not be ashamed. He is near that justifieth me: who will contend with me? let us stand together: who is mine adversary? let him come near to me. Behold, the Lord God will help me: who is he that shall condemn me? lo, they all shall wax old, as doth a garment: the moth shall eat them up [Note: Isa 50:7-9.]. And was this an empty boast? No: this anchor held him fast, through all the storms that earth and hell could raise against him; as St. Paul informs us, saying, that for the joy that was set before him he endured the cross, and despised the shame, and is set down on the right hand of the throne of God [Note: Heb 12:2.].

It may still however be asked, what are his triumphs to us? I answer, He is not entered within the vail for himself only, but for us; that he may appear in the presence of God for us [Note: Heb 9:24.], and secure to us the same blessed rest which he himself has attained. Whilst we are casting our anchor within the vail, he, by his grace, enables us to do it, and keeps the anchor itself from losing its hold. And, whilst we are confiding in the promises of God, and pleading them at a throne of grace, he is pleading for us, as our Advocate, before the throne of glory: he is pleading the covenant which the Father has made with him, in behalf of all the members of his mystical body. Thus is he there engaged, on Gods part, as it were, to afford us all needful support; and on our part, to remind the Father of his engagements, and to see them all fulfilled.

But there is yet a further connexion between these things, which must by no means be overlooked. The Lord Jesus is entered into heaven, not as our Advocate merely, but as our Head and Representative: so that we may be not unfitly said to be already sitting with him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus [Note: Eph 2:6.]. We are one with him, as our federal head [Note: 1Co 15:22.]; yea, we are one with him also by a vital union, as members of his body [Note: Joh 15:1-2.]: we are even one spirit with him [Note: 1Co 6:17.]: our life is hid with Christ in God: he is our very life itself: and hence it is that neither earth nor hell can ever prevail against us; according as it is written, Our life is hid with Christ in God; and therefore when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, we also shall appear with him in glory [Note: Col 3:3-4.].

Now this subject may well shew us,

1.

What is the proper and legitimate use of the deeper doctrines of our holy religion.

Whilst, by some, the doctrines of predestination and election are made for the display of their controversial skill, and are brought forward on all occasions as if they were the very milk of the Gospel, fit indiscriminately for the contemplation of all; to others, the very mention of the words sounds almost as blasphemy. But these doctrines are true, and capable of the most valuable improvement; though, if entered upon with an unhallowed and contentious spirit, they may prove as injurious as they are to the humble mind truly beneficial. The godly consideration of them, as our Seventeenth Article states, is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly persons; .. as well because it doth greatly establish and confirm their faith of eternal salvation, to be enjoyed through Christ, as because it doth fervently kindle their love towards God: but, for curious and carnal persons, lacking the Spirit of Christ, to have continually before their eyes the sentence of Gods predestination, is a most dangerous downfall, whereby the devil doth thrust them, either into desperation, or into wretchlessness of most unclean living, no less perilous than desperation. The true use of them, is to compose the mind with a humble affiance in God, as unbounded in mercy and unchangeable in his promises. They lead us to refer every mercy to God, as the Author, and to look to him for the continuance of it, as the Finisher, of our salvation [Note: Heb 12:2.]. A just view of these doctrines, at the same time that it teaches to put away all carnal hopes, tends to raise us also above carnal fears. It shews us, that, in the whole work of mans salvation, the creature is nothing, and God is all: it furnishes us with a consolation which nothing can destroy, and with a strength which nothing can overcome. In a word, it is an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. It is quite a mistake to imagine that the possession of this anchor supersedes the necessity of care on our part: we must be as diligent in the use both of the chart and compass, as if we had no such means of safety on board. It will never justify us in running needlessly amidst rocks and quicksands; nor do we ever find such an use made of it amongst the saints of God. Its use is, to keep us steadfast in a time of need: and, if improved to that end, it will be found of incalculable advantage to the believing soul.

2.

The advantage which the Christian has over all other people upon earth

A man that knows not God as a merciful and unchanging God, knows not where to look in a time of trial. He may, indeed, comfort himself with some general notions of Gods mercy; but he has no solid ground of hope; nor can he ever know what is meant by the peace of God which passeth all understanding. But the truly enlightened Christian can glory in the midst of tribulations: for he refers all to God, who is too wise to err, too mighty to be foiled, too faithful to forsake his people: he views God as presiding in every storm, and as ordering all things for the good of his own people [Note: Rom 8:28.]. He regards not the various circumstances which occur, as though they were accidental: whatever their aspect be, he considers them as parts of one great whole; and, whether the steps which he is constrained to take in this wilderness appear, in the eye of sense, to be progressive or retrograde, he still bears in mind, that they are leading him in the right way, to the city of habitation, the heavenly Jerusalem [Note: Psa 107:7.]. Behold this illustrated in the Apostle Paul. What storms and tempests he had to sustain, you well know: but was he appalled by them? No: he knew in whom he had believed; and that He was able to keep that which he had committed to him [Note: 2Ti 1:12.]. Who, says he, is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again; who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors, through Him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord [Note: Rom 8:34-39.]. Here you see the anchor in the full discharge of its office; and here you behold a stability which no created power could impart. This shews the Christian in his true light. I pray God we may all have an ever-increasing measure of that confidence in God which so mightily upheld his soul; and that we may thus be kept in safety for that inheritance, which we know to be reserved in heaven for us [Note: 1Pe 1:4-5.].

Fuente: Charles Simeon’s Horae Homileticae (Old and New Testaments)

19 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

Ver. 19. Both sure and stedfast ] Spes in terrents, incerti nomen boni: Spes in divinis, nomen est certissimi.

And which entereth into that ] This anchor is cast upward, and fastened not in the depth of the sea, but in the height of heaven, whereof it gets firm hold and sure possession. Now that ship (saith one) may be tossed, not shipwrecked, whereof Christ is the pilot, the Scripture the compass, the promises the tacklings, hope the anchor, faith the cable, the Holy Ghost the winds, and holy affection the sails, which are filled with the graces of the Spirit.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

19 .] which (viz. the hope: in its subjective resting on objective grounds now to be set forth: not the , as Grot., Seb. Schmidt, al.) we have (not, “we hold fast,” as Bretschn., Wahl, al., = : this is forbidden by the unemphatic position of the word, as well as by the context) as an anchor of our soul (the similitude is a very common one in Greek and Roman writers; and on coins and medals, where hope is represented by an anchor. See Wetst. A saying is attributed to Socrates, : see Kypke. Suicer gives some interesting remarks from the Fathers on the similitude) safe and firm (the adjectives belong to , not to . , , . . , , . Thl.) and entering into the part within the veil (first, to what is to be referred? to , or to ( ) ? The former is the more obvious construction: and has been accepted by Beza, Estius (“Sicut ancora navalis non in aquis hret, sed terram intrat sub aquis latentem, eique infigitur: ita ancora anim spes nostra non satis habet in vestibulum pervenisse, id est non est contenta bonis terrenis et visibilibus: sed penetrat usque ad ea, qu sunt intra velum, videlicet in ipsa sancta sanctorum: id est, Deum ipsum et clestia bona apprehendit, atque in iis figitur”), Schlichting, Limborch, De Wette, Ebrard, Lnem., Delitzsch, al. This is said by Bleek to be too artificial, and he, with Abresch, Storr, Bhme, Kuinoel, al., takes hope as that which enters within the veil, simply, the figure being dropped. He refers for this to the Greek expositors also: but Chrys. says, , , . . . ; : by which he clearly seems to refer it to the anchor. Thl. says beautifully on the other side, ( ) , , , , . And similarly c. But I must say that I prefer the other, being as it seems to me the simpler view. “Two figures are here not so much mixed, as wonderfully combined. The Writer might have compared the world to a sea, the soul to a ship, the future yet hidden glory to the concealed bottom of the deep, the far off terra firma, stretching away under the water and covered by it. Or, he might have compared the present earthly life with the forecourt, and the future blessedness with the heavenly sanctuary which is concealed from us by a veil. But he has combined both these. The Soul clings, as one in fear of shipwreck, to an anchor, and sees not whither the cable of the anchor runs, where it is fastened: but she knows that it is fastened behind the veil which hides the future glory, and that she, if she only holds on to the anchor, shall in her time be drawn in where it is, into the holiest place, by the hand of the Deliverer.” Ebrard. This is very beautiful, and in the main, simple and natural: only going off into fancy at the end, which is not required for the interpretation.

The word is, as far as Bleek knows, Alexandrine: the classical form being . See reff. It was the name for the second veil or curtain (ch. Heb 9:3 ), which shut in the holy of holies; the first or outer one being called , Philo, Vita Mos. iii. 9, vol. ii. p. 150, . , , , , . See further on ch. Heb 9:3 . For the whole expression, see reff.),

Fuente: Henry Alford’s Greek Testament

Heb 6:19 . “which [hope] we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and steadfast, and entering into that which is within the veil”. An anchor was in ancient as well as in modern times the symbol of hope; see Aristoph., Knights , 1224 (1207) . “A slender hope it is at which we ride,” and sch., Ag. , 488: many hopes being torn away [like the flukes of anchors]. Cf. Paley in loc . Kypke quotes a saying attributed to Socrates: . The symbol appears on ancient coins. , unfailing and firmly fixed; negative and positive, it will not betray the confidence reposed in it but will hold firm. . ., Wis 7:23 . Cebet., Tab. , 31. Bleek, Vaughan, Westcott, and others refer these adjectives to , not to . It seems much more natural to refer them with Chrys., Theoph., etc. to . Cf. Vulg.: “Quam sicut anchoram habemus anim tutam ac firmam, et incedentem,” and Weizscker “in der wir einen sicheren, festen Anker der Seele haben, der hineinreicht,” etc. The anchor has its holding ground in the unseen. Some interpreters who refer the former two adjectives to the anchor, find so much strangeness or awkwardness in this term if so applied that they understand it directly of the hope itself. But as Davidson and Weiss show, the . gives the ground of the two former adjectives; it is because the anchor enters into the eternal and unchangeable world that its shifting or losing hold is out of the question. (But cf. also Heb 6:16 ). No doubt the figure is now so moulded to conform to the reality that the physical reference is obscure, unless we think of a ship being warped into a harbour on an anchor already carried in. Cf. Weiss. That to which the figure points is obvious. It is in the very presence of God the anchor of hope takes hold. The Christian hope is fixed on things eternal, and is made sure by God’s acceptance of it. [Alford quotes from Estius: “sicut ancora navalis non in aquis haeret, sed terram intrat sub aquis latentem, eique infigitur; ita ancora anim spes nostra non satis habet in vestibulum pervenisse, id est, non est contenta bonis terrenis et visibilibus; sed penetrat usque ad ea, quae sunt intra velum, videlicet in ipsa sancta sanctorum; id est, Deum ipsum et coelestia bona apprehendit, atque in iis figitur”.] , the holy of holies, the very presence of God. (in non-biblical Greek ) is used in LXX of either of the two veils in the Temple ( or , Exo 26:37 ; Num 3:26 ; and Exo 26:31 ; Lev 4:6 ) but , according to Philo, De Vit. Mes. , iii. 5, was the proper designation of the outer veil, . being reserved for the inner veil; and in this sense alone it is used in N.T. as Heb 9:3 ; Mat 27:51 . See Carpzov in ( loc . and Kennedy’s Sources of N.T. Greek , 113. . . is therefore the inmost shrine into which the Jewish worshipper could not enter but only the High Priest once a year. For the expression see Exo 26:33 , etc.

Fuente: The Expositors Greek Testament by Robertson

Hebrews

THE ANCHOR OF THE SOUL

Heb 6:19

THERE is something very remarkable in the prominence given by Christianity to hope as an element in the perfect character. The New Testament is, one may say, full of exhortations to ‘hope perfectly.’ It is regarded as one of the three virtues which sum up all Christian goodness. Nay! In one place the Apostle Paul lays upon it the whole weight of our salvation, for he says ‘we are saved by hope.’ Now this great prominence given to the exercise of this faculty seems to correspond with the will of God as expressed in our nature, for man is a creature obstinate in his hope. But it seems to be strangely at variance with the value of hope as attested by experience; for who does not know that most hopes are false; and that whether they be disappointed or fulfilled, they betray. The world is full of complaints of the fallacies of hope. Poets and moralists are sure of a response when they touch that chord; and it sometimes seems to us as if elaborate provision were made in our nature for deluding us into activity and tempting us along toll-some paths, to gather a handful of mist at the end, and then to say in our bitterness, ‘All is vanity and vexation of spirit.’ But yet ‘God never sends mouths but He sends meat to feed them’; and if there be in a man a faculty so obstinate and strong as this, there must be somewhere a reality which it can grasp; and, grasping, can be freed from all its miseries and mistakes. So my text tells us where that is, and tells us further how ennobling and steady an ally of all great and blessed things hope is in a man, when it is rightly fixed on the right objects. The metaphor of my text is unique in Scripture, though it be common in other places. Only here do we find the familiar thought that hope is ‘the anchor of the soul.’ I take that metaphor as the guiding thought in my words now; and ask you to consider the anchor; the anchorage, or holding-ground; the cable; and the steadfastness of the ship so anchored in all storms. I. Consider, then, first, the force of this metaphor of the anchor. Now it seems to me that the very figure requires us to suppose that hope here means, not the emotion but the object on which it is fixed. The same interpretation is necessarily suggested by the context; for the previous verse speaks about ‘a hope set before us,’ and about our ‘laying hold upon it.’ So that here, at all events, the hope is something external to ourselves which is proposed to us, and which we can grasp. An anchor is outside the ship; and that which steadies us cannot be a part of ourselves, must be something external to us, on which our fluttering and mutable emotions can repose and be still. Nor is it at all unusual, either in Scripture or in common speech, that we should employ the name of the emotion to express the object which the emotion grasps. For instance, people say to one another, ‘my love,’ ‘my comfort,’ and we talk about God as ‘our fear’ and ‘our dread,’ and Scripture speaks of Christ as our hope; in all which phrases the person who excites the emotion is described by the name of the emotion. And so, I take it, is the ease here. The hope which we possess, and which, outside of us, we being fastened to it, makes us steadfast and secure, is, at bottom, Jesus Christ Himself. This hope, says my text, ‘has entered within the veil.’ Well l read on. ‘Whither the Forerunner is for us entered.’ When He passed within the veil our hope passed within it, and went with Him. For He is not only the foundation, but He is the substance of our hope. He is the thing hoped for, and in the deepest interpretation, all our future is the personal Christ; and every blessed anticipation that can fill a human heart with gladness is summed up in this, ‘that I may be found in Him,’ and made partaker of that Saviour whom to possess is fruition and eternal life. He is the anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, and entering within the veil Notice further the characteristics ascribed to this anchor and hope. ‘Sure and steadfast.’ These two words express diverse qualities of the hope. A sure anchor is one which does not drag. It is not too light for the ship that rides by it. It has found s firm ground, its flukes are all right, and it belch. It does not deceive. The ship’s crew may trust to it. An anchor which is steadfast, or, as the original word might be rendered, ‘firm,’ is one that will not break, but is strong in its own substance, made of good tough iron, so that there is no fear of the shank snapping, whatever strain may be put upon it. We may then say, generally, that this object of the Christian hope is free from all the weaknesses. and imperfections which cleave and cling to other objects. Take just a sentence or two in illustration of that. Our earthly hopes, what are they? Only She products of our own imaginations, or the reflection of our wishes projected on the dim screen of the future, with no more substance in them than the shadows from a magic- lantern thrown on to the sheet. Or even if they be the reasonable result of calculation, they still have- no existence. But there, says my text, is a hope which is a real thing, and has a present existence. It has ‘entered into that within the veil,’ as the literal anchor is dropped through the depths of the sea and lost to sight, so by an incongruous and yet forcible blending of metaphor the text tells us this anchor is carried aloft, into the azure depths, and there lost to sight, is fastened as it were to the very throne of God. All the universe being the temple, and a thin veil being stretched between us in the outer court and that Holy of Holies, the Christ, who is our hope, has passed with.. in the veil, and is verily there, separated from us and yet close by. A veil is but a thin partition. We can hear the voices on the other side of a woollen curtain, we can catch the gleams of light through it, A touch will draw it aside. So we float in the midst of that solemn unseen present which is to us the future; and all the brightest and grandest objects of the Christian man’s anticipation have a present existence and are real; just on the other side of that thin curtain that parts us from them. A touch, and it rattles on its rings and we stand in the blaze of the fruition This hope is not an imagination, not the projection of wishes upon the dim curtain of the future, not the child of calculation, but a present reality within arm’s length of us all. Then, again, earthly hopes are less than certainties. This one is a certainty, We may make the future as sure as the past. Hope may be as veracious as memory. It is not so with our ordinary anticipations; we all feel that when we say we hope we are admitting an element of dread as well as of hope into our anticipations. And so, however hope may smile there is always a touch of terror in her sweet eyes. As one of our great poets has described her, she carries a jewelled cup of richest wine, but coiled at the bottom of it a sleeping serpent. Possibilities that it may be otherwise are an integral part of all the uncertain hopes of earth, make it a torture often, and always dim its lustre and its gladness. But certitude is a characteristic of the Christian hope. It is ‘sure,’ as my text has it, and we can say, not, ‘I trust it may,’ but, ‘I know it will.’ Is it not something to be able to look forward into the dim unknown, and to feel that whilst much there is mercifully hidden, far more and that the best in the future is manifest as history, and certain as the fixed past. To the Christian resting upon Christ it is no presumption, but the simplest duty to feel ‘tomorrow,’ and the to-morrow after that, and all the to-morrows, including the unsetting day of eternity ‘shall be as yesterday, and much more abundant.’ Then again, earthly hopes, whether disappointed or fulfilled, betray, or rather, I might say, are disappointed even whilst they are fulfilled. We paint the future as if it contained but the one thing on which for the time being we have set our hopes. And we do not remember that when we reach the accomplishment of the expectation, life will have a great many other things in it than the fulfilled expectation, and all the old commonplaces, and annoyances, and imperfections will still be there. So ever, the thing chased is more than the thing won. Like some bit of sea-weed, as long as it lies there in the ocean moving its filmy fronds to the wave, it expands and is lovely. Grasp it, and draw it out, and it is a bit of ugly slime in your hand. So possession never realises the dream of hope. But here, the half hath not been told us. ‘Eye hath not seen it,.., neither hath entered into the heart of man,’ in his loftiest anticipations, the transcendent realisation of the things that God hath prepared for them that love Him. II. And now turn to the other points in this text.

Look at the anchorage, or holding-ground, that is to say, the reasons or the grounds on which these great objects become objects of hope to us. Why is it that I may without presumption, and that I must, unless I would fall beneath my obligations, expect to be for ever like Jesus Christ? Why, here is the anchorage. ‘God willing more abundantly to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation.’ Or, to put it into other words, God’s solemn utterance of His will guaranteed to us by God’s putting all the majesty of His own being into pawn for the fulfilment of His promise is the ground on which we rest. There is the anchorage. Nothing can touch that. If we cleave to Jesus Christ we have anchored ourselves in the fastnesses of the divine nature. We have struck the roots of our hopes deep into the very being of God; and all that is majestic, all that is omnipotent, all that is tender, all that is immutable in Him goes to confirm to my poor heart the astounding expectation that whatsoever Christ is I shall become, and that wheresoever Christ is there will also His servant be. Oh! how this rock- foundation on which we may build makes all the other foundations upon which men rest their ruinable hopes seem wretched and transitory. Cursed be the man – and he is cursed, that is, wretched and miserable in the act – ‘Cursed be the man that maketh flesh his arm, and whose hope is in man. Blessed be the man whose hope is in the Lord his God, and whose trust the Lord is.’ This anchorage is safe in all weathers, and none that ever sheltered there have been driven on the iron-bound leeward rocks. III. Again, still keeping the metaphor of the text, notice the cable. The anchor is of no use unless it be fastened by a strong hawser or chain. All the faithfulness of the divine nature, and all the grandeur of the promises which Christ gives and is, are naught to us unless we attach ourselves to them by setting our hopes there. I have been speaking to you about the vanity, the disappointing misery of earthly hope. Those show that the obstinate faculty which, in spite of them all, persists is as plainly meant to be attached to Jesus Christ as the great iron chain that you see lying on the deck is obviously intended to be the anchor-chain. You are able to anticipate the future, and God has given you the ability in order that it may grapple you to your Lord and Master, by whom alone you will be lords of the future, and it be filled with peace. To do that, to attach yourselves thus to Jesus Christ by a persistent and triumphant hope is not an easy thing. It means, first of all, detachment. You must get away from these lower and earthly anticipations of the paltry and immediate future on this side the grave, which fill so much of your onward gaze, if your eye is to see clearly that nobler future further ahead which is its legitimate and its only object. The habit of Christian hope needs diligent cultivation and strenuous effort. I think that there are few things that Christian men and women need to he exhorted to more earnestly than this that they should not waste upon the mean anticipations of to-morrow that wonderful faculty by which they may knit themselves to the most glorious and blessed realities in the remotest future. The wings of hope were given, not that we might flutter near the earth, but that we might rise to God. The clear eye that looks before was given us not that we should limit our vision to the near, But that we might send it forward to the most distant horizon. Do not let yourselves be so absorbed by anticipations of what you are going to do and where you are going to be tomorrow that you have no leisure to think of what you are going to do and where you are going to be through the eternities. We run our eyes along the low levels of earth, and we too seldom lift them to the great white summits that ring round the little plain on which our day is passed. Christian men and women, you are saved by hope. Live in the continual contemplation of that blessed future, and Him who makes it; and, according to the old exhortation sursum corda, ‘up with your hearts’ and your hopes, and fasten them to the anchor of your souls which hath entered within the veil. IV. And now, lastly, a word as to the steadfastness of the ship that rides in any storm by thin anchor. Hope is not usually a masculine faculty, nor one that on the whole is the ally of the stronger and nobler virtues. It does no doubt impel to action, and he that has ceased to hope has ceased to strive; but also, and quite as often, its effect is to disturb and flutter rather than to steady, to make impatient, to unfit for persistent application and toilsome service, to set the blood dancing through the veins, so that the hand can scarcely be kept steady. But this ‘Christian hope, if we rightly take the measure of it, and understand it, is an ally of all great, steadfast, calm, patient virtue. For one thing it will put all the present in its true subordination. Just as when a man’s eye is fixed upon the reddening dawn of the morning sky, all the trees and objects between him and it are toned down into one uniform blackness, so when we have that great light shining beyond the earthly horizon all the colours of the objects between us and it will be less garish, and they will dwindle into comparative insignificance. It is not so hard to bear sorrow when the light of a great hope makes the endurance but for a little moment, and the exceeding and eternal weight of glory more conspicuous than it. It is not so hard to do duty when a great hope makes action for the time sublime, and makes difficulties dwindle and hardships sweet. It is not so hard to resist temptations when temptations have had their dazzling light dimmed by the greater brightness of the hope revealed. He that has anchored himself to Christ may be calm in sorrow and triumphant over temptation. Whatsoever winds may blow he may ride safe there, and however frowning may be the iron-bound rocks a cable’s length off, if he has cast out his anchor at the stern he may quietly wait for the day in the assurance that no shipwreck is possible for him. Your hope will be the ally of all, dignity, patience, victory, will steady the soul and make it participant, in some measure, of its own steadfastness and security. And just as sailors sometimes send the anchor ahead that they may have a fixed point towards which to warp themselves, so, if our anchor is that Christ who has passed into the heavens, He will draw us, in due time, whither He Himself has gone. A calm steady hope fixed upon the enthroned Christ, our fore-runner, and the pattern of what we shall he if we trust Him, will make us steadfast and victorious in all our sorrows, Burdens, changes, and temptations. Without it life is indeed as ‘futile then as frail,’ and our only ‘hope of answer’ to its torturing problems, or of ‘redress’ of its manifold pains is ‘Behind the veil, behind the veil.’ Such a hope knits us to the true stay of our souls, and is a cord not easily Broken. As for men’s hopes fixed on earth, they are fragile and filmy as the spiders’ webs, which, in early autumn mornings, twinkle dewy in every copse, and are gone by midday. My brother! you have this great faculty; what do you do with it, and where do you fix it? You have a personal concern in that future, whether you think about it and like it or not. What is your hope for that future, and what is the ground of your hope? Let me beseech you, fasten the little vessel of your life to that great anchor, Christ, who has died, and who lives for you. And then, though the thread between you and Him be but slender and fragile, it will not be a dead cable, but a living nerve, along which His own steadfast life will pour, making you steadfast like Himself, and at last fulfilling and transcending your highest hopes in eternal fruition of His own blessedness.

Fuente: Expositions Of Holy Scripture by Alexander MacLaren

anchor . . . soul = our anchor.

soul. App-110.

sure. Greek. asphales. See Act 21:34.

stedfast. See Heb 2:2.

which entereth = entering.

into. Greek. eis. App-104.

within. Greek. esoteros. See Act 16:24.

veil. See Mat 27:51.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

19.] which (viz. the hope: in its subjective resting on objective grounds now to be set forth: not the , as Grot., Seb. Schmidt, al.) we have (not, we hold fast, as Bretschn., Wahl, al., = : this is forbidden by the unemphatic position of the word, as well as by the context) as an anchor of our soul (the similitude is a very common one in Greek and Roman writers; and on coins and medals, where hope is represented by an anchor. See Wetst. A saying is attributed to Socrates, : see Kypke. Suicer gives some interesting remarks from the Fathers on the similitude) safe and firm (the adjectives belong to , not to . , , . . , , . Thl.) and entering into the part within the veil (first, to what is to be referred? to , or to () ? The former is the more obvious construction: and has been accepted by Beza, Estius (Sicut ancora navalis non in aquis hret, sed terram intrat sub aquis latentem, eique infigitur: ita ancora anim spes nostra non satis habet in vestibulum pervenisse, id est non est contenta bonis terrenis et visibilibus: sed penetrat usque ad ea, qu sunt intra velum, videlicet in ipsa sancta sanctorum: id est, Deum ipsum et clestia bona apprehendit, atque in iis figitur), Schlichting, Limborch, De Wette, Ebrard, Lnem., Delitzsch, al. This is said by Bleek to be too artificial, and he, with Abresch, Storr, Bhme, Kuinoel, al., takes hope as that which enters within the veil, simply, the figure being dropped. He refers for this to the Greek expositors also: but Chrys. says, , , . . . ; : by which he clearly seems to refer it to the anchor. Thl. says beautifully on the other side, ( ) , , , , . And similarly c. But I must say that I prefer the other, being as it seems to me the simpler view. Two figures are here not so much mixed, as wonderfully combined. The Writer might have compared the world to a sea, the soul to a ship, the future yet hidden glory to the concealed bottom of the deep, the far off terra firma, stretching away under the water and covered by it. Or, he might have compared the present earthly life with the forecourt, and the future blessedness with the heavenly sanctuary which is concealed from us by a veil. But he has combined both these. The Soul clings, as one in fear of shipwreck, to an anchor, and sees not whither the cable of the anchor runs,-where it is fastened: but she knows that it is fastened behind the veil which hides the future glory, and that she, if she only holds on to the anchor, shall in her time be drawn in where it is, into the holiest place, by the hand of the Deliverer. Ebrard. This is very beautiful, and in the main, simple and natural: only going off into fancy at the end, which is not required for the interpretation.

The word is, as far as Bleek knows, Alexandrine: the classical form being . See reff. It was the name for the second veil or curtain (ch. Heb 9:3), which shut in the holy of holies; the first or outer one being called , Philo, Vita Mos. iii. 9, vol. ii. p. 150, . , , , , . See further on ch. Heb 9:3. For the whole expression, see reff.),

Fuente: The Greek Testament

Heb 6:19. ) which hope. The following things are compared:-

A ship; The soul:

A sure anchor; Hope, i.e. heavenly good things set before us by GOD, hoped for by us: in a complex sense.

The connection of the ship and the anchor; The consolation through the promise and oath of GOD.

-, sure) in respect of us.-, firm) in itself.- , the veil) He gradually returns to the priesthood, ch. Heb 9:3, Heb 10:20.

Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament

as an: Act 27:29, Act 27:40

both: Psa 42:5, Psa 42:11, Psa 43:5, Psa 62:5, Psa 62:6, Psa 146:5, Psa 146:6, Isa 12:2, Isa 25:3, Isa 25:4, Isa 28:16, Jer 17:7, Jer 17:8, Rom 4:16, Rom 5:5-10, Rom 8:28-39, 1Co 15:58, 2Ti 2:19

entereth: Heb 4:16, Heb 9:3, Heb 9:7, Heb 10:20, Heb 10:21, Lev 16:2, Lev 16:15, Mat 27:51, Eph 2:6, Col 3:1

Reciprocal: Jos 20:2 – Appoint 2Sa 23:5 – and sure Psa 19:7 – sure Mar 15:38 – General Luk 23:45 – and the veil Act 1:2 – the day Rom 8:24 – saved 1Co 13:13 – hope Eph 4:4 – as Col 1:23 – the hope Col 2:5 – and the 1Th 1:5 – in much 1Th 5:8 – the hope 2Th 2:16 – good Tit 2:13 – blessed Heb 11:1 – hoped 1Pe 1:3 – unto 1Pe 1:13 – hope 1Pe 3:15 – the hope 2Pe 1:10 – to make

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

ANCHORED

An anchor of the soul.

Heb 6:19

It is a strange and bold metaphor which connects what is so spiritual with what is so material and so substantialAn anchor of the soul. It would be difficult to conceive that any image could be so appropriate and so comforting.

Look at some of the consequences of this wonderful connection of the soul with that anchor within the veil.

I. How perfectly safe that soul must be.Gods eternal counsel, Gods very being, and Gods oath passing into Christ. A Christ unseen; wearing a body Himself, in heaven; Who secures and seals your pardon. Your strength, your peace, your life, your glory. He has said, Where I am, there shall My servant be. Your Substitute in punishment, your Representative in love and happiness, your hope; all that is beautiful, joyous, holy, and happy in the future concentrated in Him for you. Your hope within the veil.

II. How restful should your soul so anchored be!What mean all these doubts and fears? What though you be tossed about, you are held as by chains of adamant, and your soul shall never perish. You cannot be lost! There cannot be any shipwreck to a soul that is anchored within the veil.

III. And by that token that you are anchored, you cannot be very far from shore.You may not see the land of promise; you may not yet hear the songs of its inhabitants; but there is no anchorage out in the mid-sea, you must be near the coast, nearer perhaps than you guess now, in this dark night; but you will be surprised to find how close you are all the while when the morning breaks. Therefore you must make haste to be ready to go ashore, for the voyage may be nearly done, and you only wait the order to step out, and be at home.

IV. Meanwhile, remember this, a ship always drops towards her anchor.And, before you land, you must be nearing and nearing Christ and heaven: your thoughts there, your focus there, your tastes and your desires there; and your hope must become more real and more perfect every day. There must be more realisation of the land you are about to touch; more affections there; more appreciation of its loveliness; more familiarity with its language and love and praise. You must be practising what you will have to do when you arrive.

Rev. James Vaughan.

Illustration

I have no hope in what I have been or done, said Dr. Doddridge, on his dying bed, yet I am full of confidence; and this is my confidence: There is a hope set before me. I have fled, I still fly, for refuge to that hope. In Him I trust, in Him I have strong consolation, and shall assuredly be accepted in this beloved of my soul.

Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary

Heb 6:19. This prospect of eternal salvation is the hope that stimulates Christians in this work for Christ. It is fastened, like an anchor, to Christ who is our High Priest. He has entered within the veil, the phrase being based on the veil in the temple that enclosed the most holy place, which was a type of Heaven.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Heb 6:19. Which (i.e which hope, not which encouragement) we have. The hope spoken of in the previous verse is largely objective, i.e it includes the object of our hope,the glorious things which the promise warrants us in expecting. In this verse it is largely subjectivethe affection or grace (compare Christ, our hope, sustains us, where hope is objective; and hope in Christ sustains us, where nope is subjective; both are combined in the beautiful description, Christ in us the hope of glory). Each implies the other; the heavenly reward as set before us by God is our hope in its objective sense; our hope of the heavenly reward is the grace of hope in the subjective sense.

As an anchor of the soul (a common classical emblem, though not found, as anchor itself is never found, in the Old Testament) both sure (with firm holding ground) and stedfast (in itself strong), and entering into that which is within the veil. A mixed figure, but of great beauty. The anchor of the sailor is cast downwards into the depth of the ocean; but the anchor of the Christian, which is hope, finds its ground and hold above. Into the holiest above Jesus has entered for us, and there also the anchor of our hope has entered; so have we rest now, and shall outride all the storms of our earthly life. Some regard these last clauses, sure and stedfast, as qualifying hope, not the anchor; the image, in short, they think, is once named, and then no longer used; while others regard the hope as identical with Christ, who is said to enter heaven as our anchor, and then as priest for us. The general sense is not changed in any of these interpretations. The force and beauty of the figure is best preserved, however, by the interpretation first given.

Fuente: A Popular Commentary on the New Testament

In these words we have the nature of a Christian’s hope described. 1. By a metaphorical; 2. By a typical similitude.

1. Observe the metaphor made use of, to set forth the nature and office of hope, it is compared fo an anchor; which hope we have as an anchor of the soul. Doth the anchor hold fast the ship, and keep it steady, both in storms and tempests, and in the midst of the most tumultuous waves? In like manner, the hope of eternal glory quiets, stays, and strengthens the Christian’s spirit, when tossed upon the waves of this troublesome world.

Learn hence, 1. That believers are exposed to many storms and tempests here in this world; their afflictions, persecutions, temptations, fears, &c. are compared fitly to storms, because of their fierceness and violence, and because of their tendency to ruin and destruction.

Learn, 2. That these storms would prove ruinous to the souls of believers, did not hope, the anchor of the soul, take fast hold on the promises of the gospel, which keeps the Christian firm and invincible against all opposition; which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast.

Observe, 2. Hope is described by a typical similitude, it entereth into that within the veil. The veil here alluded to, if that which parted the holy of holies from the body of the temple, a type of heaven. The heavens are as a veil to the sense and reason of man, there their sight and their thoughts are bounded, they can neither discern nor judge of any thing that is above or within that veil: But faith and hope pierceth through it; no created thing can keep them at a distance from God himself.

As the anchor stays not in the waves of the sea, but pierces through them all till it comes to the solid bottom; so the Christian’s hope fixes on nothing under heaven; but pierces through all, till it entereth into that within the veil: that is, till it fixes on God as the author, on Christ as the purchaser, on the Spirit as the insurer, on the covenant as the conveyer of all grace, mercy and peace. Here hope fixes itself, to hold the soul firm and steadfast in all the storms that may befall it.

Learn hence, 1. That the hope and faith of believers are invisible unto the world; they enter within the veil, where the world’s eye can never follow them.

Learn, 2. that hope firmly fixed on God in Christ, by the promise, will hold the soul steady, and keep the Christian tight, in all the storms that may befall it. It is and anchor both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil.

Fuente: Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the New Testament

Verse 19

The veil in the temple covered the inner sanctuary, which contained the special tokens of the divine presence, and which was accordingly a proper type or symbol of heaven. The hope which entereth into, &c., is a hope which lays hold on heaven.

Fuente: Abbott’s Illustrated New Testament

6:19 {8} Which [hope] we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

(8) He compares hope to an anchor because in the same way that an anchor when cast into the bottom of the sea secures the whole ship, so hope also enters even into the very secret places of heaven. He makes mention of the sanctuary, alluding to the old tabernacle and by this returns to the comparison of the priesthood of Christ with the Levitical priesthood.

Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes

These verses provide another illustration of our security. When Jesus Christ entered heaven at His ascension, He took our hope of future reward with Him. In the first century, sailors would carry their ship’s anchor in a small boat and deposit it on the shore so the ship would not drift away as waves beat against it (cf. Act 27:29-30). Likewise the hope that Jesus Christ has planted firmly in heaven should serve as an anchor for our storm-tossed souls. It should keep us from drifting away from God (cf. Heb 2:1). Our anchor rests firmly in the holy of holies, in God’s presence in heaven, with Jesus. According to Wiersbe, at least 66 pictures of anchors appear in the catacombs under Rome indicating its popularity as a Christian symbol of Jesus Christ. [Note: Wiersbe, 2:298.]

"The author is not saying simply that hope secures the ’spiritual’ aspect of man. He is affirming that hope forms an anchor for the whole of life. The person with a living hope has a steadying anchor in all he does." [Note: Morris, p. 61.]

The writer returned here to his view of the universe as the true tabernacle of God (Heb 3:1-6). He also returned to the thought of Jesus Christ as our High Priest after the order of Melchizedek (Heb 5:10).

The writer was ready now to proceed to serve the solid food he said his readers needed to eat (Heb 5:14 to Heb 6:1). This spiritual meat was exposition concerning the present high priestly ministry of Jesus Christ.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)