Monday 22nd
Hebrews 6:13-20
NIV (v19-20) – ‘We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.’
ESV (v19-20) – ‘We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.’
‘We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure’ (NIV) ‘We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul’ (ESV) ‘Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast’ (KJV)
‘We have an anchor that keeps the soul, steadfast and sure while the billows roll, fastened to the Rock which cannot move, grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love!’
Our text tells us that we are safely anchored because of the hope that we have before us (v18). It is a hope that is certain because of what Christ has a) accomplished at Calvary and b) because of what he continues to accomplish as he has gone through the curtain into the inner place as a high priest on our behalf.
This hope that we have is sure or certain, it is guaranteed because as we saw yesterday it is based upon the promises of God who cannot lie. The hope becomes ours immediately that we come to Christ and accept him as Saviour and Lord. We could say that at that moment when we were saved or born again, we were like a ship that came from a stormy sea into the harbour and moored, safe from the danger of the storm, the rope or chain firmly anchored to the mooring post. And we have anchored our lives to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, may I say we have anchored our lives to the post, the Cross, it is a solid, and a firm anchor, and as long as we remain there we are safe in the promises of God. But it is not only the Cross that is our anchor, it is the one himself who hung on the Cross, he is the anchor for our soul, for he himself is the one who is in heaven at this time interceding for us, and our text also reminds us that our hope itself is also an anchor. That is because the hope that we have set our souls upon is a sure and certain hope, not a finger’s crossed hope, but a hope that is firmly established in the fact that God has accepted what Christ has done on our behalf, therefore in Christ he accepts us. We don’t wish for eternal life, we already have it, and we know with a confidence assurance in our hearts that when our departure time from this world comes we will leave all our struggles behind and pass straight into our eternal abode with our heavenly Father. It is a definite hope, it is an eternal hope. O the joy that should fill our hearts when we contemplate the wonder of this great salvation, the joy that knows with absolute assurance that our souls are safely anchored.
‘When our eyes behold, through the gathering night, the city of gold, our harbour bright, we shall anchor fast by the Heavenly shore, with the storms all past for evermore. We have an anchor that keeps the soul . . .’