Hebrews 6:13-20

¹³When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for him to swear by, he swore by himself, ¹⁴saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” ¹⁵And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. ¹⁶People swear by someone greater than themselves, and the oath confirms what is said and puts an end to all argument. ¹⁷Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, he confirmed it with an oath. ¹⁸God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. ¹⁹We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, ²⁰where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

Anchor of Hope

How impressive that the Lord God of Israel did not simply give a promise, but confirmed and emphasized it with an oath! One would assume that God’s Word is impressive enough and sufficient, but God really wanted to give Abraham assurance. And Abraham needed it, as he was still tested and needed to have faith and patience. Even after Isaac’s birth, most of God’s promise remained hidden to Abraham, as he could never have envisioned the many descendants.  
In this passage we see the famous image of the “anchor of hope”. The anchor was used throughout the history of the church as a powerful symbol. Hope is directed towards the future, faithfully expecting a positive outcome. We need hope in times of doubt, of uncertainty or when things have been going the wrong way for a long time, as they did in 2023 for many people.
The anchor image is very significant. When a ship drops an anchor, the heavy metal weight, and most of the rope disappear into the water, you only see the end of the rope tied to the ship. You have to believe that there is a reliable anchor beneath the waves and that it will secure the ship, keep it from drifting off, even if the stormy sea looks threatening and dark.
In difficult phases of our lives, things may look grim, but we believe that we are anchored in the inner sanctuary, that there is a lifeline connecting us to the Lord Jesus, our Shepherd, Savior and High Priest interceding for us. Beyond our current difficult situation, we also have the hope that we are all part of God’s people, descendants of Abraham, that a wonderful future expects us, and God’s good plans will be revealed to us by and by.
The Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote that without hope one cannot live and that hell is the place of hopelessness.
Prayer: Dear Lord Jesus, thank you that in you we have eternal hope and blessed assurance, Amen!