Hebrews 6:19

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.

Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

6:19-20 Christian hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. In the first century, an anchor was an image of stability and safety. • through the curtain: A curtain separated the outer room of the sanctuary, into which only priests could go, from the inner room, the Most Holy Place (Exod 25:10-40). Only the high priest could go into the Most Holy Place, and only once per year on the Day of Atonement (Exod 29; Lev 16:1-25). Because of Jesus’ extraordinary high priesthood, he has already gone in there for us into the presence of God as our eternal High Priest, and he leads us in with him (Heb 10:19-23). • the order of Melchizedek: This phrase introduces the discussion in 7:1-28.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Heb 6:19. Ἣν) 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.

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

Bengel's Gnomon of the New Testament — English translation (T&T Clark, Edinburgh, 1860) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heb_6:19. Description of the absolute certainty of this Christian hope.

ἥν] sc. ἐλπίδα. The referring back to παράκλησιν (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, παράκλησιν ἔχωμεν serves for the mere introduction of κρατῆσαι τῆς προκειμένης ἐλπίδος; ἥν thus most naturally links itself with ἐλπίδος as the last preceding leading thought. To this must be added the consideration that frequently also elsewhere in antiquitythough nowhere else in Holy Scripturethe 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.

ἣν ὡς ἄγκυραν ἔχομεν τῆς ψυχῆς] 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 ἔχειν equivalent to κατέχειν (Abresch, Dindorf, Bloomfield, and others).

ἀσφαλῆ τε καὶ βεβαίαν καὶ εἰσερχομένην κ.τ.λ.] 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 ἥν (sc. ἐλπίδα). For, in order to render this possible, ἔχομεν must have received its place only after τῆς ψυχῆς, in such wise that ὡς ἄγκυραν τῆς ψυχῆς should admit of being separated by commas from that which precedes and follows. Equally inadmissible is it, however, when Abresch, Böhme, Bleek, Bloomfield, and others take only ἀσφαλῆ τε καὶ βεβαίαν along with ἄγκυραν, and then refer back εἰσερχομένην εἰς τὸ ἐσώτερον τοῦ καταπετάσματος to ἥν (sc. ἐλπίδα). 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 εἰσέρχεσθαι εἰς τὸ ἐσώτερον points to the retention of the figure of the anchor, as well as the closely uniting τε … καὶ … καί to the intimate coherence of the three characteristics.

καταπέτασμα] 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 (הַפָּרֹכֶת). Comp. also Philo, de vita Mosis, iii. p. 669 B (with Mangey, II. p. 150): ἐν δὲ τῷ μεθορίῳ τῶν τεττάρων καὶ πέντε κιόνων, ὅπερ ἐστὶ κυρίως εἰπεῖν πρόναον, εἰργόμενον δυσὶν ὑφάσμασι, τὸ μὲν ἔνδον ὂν καλεῖται καταπέτασμα, τὸ δʼ ἐκτὸς προσαγορεύεται κάλυμμα. Ibid. p. 667 C (II. p. 148): ἐκ δὲ τῶν αὐτῶν τό τε καταπέτασμα καὶ τὸ λεγόμενον κάλυμμα κατεσκευάζετο· τὸ μὲν εἴσω κατὰ τοὺς τέσσαρας κίονας, ἵνʼ ἐπικρύπτηηται τὸ ἄδυτον· τὸ δʼ ἔξω κατὰ τοὺς πέντε κ.τ.λ.

τὸ ἐσώτερον τοῦ καταπετεάσματος] 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.

Meyer — Critical and Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament — English translation by Peter Christie, edited by Frederick Crombie (T&T Clark, 1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Heb 6:19 . ἣν ὡς ἄγκυραν ἔχομεν … “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) λεπτή τις ἐλπίς ἐστʼ ἐφʼ ἧς ὀχούμεθα . “A slender hope it is at which we ride,” and Æsch., Ag. , 488: πολλῶν ῥαγεισῶν ἐλπίδων many hopes being torn away [like the flukes of anchors]. Cf. Paley in loc . Kypke quotes a saying attributed to Socrates: οὔτε ναῦν ἐξ ἑνὸς ἀγκυρίου οὔτε βίον ἐκ μιᾶς ἐλπίδος ὁρμιστέον . The symbol appears on ancient coins. ἀσφαλῆ τε καὶ βεβαίαν , unfailing and firmly fixed; negative and positive, it will not betray the confidence reposed in it but will hold firm. ἀσφ . καὶ βεβ ., Wis 7:23 . Cebet., Tab. , 31. Bleek, Vaughan, Westcott, and others refer these adjectives to ἥν , not to ἄγκυραν . It seems much more natural to refer them with Chrys., Theoph., etc. to ἄγκυραν . Cf. Vulg.: “Quam sicut anchoram habemus animæ tutam ac firmam, et incedentem,” and Weizsäcker “in der wir einen sicheren, festen Anker der Seele haben, der hineinreicht,” etc. καὶ εἰσερχομένην … 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 εἰσερχ . 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 animæ 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”.] τὸ ἐσώτερον τοῦ καταπετάσματος , the holy of holies, the very presence of God. καταπέτασμα (in non-biblical Greek παραπέτασμα ) is used in LXX of either of the two veils in the Temple ( מָסָךְ or פָּרֹכֶח , Exo 26:37 ; Num 3:26 ; and Exo 26:31 ; Lev 4:6 ) but κάλυμμα , according to Philo, De Vit. Mes. , iii. 5, was the proper designation of the outer veil, καταπέτ . 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. τὸ ἐσώτερον τ . κ . 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.

The Expositor's Greek Testament, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll (1897–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

He likeneth hope to an anchor: because that even as an anchor being cast into the bottom of the sea, stayeth the whole ship, so doth hope also enter even into the very secret places of heaven. And he maketh mention of the Sanctuary, alluding to the old tabernacle, and by this means returneth to the comparisons of the Priesthood of Christ with the Levitical.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Hope is found represented on coins by an anchor.

sure and steadfast--sure in respect to us: steadfast, or "firm" [ALFORD], in itself. Not such an anchor as will not keep the vessel from tossing, or an anchor unsound or too light [THEOPHYLACT].

which entereth into that--that is the place

within the veil--two images 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, the anchor which prevents the vessel being tossed to and fro; the encouraging consolation through the promise and oath of God, the cable connecting the ship and anchor. (2) The world is the fore-court: heaven, the Holy of Holies; Christ, the High Priest going before us, so as to enable us, after Him, and through Him, to enter within the veil. ESTIUS explains, As the anchor does not stay in the waters, but enters the ground hidden beneath the waters, and fastens itself in it, so hope, our anchor of the soul, is not satisfied with merely coming to the vestibule, that is, is not content with merely earthly and visible goods, but penetrates even to those which are within the veil, namely, to the Holy of Holies, where it lays hold on God Himself, and heavenly goods, and fastens on them. "Hope, entering within heaven, hath made us already to be in the things promised to us, even while we are still below, and have not yet received them; such strength hope has, as to make those that are earthly to become heavenly." "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."

veil--Greek, "catapetasma": the second veil which shut in the Holiest Place. The outer veil was called by a distinct Greek term, calumma: "the second (that is, the inner) veil."

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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, ουτε ναυν εξ ἑνος αγκυριου, ουτε βιον εκ μιας ελπιδος ὁρμιστεον· 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.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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. 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.

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(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 itself—a 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 reader’s thought may be led to Him who is Himself our hope.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus,.... Christ was a runner; he had a race to run, which lay in going about to heal diseases, in preaching the Gospel, in obeying the law, and in suffering death for his people; which race was run by him with great swiftness, strength, and courage, with patience, cheerfulness, and joy, and is now ended; as appears from the accomplishment of salvation, from his entrance into heaven, and session at the right hand of God; from the glorification of his human nature, and its everlasting freedom from the dominion of death: and this race is run out, as a "forerunner"; Christ is the most excellent runner; there is none like him; there is none that can come up to him; he has out ran and exceeded all others; he has performed in the best manner; he has run out his race first, and has entered into heaven first by his own blood; and he has cleared the way thither, and opened the gates of heaven for his people; and is a guide and pattern for them to follow: and he is the forerunner for them, as well as entered for them; for he was born, and he lived, and died for them, for their good and service; and he is entered into heaven for them, as man and Mediator, and as their high priest; where he represents their persons, appears and intercedes for them, takes care of their affairs, and presents their services; prepares mansions of glory for them, and takes possession of heaven in their name, and opens the way for them to follow him thither; all which gives great encouragement to hope to enter now, where Jesus is: who is

made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec; see Heb 5:6. This is repeated here, to lead on to what the apostle had to say concerning Melchizedek in the following chapter.

Next: Hebrews Chapter 7

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

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.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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 God’s 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.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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 God’s promise; and firm, because strengthened by God’s 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 Christian’s 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 God’s promise and oath, on which they relied, secured to them: see Col 1:5; 1Pe 1:3-9.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

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.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Vers. 19, 20. Our anchor and anchorage.

This text suggests, first of all, that the Christian life is a life of storm. It is exposed to storms of persecution, of doubt, of remorse, of inward corruption, of outward adversity, and to the last great storm of death. But, blessed be God, believers possess complete security in the midst of these storms.

I CHRISTIAN HOPE IS OUR ANCHOR. Of the three great abiding graces faith, hope, love hope is the one which often receives least prominence in our thoughts. Faith is the root, and love the full-blown flower, of piety; whereas hope occupies an intermediate position. Here is, in fact, just one of the first developments of faith a sprout from the root of faith. The object of faith may be either good or bad; but the object of hope is always good. Hope in its essence is just the desire of good, with the expectation of by-and-by obtaining it. Now, hope has this blessed function it soothes and calms and cheers the mind in the midst of storm and trouble. Even natural hope is "as an anchor of the soul." What drudgery would the world"s business be apart from hope! Where would our great statesmen, our inventors and discoverers, come from, were it not for hope? Every gift of noble origin Is breathed upon by Hope"s perpetual breath. (Wordsworth.)

It was hope that buoyed up poor Columbus, and that inspired the lionhearted Livingstone. But, as ancient seamen called the strongest anchor of their ships "the sacred anchor," and reserved it as "the last hope" for times when the vessel was in real peril; so, gospel hope is the sacred anchor of every good man. And, truly, this hope is the most influential of all hopes. It is the hope of eternal life; the hope of looking upon Christ in his glory, of seeing the King in his beauty, Notice, also, the properties ascribed to this anchor.

1. It is sure. In substance strong and firm, and of weight proportionate to the tonnage of the vessel in every way worthy of the greatness of our nature. No fear that it may fail: this "hope putteth not to shame.

2. It is steadfast. It takes a firm grip of the holding-ground, and will neither break nor drag. No force of wind or current will be able to tear it from its hold. How comes it that spiritual hope has these essential qualities? It is "both sure and steadfast" because it is the gift of God, and therefore good and perfect, like all other Divine gifts. It is so, also, because it is essentially connected with the cable of faith in the promise and oath of God.

II CHRIST IN HEAVEN IS OUR ANCHORAGE. The Savior has gone before us into heaven, through the blue "veil" or ocean of the sky; and our hope follows him thither.

1. Our holding-ground is in heaven. Happy are all who are convinced that there is no safe anchorage for their souls anywhere below! Each of us has had many earthly hopes that have been baffled; but the hope which finds its object in heaven is "a living hope." Its holding-ground is beyond the frontiers of change, and out of reach of the touch of death. God help us amid the storms of life to look, not so much down upon the fierce floods which are beating about our feet, but rather upward to the quiet, holy heaven, and to our great Hope that is there!

2. Our holding-ground is Christ himself in his perpetual priesthood. Even heaven is nothing at all to the believer apart from Christ. The Lord Jesus himself is "our Hope." He is the Son of God, who knows all our troubles, and has power to control and subdue them. He is the Son of man, and full, therefore, of warm, human sympathy. He is our "High Priest," ever-loving, interceding, armed with authority and overflowing with tenderness. And he is our "Forerunner," who has entered heaven in our name, and left the golden gate open behind him, because he has arranged that we are to follow. (Joh_14:1-4)

Learn, in conclusion:

1. The anchor of hope does not quell the storm; what it does is to hold fast the vessel.

2. The excellence of the anchor and the strength of the holding-ground make the believer"s security most absolute.

3. The sinner"s only safety is to cast anchor in Christ.

Vers. 19, 20. The anchor of the soul.

Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, etc. Christians have been exhorted to imitate "them who through faith and patience inherit the promises." There are most excellent reasons for their doing so; for God"s purposes and promises are most sure. They were not lightly or hastily made; they are most solemnly confirmed; they are "immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie;" and they supply the strongest encouragement to the Christian"s hopes (vers. 13-18). Notice

I THE OBJECT OF THE CHRISTIAN"S HOPE. This is not explicitly stated in the text; but it is implied in it, and it may be gathered from the argument of the writer. We may define it as the attainment of his destiny, or the perfection of his being. But to mention some particulars:

1. Freedom from sin and suffering. The rest which remaineth for the people of God certainly includes deliverance from sin, and from pain of body, and distress of mind, and darkness and sorrow of spirit. We must become free from sin, or our salvation will be neither complete nor true; for sin would mar the fairest realms, and fill them with discord and misery.

2. Attainment of spiritual perfection. "Let us press on unto perfection" (ver. 1). We hope for more clear, more correct, more comprehensive knowledge; for purity of heart which will be perfect in its kind, though not in its degree; for love which shall be perfect in like manner; and for harmony between our purposes and performances, our willing and doing. We are inspired by the sublime hope of becoming like unto our Lord and Savior. (1Jn_3:2, 1Jn_3:3)

3. Enjoyment of heavenly blessedness. Through Christ God will bring "many sons unto glory." Jesus, has entered heaven as our Forerunner, and we hope to follow him thither. We are "looking for the blessed hope," etc. (Tit_2:13) "God hath begotten us again unto a living hope," etc. (1Pe_1:3-5) This glorious hope is "set before us" as a prize to be won; it is "set before us" to animate our spirits, to strengthen our bands in Christian work, and to quicken our feet in the Christian race, Contrast this with any inferior object of hope; e.g. worldly possessions, worldly pleasures, worldly honor"s. These do not satisfy; that does. These degrade the soul; that exalts it. These will fail those who have attained and cherished them; that will lead to splendid and perpetual fulfillment.

II THE INFLUENCE OF THE CHRISTIAN"S HOPE. "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and entering into that which is within the veil." This hope is the stay of the soul amid a tumultuous world. It is clearly implied:

1. That the voyage of life is marked by storms. These storms are occasioned by bodily afflictions, temporal anxieties and losses, family trials, domestic and social bereavements, and spiritual conflicts.

2. That these storms try and imperil the soul. There is danger of striking upon the hidden rock of some subtle and insidious sin, of being driven by the wild winds of passion against stern and stony cliffs, or of being hurried helplessly onward by fierce storms of sorrow. The dangers in navigating the sea of life are numerous and various. Many a noble soul has reached the desired haven sore damaged in life"s storms, while some, alas! have "made shipwreck concerning the faith.

3. That the Christian"s hope, as an anchor, will enable him safely to outride the storms. "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast," etc. Ebrard"s note seems to us both true and beautiful: "Two figures are here, not so much mixed as, in a very elegant manner, combined. The author might compare the world to a sea, the soul to a ship, the future still concealed glory to the covered bottom of the sea, the remote firm land stretching beneath the water and covered by the water. Or he might compare the present life upon earth to the forecourt, and the future blessedness to the heavenly sanctuary, which is still, as it were, concealed from us by a veil He has, however, combined the two figures. The soul, like a shipwrecked mariner, clings to an anchor, and sees not where the cable of the anchor runs to, where it is made fast; it knows, however, that it is firmly fixed behind the veil which conceals from it the future glory, and that if it only keeps fast hold of the anchor, it will, in due time, be drawn in with the anchor by a rescuing hand into the holiest of all." This hope enables the Christian in deep distress to say, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul?". (Psa_42:11) And in wildest storms it inspires him to sing, "God is our Refuge and Strength, a very present Help in trouble," etc. (Psa_46:1-3, Psa_46:7) Hope, as an anchor firm and sure, holds fast The Christian"s vessel, and defies the blast. (Cowper.)

And thus "we are saved by hope.

III THE ASSURED REALIZATION OF THE CHRISTIAN"S HOPE. Two things assure us of the fulfillment of our hope.

1. The character of the anchor and the anchorage. The anchor is "both sure and steadfast, and entering into that which is within the veil". (cf. Rom_5:1-5 2Th_2:16 1Ti_1:1)

2. The presence of Jesus as our Forerunner in heaven. Within the veil, whither as Forerunner on our behalf Jesus entered." The veil spoken of is that which divided the holy of holies from the holy place. "Within the veil" is a figurative expression for heaven. The presence of the Son of man in heaven is a guarantee of the realization of the hope of every believer in him. He entered heaven as our Representative, and "as a Forerunner on our behalf." "Where I am, there shall also my servant be." "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you," etc. (Joh_14:2, Joh_14:3) Mark, then, the absolute necessity of vital union with the Lord Jesus Christ. One with him by faith here, we shall be one with him in blessedness hereafter. "Christ in you, the Hope of glory.... Your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our Life, shall be manifested, then shall ye also with him be manifested in glory. W.J.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Which hope in Christ we have as an anchor of the soul - Entering into heaven itself, and fixed there. Within the veil - Thus he slides back to the priesthood of Christ.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

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.

William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. Which hope … an anchor of the soul. As an anchor holds the ship when the storms are raging, so this hope holds the soul stedfast. Entereth into that within the vail. The vail was before the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle, but it was a type of heaven. Hence this means that the hope reaches to heaven. It is a heavenly hope.

B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.

Connecting Statement:

Having finished his third warning and encouragement to the believers, the writer of Hebrews continues his comparison of Jesus as priest to Melchizedek as priest.

as a secure and reliable anchor for the soul

Just as an anchor keeps a boat from drifting in the water, Jesus keeps us secure in God's presence. AT: "that causes us to live securely in God's presence" (See: Metaphor)

a secure and reliable anchor

Here the words "secure" and "reliable" mean basically the same thing and emphasize the complete reliability of the anchor. AT: "a completely reliable anchor" (See: Doublet)

hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain

Confidence is spoken of as if it were a person who could go into the most holy place of the temple. (See: Personification)

the inner place

This was the most holy place in the temple. It was thought to be the place where God was most intensely present among his people. In this passage, this place stands for heaven and God's throne room. (See: Metaphor)

after the order of Melchizedek

This means that Christ as a priest has things in common with Melchizedek as a priest. AT: "in the same way that Melchizedek was a priest"

translationWords

confidence

soul

curtain

Jesus

high priest

eternity

Melchizedek

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

19. ὡς ἀγκύραν. 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. Clement of Alexandria tells us that it was one of the few symbols which Christians wore on their signet-rings, and it is frequent in the Catacombs. 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.

εἰσερχομένην εἰς τὸ ἐσώτερον τοῦ καταπετάσματος. 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 καταπέτασμα usually applies to this veil before the Holy of Holies, while κάλυμμα (as in Philo) is strictly used for the outer veil.

Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools and Colleges (Cambridge University Press, 1896; 21 vols, various authors incl. Carr, Maclear, Plummer, Farrar, Lumby, Moule, M. R. James, Simcox) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19.] which (viz. the hope: in its subjective resting on objective grounds now to be set forth: not the παράκλησις, as Grot., Seb. Schmidt, al.) we have (not, “we hold fast,” as Bretschn., Wahl, al., = κατέχομεν: 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, οὔτε ναῦν ἐξ ἑνὸς ἀγκυρίου οὔτε βίον ἐκ μιᾶς ἐλπίδος ὁρμιστέον: see Kypke. Suicer gives some interesting remarks from the Fathers on the similitude) safe and firm (the adjectives belong to ἄγκυραν, not to ἐλπίδα. οὐχ ἁπλῶς δὲ εἶπεν ἄγκυραν, ἀλλά, ἀσφαλῆ τε κ. βεβαίαν. ἔστι γὰρ ἄγκυρα μὴ φυλάττουσα τὸ σκάφος ἀσάλευτον, ἢ ὅταν σαθρά, ἢ ὅταν ἐλαφροτέρα. Thl.) and entering into the part within the veil (first, to what is εἰσερχομένην to be referred? to ἄγκυραν, or to (ἣν) ἐλπίδα? The former is the more obvious construction: and has been accepted by Beza, Estius (“Sicut ancora navalis non in aquis hæret, sed terram intrat sub aquis latentem, eique infigitur: ita ancora animæ spes nostra non satis habet in vestibulum pervenisse, id est non est contenta bonis terrenis et visibilibus: sed penetrat usque ad ea, quæ sunt intra velum, videlicet in ipsa sancta sanctorum: id est, Deum ipsum et cœlestia bona apprehendit, atque in iis figitur”), Schlichting, Limborch, De Wette, Ebrard, Lünem., Delitzsch, al. This is said by Bleek to be too artificial, and he, with Abresch, Storr, Böhme, 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, ἄγκυραν δὲ οὐχ ἁπλῶς εἶπεν, ἀλλʼ ἀσφαλῆ τε καὶ βεβαίαν· ἵνα δηλώσῃ τὸ ἀψευδὲς τῶν αὐτῇ ἐπερειδομένων εἰς σωτηρίανʼ διὸ ἐπάγει, εἰσερχ. εἰς τὸ ἐσώτ. τοῦ καταπετ. τί ἐστι τοῦτο; ἀντὶ τοῦ διικνουμένην εἰς τὸν οὐρανόν: by which he clearly seems to refer it to the anchor. Thl. says beautifully on the other side, αὕτη γὰρ (ἡ ἐλπίς) εἰσελθοῦσα ἔνδον τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ἐποίησεν ἡμᾶς ἤδη εἶναι ἐν τοῖς ἐπηγγελμένοις, κἂν ἔτι κάτω ὦμεν, κἂν μήπω ἐλάβομεν· τοσαύτην ἔχει τὴν ἰσχὺν ἡ ἐλπίς, ὥστε τοὺς ἐπιγείους οὐρανίους ποιεῖν. And similarly Œc. 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 καταπέτασμα is, as far as Bleek knows, Alexandrine: the classical form being παραπέτασμα. See reff. It was the name for the second veil or curtain (ch. 9:3), which shut in the holy of holies; the first or outer one being called κάλυμμα, Philo, Vita Mos. iii. 9, vol. ii. p. 150, ἐν δὲ τῷ μεθορίῳ τῶν τεττάρων κ. πέντε κιόνων, ὅπερ ἐστὶ κυρίως εἰπεῖν πρόναον, εἰργόμενον δυσὶν ὑφάσμασι, τὸ μὲν ἔνδον ὃν καλεῖται καταπέτασμα, τὸ δʼ ἐκτὸς προσαγορεύεται κάλυμμα. See further on ch. 9:3. For the whole expression, see reff.),

Henry Alford, The Greek Testament (1849–1861) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

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

Sure and steadfast [ασφαλη τε και βεβαιαν] . 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 [βαινεν το γο] : not breaking down under what steps upon it.

Which entereth into that within the veil [εισερχομενην εις το εσωτερον του καταπετασματος] . 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.

Marvin R. Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament (1887–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

19. ἣν ds'dy«. Zy.] Tho hope created and sustained by the promise keeps the soul secure in all storms (1 Tim. i. 19). The Anchor, which is not mentioned in the O. T., is the familiar symbol of hope. Clement of Alexandria mentions it 85 a dovico on Christinn rings (Ped. fii. § 59). 10 occurs commonly with the ἰχθύς on epitaphs. And names of hope (Elpis, [Helpis,] Elpidius) are very frequent.

dod. re καὶ BeB. καὶ eloepy.} These words may refer, as far as the structure of the sentence is concerned, either to ‘hope,’ the main subject, or to the ‘anchor,’ with which it is compared. Patristic interpreters, following Chrysostom, connect them with the anchor, and endeavour to lessen the harshness of the last predicate (εἰσερχομένην els τὸ ἐσ. τ. xaran.) by drawing an ingenious contrast between the earthly anchor which sinks to the depths of the sea, and the spiritual anchor which rises to the heights of heaven (δείκνυσιν ὅτι καινή τες αὕτη τῆς ἀγκύρας ἡ φύσις, οὐ κάνω πιέζουσα ἀλλ᾽ ἄνω κουφίζουσα τὴν διάνοιαν Chrys. ap. Cram. Cat. vii. 522"). But no explanation of the kind can removo the strangonoss of the imngo or adapt tho tense of elocpyopzéonvdirectly to tho action of the anchor. It seems certain then that this clause at least, must refer to ‘hope’ But there are still two possible combinations. The three predicates may be taken togother referring to ‘hopo’ or the two first may be closely joined (re...xal... comp. Ὁ. 4) and referred to ‘the anchor, while the third may givo a second characteristic of hope (ὡς ἄγκυραν.. καὶ εἰσερχομένην). In favour of this viow, which appoars to be taken by cumenius and Thoophylact, it

may be urged that it gives distinctness to two aspects of hope, its immovable stability, and its penotrative vigour. Perhaps however such a division is artificial, so that it is best to connect the whole description with the principal subject (hope).

Tho stability of hopo is twofold, It is undisturbod by outward influoncos (ἀσφαλής), and it is firm in ite inherent character (βεβαία). Comp. ii. 2 note. Spes in nobis similitudinem exercet anchors, qure navem ne ad scopulos frangatur retinet, et tutam facit ut non timeat submergi, atque firmam ne vel titubare possit (Herv.). |

The participle εἰσερχομένην presents hope as ever entering afresh into the Divine Presence encouraged by past experience.

els τὸ ἐσώτ. τοῦ καταπ.] Hope enters to the innermost Sanctuary, the true Holy of Holies, that Presence of God, where Christ is (comp. vii. 19). The καταπέτασμα was the inner veil rating tho, Holy from the Most Holy

placo (Π9 9 Matt. xxvii. 51; ©. x. 20) as distinguished from the outer veil (WD%) κάλυμμα). The distinction

of the two is not strictly presorved in pow καταπέτασμα. Oomp. Ex. xl. 5, 19.

Compare Philo de vit. M. iii. ὃ 5 (ii. 148 M.) ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν τό τε xaraπέτασμα καὶ τὸ λεγόμενον κάλυμμα κατεσκευάζετο. τὸ μὲν εἴσω κατὰ τοὺς τέσσαρας κίονας ἵν᾽ ἐπικρύπτηται τὸ and 80 ὃ 9. See also de gig. ὃ 12 (1. 270 M.) for a spiritual interpretation.

Hope, like the anchor, is fixed on the unseen: Nautis arenes quibus anchora figitur et hmret sunt tectes nec videri possunt, et tamen naute sunt in securitate, licet illa videre non

1 The printed text of the Homily is manifestly imporfoct.

name of the Lord, placed emphatically at the ond of the sentonco (seo ὁ. ii 9 note), is here used (contrast ὁ χριστός 6. v. 5) in regard to His High-prieathood, in order to connect it definitely with the fulfilment of His work on earth, whereupon He became a Highpriest for ever.

The order of words in the last clause, κατὰ τὴν raf. M. ἀρχ. γεν., is emphatic. Stress is laid upon the fact that Ohrist is High-priecst after a new and higher order. He does therefore all that tho High-pricst did and moro, Comp. vii. 11,15; aud contrast v.10 (v. 6; vii. 17).

From. this it is clear that the eternal High-priesthood of the Lord ‘after tho order of Melchizedek,’ King and Priest, followed on His exaltation to the throne of God in His glorified humanity (comp. v. 9 ὦ; vii. 28). At tho samo time this view does not exclude the recognition of the Lord’s Death asa priestly act whereby πὸ once for all offered Himself (vii.

als τὸν αἰῶνα) Etiam in futuro [aeculo} pontificis agit opus, non tunc pro peccatis nostris offerens, que nulla erunt, sed ut bonum quod in nobis operatus eat indeficiens et atabile permancat (Herv.).

Brooke Foss Westcott (1825–1901), The Epistle to the Hebrews (1889) and The Epistles of St John (1883) — public domain (pre-1929). Text recovered from Internet Archive / Google Books OCR scans. Westcott’s Gospel of John commentary is not included (its OCR lost the chapter running-heads required for reliable verse-keying). Some Greek quoted in the Hebrews volume is imperfectly rendered by the OCR.