“The Anchor of our Soul”

Scripture: Hebrews 6:13-20

Since the earliest days of the Church, the anchor has been one of its most descriptive of all symbols. It has been combined with other symbols to indicate the connection that we have to Jesus, and it is one that has survived for nearly two millennia. But why an anchor?

The most common application for an anchor is in a nautical context. Ever since humanity began using ships in commerce, they quickly realized that there are times that their craft needed some means to secure their location against the tides and winds. Initially, anchors were simply a weight secured to the end of a line, but as mariners gained experience, they realized that specific designs, beyond just weight, were more effective.

An anchor holds a vessel in a specific place, even when the flows and storms would tend to take it into dangerous places. However, the anchor doesn’t help a bit if it is never lowered into the water.
Jesus is the “Anchor” for our faith - when we allow him to be. The movement of our culture can subtly take us from safety in the harbor of life, and into the dangerous shoals of sin and compromise. Without the truth and stability of our “Jesus Anchor” when the storms of life begin raging around us, our life will be driven onto the rocks and cliffs of death and destruction.

Jesus is the Anchor that we can depend upon, and no other can hold us secure and safe than the way of our Christ.


Read Hebrews 6:13-15

The promises of God are so absolute that when made, they will never be withdrawn. The promise itself is enough, but in this promise that we read for Abraham, the Lord not only promised in his word, but he promised with an oath. The writer of Hebrews is referring to Genesis 22:15-18, in which “the angel of the Lord” offers this promise of God. This person is referenced to in Zechariah 12:8, and in that context, it would appear to be the 2nd Person of the Trinity who is making the promise of countless descendants. Abraham has just proven his worthiness by following the word of God, by taking his only legitimate son Isaac to Moriah where he was to become a sacrifice to Jehovah. Of course we all know from this story of faithful obedience, that God, at the very last moment, presents a ram as a substitute offering and releases Isaac to carry out the divine promise of “many descendants”. (Genesis 22:1-14)

When we read that the Lord “swears by himself”, I was reminded of the 1977 move “O God” where God (played by George Burns) is being sworn in for a court appearance, and he swears to tell the truth with the phrase, “so help me Me”.

After all, what other name could God swear upon? So when we read that God makes an oath in His own name, it becomes a double promise – once in his word, and once in his name. Why would God need to do that? Certainly not for his own purpose, but think about Abraham – the double oath would have been additional reassurance for the man. And the promise? The first time that Abraham received this word is found in Genesis 17:6-7 – “I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you.” Nations! More than just Israel. And the proof of this covenant is in the Church of Jesus Christ.

Read Hebrews 6:16-20

God doesn’t lie! When his word is given, and when he takes an oath in his own name, it is absolutely and doubly sure. Jesus, the “angel of God”, is the guarantor of all of God’s promises, through all that he taught and all that the Holy Spirit does in his name. Jesus is the hope of God for all who will believe in him.

Let’s take a moment and think about this in the context of the symbol “Anchor”. A ship without an anchor will be taken wherever the forces of this world would have it be. Without intervention, it has no hope of remaining where it is desired to be. But it’s the anchor that holds it fast, the anchor holds the ship where it belongs. But even if we have an anchor on board, if there is no trust that it will hold us, if we set the anchor in a way that it won’t keep us out of trouble, if the line that connects us to the anchor is worn and frayed, the ship is in dire straits and could easily be lost.

Almighty God wanted us to fully understand what his will and promise means for our lives, so he sent us his truth and his promise through the life and teaching of his Son. He has become the anchor for our lives, for without him, we will drift with the tides and winds that the world brings against us. We don’t have to worry about where to set the anchor, for the Lord has predetermined where that should be – and that is in the truth of God. And what holds us to our divine Anchor? Faith is the line of hope that connects us to Jesus. But if our faith is “frayed”, if our hope is directed toward the wiles of earth, this line will never hold, it can never stand against the storms and onslaughts of this life. Faith, if it is to hold true, must be properly connected to our Anchor.

And if it holds strong? The author of this book tells us that “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.” And what does this gain for us? It leads us through the curtain and into the “inner sanctuary”. This would be a very obvious statement for Israel, but for us, maybe not so much.

In the temple, there were several courts, several places for people to gather. There was an outer court where anyone could come, including gentiles, the next would be the court for women, then the court for men, and finally the inner court, the Holy of Holies, the residence of Jehovah God. This final court could only be entered by the High Priest, and only after extensive ritual cleansing of all of his sin, and then only on the Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur. It would be a day of sacrifice, and fasting, and confession – it was a day of acknowledgment that the people were broken and sinful, and it was the time when the High Priest entered into God’s Presence to offer incense and a blood sacrifice on behalf of the nation. This act would bring forgiveness for all that the Hebrews had done against the ways of Jehovah during the past year.

Now, though, we read that Jesus has entered into that holy place on our behalf, and in addition, in Mark 15:37-39, we read that at the moment of Jesus death, this curtain, the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the world, was torn from top to bottom. Jesus had entered the place of atonement, he had become the sacrifice for our sin, and he was now the way had been opened to all who would follow him from the world into the Holy of Holies – the place where God lives, and where we will also be welcomed for eternal life.

That is the Anchor that Jesus is for us – a promise, a covenant made in his own sacrificial blood, he is the Anchor that will never fail, he is the Way that leads us into eternal life. Jesus is our High Priest, our Redeemer, and our Savior forever.

William Barclay writes this in his commentary on the book of Hebrews:
“Before Jesus came, God was the distant stranger who only a few might approach and that at peril of their lives. But because of what Jesus was and did, God has become the friend of every [one]. Once [we] thought of him as barring the door; now [we] think of the door to his presence as thrown wide open to all.”

The Hope of God, the Anchor for our lives, has done it all out of his love and passion for all who will trust in the way he has created – the sure and certain door to eternity. But we still have to enter through him!