The Anchor Holds

When I was first saved, I attended a little Baptist church that had a preacher who could sing well. In fact, he could sing better than he could preach. There was a song he used to sing that was a great blessing to me. The song was “The Anchor Holds”. The chorus went like this:

The anchor holds

Though the ship's been battered

The anchor holds

Though the sails are torn

I have fallen on my knees as I face the raging seas

The anchor holds in spite of the storm

As a new believer who was saved from a terrible life of sin I connected with the song. I heard that song before I ever read these passages. When I read this section in Hebrews it always makes me think of that song.

After warning the Hebrew Christians about the danger of apostasy he comforted them with his belief that they were indeed saved. He ends the chapter with a reminder that it is Christ who saves us and gives us the hope of heaven. Jesus is the hope our souls are anchored to.

v. 13 Again the writer connects with the Hebrews by pointing to a Hero of the Jewish faith. He has already mentioned Moses, now he moves to Abraham. He takes them all the way to the beginning of the Jewish nation, father Abraham.

“God made a promise to Abraham”. He promised Abraham that He would make a great nation through his descendants. This is found in Genesis 22:16-17 on the occasion of Abraham’s willingness to offer up his only son, Isaac.

“Since He had no one greater by whom to swear by, He swore by Himself”

“To swear” is to make an oath. It is a guarantee. God bound Himself to the promise He made to Abraham. The truth is God’s promise to Abraham was enough. But God gave Abraham even more reason to believe Him by adding an oath to the promise.

Because there was none greater to swear by God had to swear by Himself. This means that if God does not keep the promise He made to Abraham then His character is marred. His reputation is on the line. If the promise does not come to pass, then God is a liar. He cannot be trusted.

The oath gives us a hint about something else as well. It hints to the idea that the promise may take some time to pass. If the promise came to pass quickly there would be no reason for the oath. The oath is given for the benefit of Abraham. In His grace, God gives Abraham even more reason to hang on to the promise.

v. 14 Here we have the promise “Surely I will bless you and multiply you”. The initial promise came early in Abraham’s life. Genesis 12 recounts the call of Abraham and God’s promise to make of him a great nation.

At that time Abraham had no children. It didn’t seem likely the promise would come to pass. Through the years the Jewish people would overcome insurmountable odds.

Abraham and Sarai’s inability to have children

Egyptian persecution

Assyrian persecution

Babylonian persecution

Roman persecution

The Nazi persecution

Abraham’s physical descendants continue to live all over the world today. The Jewish nation has been blessed in many ways.

v. 15 “Abraham having patiently waited obtained the promise”

That is not to say he didn’t struggle. He did. He became so impatient he conceived a child with another woman in hopes of helping God keep His promise. The results of that were horrible. But overall, Abraham continued to believe God and patiently waited for the Lord to keep His promise.

It took twenty-five years from the time the promise was given until Isaac was born (Gen. 12:4, 21:5). Abraham showed how strong his faith was when he was willing to offer the promised son as a sacrifice (Gen. 22:16-17).

Compare this to the “dead works” (6:1) and “laziness” (5:11) the writer has been warning about. The Hebrew Christians who are ready to give up should learn a lesson from Abraham. Insurmountable odds did not deter his faith. He kept believing God.

Abraham was an old man by the time he experienced God’s promises. That may be the case with us as well. In fact much of what God has promised us will only be fully realized when we leave this world.

v. 16 Here we have the reason that oaths are given between men.

People are by nature untrustworthy. Their words are not enough. Deceptiveness is common. This is why we no longer seal a deal with a handshake. If money or services are involved we want the details in writing.

“an oath is final for confirmation” The oath satisfies the two parties when there is a dispute.

Why?

Because “something greater than themselves” is sworn by. The “something greater” has the authority to punish the one who does not keep their end of the deal. In our culture it would be a court of law.

v.17 This verse explains why God made an oath. He did it for the sake of people. People are so used to being lied to by their fellow man they are naturally skeptical. God knows the weakness of man. He goes the extra mile by not only giving a promise but giving an oath as well.

I also want you to notice the phrase “to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise”. God loves His people. That little phrase shows how God encourages those who belong to Him. He is active in our life. He encourages us to continue in the faith. Many of us are like the man who cried out to Jesus “Lord I believe, help my unbelief”. Thank the Lord He helps us believe.

“The unchangeable character of His purpose” The purpose of God is to redeem a people to bring glory and honor to His own name and great joy to those He saves. That purpose will not change. God has purposed to do this and He will do it.

God is the promise giver. God is also the guarantor of the promise.

v. 18 “Two unchangeable things”

What are the two unchangeable things?

God’s promise

God’s oath

God has given us both things. And it is impossible for God to lie. There is no reason for us to doubt God. The promises of God should be a strong encouragement to us who belong to Him. I like how believers are described here.

“We who have fled for refuge”

Believers have run to Jesus for refuge. Why? Because we saw our sin and the debt we owed. We knew that we were in danger of judgment. Christ gave us the promise of eternal life, so we fled our life of sin and the danger of hell and found our security in Jesus.

We are encouraged to hold fast to Jesus through the promise of God. There is nothing more inviting than the promise of eternal life in Jesus. It is a hope set before us.

When you have Christ, you have everything. That is why we hold fast to Him. In Jesus every promise of God to the believer is found.

Forgiveness

Life

Joy

Safety

Peace

Abundance

v. 19 Our hope is described in this verse.

“A sure and steadfast anchor of the soul”

“Soul” describes the complete person. It’s our entirety. It’s who we are.

“Sure and steadfast” speak of certainty.

“Anchor” Anchors keep ships from drifting. When the waves and winds rise or the current flows the anchor is important to the ship. Without the anchor the ship will soon find itself off course.

Our hope in Christ is what keeps us from drifting from the truth. We trust in the promises of God in Christ. We believe everything Jesus has told us. When this world or our circumstances try and move us away from truth the promises of Jesus keep us anchored.

“A hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain” This is a reference to the curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the Temple. As we said before, the Holy of Holies symbolized heaven. Jesus, our great High Priest has entered heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father.

When you have a ship that is anchored you can’t see the anchor. It’s at the bottom of the water. Even though you can’t see it, you know it is there.

We cannot see Christ. He is our anchor, however. He is not under the sea. He is above the heavens. We are tethered to Him. We are anchored to Jesus!

v. 20 I love how Jesus is described here. He is:

“a forerunner on our behalf”

If there is a forerunner there must be those who are coming behind Him. If that were not so He would not be a forerunner. The Jewish high priest was not a forerunner because no one could follow him into the Holy of Holies. Jesus is a greater High Priest who takes His people into the heavens with Him.

“on our behalf” means He has atoned for our sins and ever represents us before the Father. We’re going to heaven! We are gong to heaven because Christ is going to take us there. We are anchored to Him. That anchor, Christ, holds us to Himself. He will not let us drift away. He will keep us secure. He is our eternal High priest after the order of Melchizedek.

The difference between earthly anchors and our heavenly anchor is simple. We pull our anchors us. Our anchor will pull us up!

Thoughts to Consider

1. When we struggle to believe we should remember all those before us who believed God in difficult circumstances.

2. Because God knows our weakness, He has given us many reasons to believe His promises.

3. An anchor allows us to rest with no worries.

4. Christ is eternally attached to His people.