Anchor for the Soul

Read: Hebrews 6:12-7:25

Perhaps you know the feeling of being on a boat when the anchor won’t hold.  You toss the anchor in the water and think it’s good, but as the wind blows and the current stirs, you find yourself being pushed along – closer to shallows or the rocks you had anchored so as to avoid.  Anchors, in order to be effective, have to dig into the bottom – have to ‘bite’ or grasp the lake or sea bed. If they don’t or if the anchor point is not dependable, it won’t work. The same is true of anchors in rock climbing.  Anchors have to be sunk into dependable rock in order to hold the weight of the climber. And so, in boating and climbing, anchors are essential.  However, even more essential is what you anchor to. 

Now we all know the importance of hope.  It’s been said, “We can live for forty days without food, eight days without water, four minutes without air, but only a few seconds without hope.”  Perhaps that is why the author Hebrews refers to hope as an anchor for the soul. But, hope in and of itself is nothing.  What makes hope significant and effective is what or who one places their hope in.  Hope truly is an anchor and it must be placed in something dependable to be effective.

And so the central message of Hebrews is that our only hope is in Jesus.  He holds the anchor of our hope.  Jesus is superior to every other mediator, every other go-between, every other way to God.  Jesus is our only hope.  There is no one greater, stronger or more dependable than Him.  Therefore, our hope is to be placed in Him.  Our anchor of hope is to take hold of Him.

And this hope that we have in Christ was at the center of what was promised to Abraham when the Lord said to him, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.”  The apostle Paul referred to this as the Gospel being given in advance to Abraham.  And that promise of blessing and numerous descendants was fulfilled in Christ.  We find that spelled out in Galatians 3, where Paul writes (14), “He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus…” (16) “The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.”  And in v. 29, “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.”  And so, the great promise of God’s blessing was given to Abraham, was fulfilled in Christ and we are to put our hope in it. 

And so, Christians are those who, believing the promises of God, flee for refuge, taking hold of the hope offered to us in Christ.

This hope in Christ is the anchor of our soul.  It is firm and secure because Jesus is sure and steadfast. But this anchor is deployed in an interesting place:  the Most Holy Place, the Holy of Holies in the Temple – and not the earthly temple, but the heavenly one.  That is to say that our hope finds its anchor point in the very presence of the living God. 

We know that not just anyone could enter the Most Holy Place, only the High Priest.  But we have learned that Jesus is our High Priest and He has entered into “the inner sanctuary behind the curtain” to where God is.  Jesus has gone before us.  He is our forerunner (pioneer) and He has entered the very presence of the Father on our behalf.  That is hope!  As Christians, we are in Christ and Christ is at the right hand of the Father on our behalf!  That is hope!  That is a sure and secure anchor point for our hope!

Jesus is our High Priest – in the order of Melchizedek.  We don’t know much about Melchizedek.  He only appears in Genesis 14, Psalm 110 and in Hebrews.  We do know that Melchizedek was great, for even Abraham gave a tithe to him and Melchizedek blessed him (and the lesser person is blessed by the greater).  And he remains a priest forever thereby representing and foreshadowing Christ.  For Jesus is a priest like Melchizedek.  He is in the priestly line of Melchizedek rather than Levi and Aaron.  For Jesus’ right to priesthood is not on the basis of His lineage (for He was from Judah, not Levi), but rather on the basis of the power of an indestructible life.  Jesus is High Priest not because of who His ancestors were but because of who He is. God declared, You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.

So Jesus is superior to all.  He is the highest of high priests.  He is superior to Abraham, to Levi, to Aaron, to the priesthood - even to the Law and to the Old Covenant!   We read in 12 For when there is a change of the priesthood, there must also be a change of the law, and then in vv. 18-25 The former regulation is set aside because it was weak and useless (for the law made nothing perfect), and a better hope is introduced, by which we draw near to God. And it was not without an oath! Others became priests without any oath, but he became a priest with an oath when God said to him: "The Lord has sworn and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever.'" Because of this oath, Jesus has become the guarantee of a better covenant. Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

Jesus is not an earthly High Priest who stands in the Temple, Jesus stands in the heavenly sanctuary before God the Father.  He is the only way to the Father.  The law and the priesthood are fulfilled in Him.  A new covenant has been made through His blood.  Jesus is then the way and means by which we draw near to God.  Jesus has brought about a “better hope” and a “better covenant”.  Therefore, Jesus is able to save completely (or to the uttermost) those who come to God through Him because He always lives to intercede for them.  We should tattoo that on our brains:  Jesus is able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.  That is our hope and it is a firm and secure anchor for our soul.

The author of Hebrews wanted his readers to hear that loud and clear – to know that Jesus is their one and only Mediator. Why?  Because for some reason we look for others.  Perhaps the original recipients of Hebrews were still clinging to the fact that they were Abraham’s descendants; perhaps they were still clinging to the Law and the priesthood instead of Jesus.  In many ways, we still do that.  We cling to other mediators – Some allow the priest or the pastor to be religious for us; some bring in saints or Mary as a go-between; some set up their own good works as their means of access to God.  We do things these things to distance ourselves from Jesus (because we’re afraid of Him) and to make our own way (so we feel in control). 

But there is no way to God other than Jesus Christ. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life no one comes to the Father except through Him.  He is the One who has gone before us into the inner sanctuary - before the throne of God - on our behalf.  He is the One who lives to intercede for us. He is the One who saves to the uttermost.  Therefore, He holds the anchor of our hope.