Biblical Hope- Hebrews 6:9-20

In Hebrews 6:19, we are told that true biblical hope serves as an “anchor for the soul”. This means our hope is “in” something, it is attached to and grounded in something, and true biblical hope is grounded in the word of God, in the promises which God has made to us there. This hope serves as an “anchor for the soul”. The term anchor here is ankyra in the Greek, and refers to what we would recognize as an ordinary anchor, but it is not used here literally but metaphorically, it is used to represent something. The anchor was a common metaphor in Greek literature and was used to represent stability, it stabilized a ship in the midst of a storm. Hope in the word of God provides this stability for our “souls” in the midst of the storms of life. In the use of anchor as a metaphor here, we can see that it is the presupposition of the author that life in this world will be filled with “storms”, for no one uses an anchor when the seas are calm, the anchor is used when the winds blow and the seas get rough. Our hope in the word of God stabilizes us in the midst of the storms of life, keeps us from sinking or going under. We also see here that hope serves as an anchor for our “soul”, the Greek psuche here. The soul is commonly seen as the personality, it is the soul which makes us a unique individual and enables us to interact with other souls. It is generally considered to consist of three dimensions: mind, will and emotions. Our “soul” is our unique way of thinking, feeling and behaving, and no two people think, act and behave in exactly the same way. Since biblical hope serves as an anchor for the soul in the storms of life, it serves to stabilize our mind, will and emotions in the midst of those storms. This hope keeps our souls “firm and secure”. The word firm here is asphalos- firm, sure, steady and the word secure is bebaios- certain, established, reliable. The image here is of a “soul” anchored in the word of God, clearly understanding that what God tells us there is “sure” and “certain”, something to which we can anchor in the midst of the storm, holding steady in it because it is the source of our hope. We can hold steady in the midst of the storm, our thinking grounded in the word of God, remaining “clear minded and self-controlled” (1 Peter 4:7), thinking clearly and focused on the truth of Scripture. Our emotions stabilized, not being controlled by our emotions, but keeping them under control and not allowing them to cause us to act in fear, but to live by faith. Our behavior steady and not erratic, not “driven and tossed by the wind” (James 1:6) but anchored in the word of God, our decisions determined by the truth of the Scripture. In the bible, the storms of life are a given, they will come. It is only true, biblical hope, a hope anchored in the word of God, that can keep us “anchored” in the midst of the storms of life. Storms will come, but a soul anchored in the word of God will remain “steady”, “stable” and “secure” in the midst of those storms, for true biblical hope is the only sure and certain source of peace and rest, steadfastness and stability, in the midst of the storms of life.