Why the Anchor?

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. Hebrews 6:19 (NIV11).

But what is the anchor?

Firstly, it’s a hope. Not a hope that is fickle, or transient, but one which anchors the soul. It’s substantial. It’s full of substance. If you walk a few metres from the Fremantle campus of ND Uni, you’ll see a line of anchors in front of the Maritime Museum. I often wonder how much effort they took to place them there. Even as a kids, my siblings and I tried to shift them. But they were stuck. Substantially so.

God gives us a hope that is substantial. It cannot be moved. It anchors us in the storms of life.

But what is the hope, the anchor for our soul?

If we read on in Hebrews

It [the hope] enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf.

Jesus is where our hope is anchored.

He’s the one who gives us the hope we have. He’s the one we give all the glory to, because he’s our forerunner.

But what is he our forerunner in?

Jesus is our forerunner in his death and resurrection. Jesus died on a Roman cross 2000 years ago. The Romans put Jesus to death, killed him, and placed him in a tomb. A spear pierced his side. He was dead as dead. Nothing could have revived him.

But Jesus was resurrected from the dead by the power of God.

This is what Jesus is our forerunner in. He died, and he rose. He entered into heaven, with a fully functioning body, to represent us as our priest and king before God the Father.

The hope we have is that we are blessed by God, not in this life, but the age to come. Jesus’ resurrection shows us that we too will be resurrected.

Certainly, some of the benefits of Jesus’ kingdom and the hope we have has already come. We have been given his Spirit, which has raised us spiritually from the dead. We are now alive in the hope we have in Jesus.

That’s what we’re on about at NDBF. Jesus, and the hope we have in him. We find encouragement in Jesus, and we want to show and tell everyone about the hope we have in him.

We want take heed of the warnings of Hebrews not to move away from Jesus, but crave the solid food of the Gospel that God brings.

And because God

in these last days… has spoken to us by his Son, who he appointed heir of all things, and through whom he also made the universe. Hebrews 1:2

We listen to Jesus through God’s word. Is that something you want to investigate more?