An Anchor for the Soul

A series on the book of Hebrews:
A call to maturity and hope
 (Click on the link below to read the verses.)
Hebrews 5:11-6:20 

[When you first start to follow Christ, often it’s done with great excitement. It’s like falling in love when all you can think about is the other person, and you want to tell everyone you know. But then the day-to-day pressures of living can push out those feelings and dull your enthusiasm. In this series, we will look at how the author of Hebrews tried to counteract falling out of love with Jesus.]

  

In 2016, I went deep sea fishing off the coast of North Carolina with some family members. We left the dock at sunrise. It was a calm, beautiful start to the day. Leaving the harbor, we headed out to sea – twenty-five miles out to sea!

 

The ocean became a series of nonstop rolling waves… one after the other. Riding the crest of one wave, our boat would go airborne and slam into the next one. The pounding of wave after wave was endless. My stomach began to churn. By the time we stopped, I was in no condition to go fishing.

 

So far, in our study of Hebrews, the writer has shown how Jesus is greater than the prophets, the angels and Moses. In chapter four he introduced the topic of Jesus as the perfect high priest, “in the order of Melchizedek”.

 

He wanted to write more in depth about this, but couldn’t. He couldn’t because he concluded that his readers wouldn’t understand. And they wouldn’t understand because they were spiritually immature. In fact, he compared them to a baby who drinks milk when they should be eating solid food.

 

At this point, he gave them a severe warning.

 

⁴ For it is impossible to bring back to repentance those who were once enlightened—those who have experienced the good things of heaven and shared in the Holy Spirit, ⁵ who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the power of the age to come— ⁶ and who then turn away from God. It is impossible to bring such people back to repentance; by rejecting the Son of God, they themselves are nailing him to the cross once again and holding him up to public shame.     NLT

 

These were harsh, judgmental words. But there was hope! Not only for those Jewish Christians who were considering rejecting their faith, but also for us today. Maybe we don’t explicitly reject Christ; but implicitly, by our actions, we do. However, God is steadfast and faithful. And because of this, there is hope!

 

¹⁸ So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.  NLT

 

Those who have taken hold of his hope “may be greatly encouraged”. In fact, Jesus offers us a new hope because he’s entered the very presence of the Living God; he’s entered the Holy of Holies. And he’s done this so that we also might follow him into the presence of our Heavenly Father.

¹⁹ We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, ²⁰ where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.          NIV

 

I’m not sure that an anchor would have helped me to deal with those rolling waves off the coast of North Carolina. However, like an anchor, the hope we find in Jesus gives us stability during the turbulent waters of life.

 

Copyright 2025 Joseph B Williams

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