Hebrews 6:19Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

The Apostle presents us, who live in this world and have not yet departed this life, as already having attained what was promised, because by hope we are already in heaven. Hope, he says, because this will certainly be fulfilled. To assure them he says, better still, that by hope you have already attained it. He did not say, “we enter within the veil,” but “it has entered within,” which is more correct and more persuasive. As an anchor lowered from a ship does not allow it to be carried about by the waves, whatever winds may shake it, but fastens it and makes it motionless, so also hope. See how apt a comparison he presented. He did not point to a foundation, which would not have suited the matter so well, but to an anchor.

“Which we have as an anchor (άγκυραν) of the soul, both sure and steadfast.” We have this hope as an anchor. As an anchor gives stability to ships during a storm, so hope makes firm and patient those who are shaken under the influence of temptations. He did not simply say “an anchor,” but “sure and steadfast.” For there can be an anchor that does not keep a ship stable, either because it is damaged or because it is very light. He quite rightly remembered not a foundation, but an anchor. A foundation applies to very firm and philosophical souls, while an anchor applies to those who are being storm-tossed, as they were, battered by temptations. “And which enters the inner place behind the veil.” Above he said: hope, for what we hope for will come to pass.

Hope in God, childlike and simple-hearted faith in Him, is for our soul like an anchor, sure and steadfast. On deep water during a violent storm, the ship and those sailing on it place their hope in strong chains and in a good, heavy, firm anchor lowered to the bottom under the water. Despite the roaring waves, they consider themselves outside danger. So also people carried upon the stormy waves of the sea of life, exposed to dangers, temptations, sicknesses, and troubles, are strengthened only by hope in God. Only with it do they avoid falling into despondency and bear their lot patiently. Hope in God powerfully sustains the spirit amid sorrows and dangers. Overcoming them, it passes through the heavens and appears before God in prayerful sighs. It enters the inner place behind the veil. That is, a man who lives by faith and hope in the Lord lifts prayers to the God of mercies and of all consolation, and receives what he asks from Him, the King of Heaven.

And with all diligence let us remain firm in this, so that He may take us out and lead us from the midst of the evils of this age, and open to us the way into the inner place beyond the veil.

Which we have as an anchor of the soul, that is, hope, both firm and sure, and entering into the inner place behind the veil. By the veil the Apostle meant heaven, because the Lord promised to give the Heavenly Kingdom to those who believe in Him. We hope for those good things, says the Apostle. We hold fast to this hope as to a sacred anchor. For even an anchor hidden in the depth does not allow our souls to be driven here and there. But the Apostle proves in another way the indisputability of the hoped-for good things.

“Which we have as an anchor of the soul.” As an anchor cast from a ship holds it firmly in one and the same place and does not allow it to be shaken, so hope steadies the soul that is storm-tossed by waves and driven by the winds of temptations. It brings the soul into a safe place and does not allow it to wander. If we did not have hope, we would long ago have perished. Everyone can discern the great power of hope not only in the spiritual life, but also in ordinary affairs, such as trade, agriculture, and the like. Whoever is not guided by it cannot even set his hand to work. “Both steadfast and sure.” Ship anchors themselves often become unstable, because sometimes they lack firmness on account of their lightness. But hope is entirely different.

In the present life we are tossed by the force of the passions, as ships in the sea are tossed by the force of the waves. As a firm and unbreakable anchor saves a ship from the dangers of the sea, so firm and undoubting hope saves the soul from deadly dangers. Therefore the divine Paul called the hope set before us an anchor, that is, the hope of the saving blessing of Jesus Christ. Note how the eloquent Apostle depicts this hope and presents it as a person entering “within the veil.” By this he signifies that we, the faithful, enter within the veil by the power of this hope. But what is within the veil? The veil of the tabernacle of the Law divided the holy place in it from the place called the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Testimony was.

Which we have as an anchor of the soul. Hope is compared with an anchor cast into the sea. It is more secure the deeper it is buried in the bottom. So also hope is stronger the more deeply it penetrates. For hope, the deepest and firmest foundation is offered by the immutability of God's oath and promises. Therefore the Apostle says that hope penetrates into the innermost sanctuary of heaven after Christ, who received from God the oath that He would be High Priest forever. As High Priest, He entered this Holy of Holies, where no one else has entered except Him.

“For men swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is the end of every dispute among them” (Heb 6:16). But do men do well when they swear, and is an oath at all permissible? No, it is not permissible, some speculators answer; an oath is a sinful thing, as the Quakers, Count L. Tolstoy, and others say. But these speculations are refuted by the Apostle’s following words concerning God. Desiring to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of His will (Heb 6:17), for example, to Abraham, that he would become father of many nations, God interposed an oath. Since He could swear by no one higher, He swore by Himself, as said above (Heb 6:13).

Then the Apostle ends the exhortation and returns again to the question of the high priesthood of Jesus Christ. In connection with what was said in verses 17-18 about the significance of God’s oath for us, he briefly depicts our condition in this world. According to his presentation, we are sailors upon a storm-tossed sea. Only a firm and reliable anchor keeps our ship from being carried away into the boundless distance of the sea. This anchor is the great good things already prepared for us in heaven, ή προκειμένη ελπίς; cf. Col 1:5. Looking to these good things and holding fast to them, we overcome every earthly temptation that seeks to knock us out of the position in which we have been established.