With Our Hope Well-Anchored in Heaven

In the letter to the Hebrews, we learn about Hope. A hope that we have as an anchor of the soul. A hope that is both sure and steadfast. A hope which enters within the Veil. A veil where the Lord Jesus has entered as a forerunner for us. He, who is the High Priest, forever. He, whose priesthood is according to the order of Melchizedek (cf. Hebrews 6:19 – 20).

We are right to have this hope because it rests on God’s promise to Abraham, and the oath that He took to ascertain this promise to come to pass (cf. Hebrews 6:13-18). Because of these two sureties that are intermingled and dependent on each other, our hope is surely steadfast and secure. This is the anchor for our soul, which keeps our hearts at rest so that they are neither swayed nor rooted out of that place they are at peace.

We are assured that this hope ushers us into the very presence of God. It takes us behind the veil and into the Holy of Holies. In former days, every once a year, a high priest was needed to enter into God’s presence with the sacrifice for atonement but many regulations first had to be met. The chosen high priest was not confident to enter there. He had to take a censer of coals and incense with him, and pray against all hope that the smoke covers the mercy seat and essentially shields him from seeing it, for fear that he could die (cf. Leviticus 16:12-13).

Jesus, our High Priest

The reason for all this drama was that the Lord God was present in this sacred ground. Yet now, we are blessed with the way that was opened up and paved by the Lord Jesus, the Hope that brings us into the very presence of God. And so, we are encouraged to draw near to the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need (cf. Hebrews 4:16). It is to fulfill both the promise made to Abraham and the oath taken at the time by the Lord God that we have been invited to this Place, which was never accessible before. So it is, that the Lord Jesus, having made atonement for us, went before us and operates as our High Priest before the Lord God.

Our hope is well-anchored on this because we know the Lord Jesus waits there to welcome us when we do show up. By His blood, all traces of sin that make us unclean are removed. Unlike the high priests that were before Him, He does not need to offer sacrifice daily for himself and then for others. He did this already, and conclusively for that matter when He offered up Himself (cf. Hebrews 7:27).

The sacrifice of the Lord Jesus was eternal and perfect in nature, making Him the true fulfillment of God’s plan of Salvation. And now, where human effort is bound to fall short (cf. Hebrews 7:18–19 & Romans 3:20) and animal sacrifice will certainly not be enough (cf. Hebrews 9:11–14), the death of the Lord Jesus on the cross absolutely saves us from our sins (cf. Hebrews 7:25).

Jesus, our Mediator

God Himself installed Him there as the holy, innocent, and unstained high priest. He has no sins of which He needs to be absolved. In Him, we become the righteousness of God (cf. 2 Corinthians 5:21) because we have a high priest who has been tempted in all things as we are, and yet He was without sin (cf. Hebrews 4:15). On our behalf, the High Priest lives forever to make intercession before the Lord God (cf. Hebrews 7:25). He has become so, not by a physical inheritance but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed (cf. Hebrews 7:16). This exaltation into the priesthood is attained by virtue of His resurrection, rather than by His divine nature. And He has entered the true holy place, which is heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us (cf. Hebrews 9:24).

He is forever in the rank of Melchizedek of old (cf. Hebrews 5:6); a permanent priesthood (cf. Hebrews 7:24); a priesthood made perfect by the word of the oath (cf. Hebrews 7:28). The covenant that was previously ratified by God cannot be invalidated by any succeeding law as to nullify the promise. He is the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham that a great nation would be born through his Seed (cf. Galatians 3:16-17). All believers are heirs of that promise.

Jesus, our Confidence

In His desire to show the immutability of His purpose, and by the oath that assures us that God does not lie, all believers are granted the hope that allows us to enter boldly into the presence of the Lord God. Irrespective of what life may throw at us, once we take refuge in the Lord Jesus, we have this anchor for our soul, which keeps us steadfast and secure. So, we have the confidence to enter the holy place by the holiest blood of Jesus and by the new and living way which He inaugurated for us through His flesh. We have our hearts sprinkled clean from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Now we can draw near with a sincere heart and in full assurance of faith, because we have this great priest over the house of God (cf. Hebrews 10:20-22).

Why Our Hope Remains Anchored in Heaven

1. Hope Belongs to Salvation

There is a promise of better things for the believer; things which go hand in hand with salvation (cf. Hebrews 6:9). These include persevering in the faith and having patient obedience in living it. This is to say that as children of God, it is part of our salvation that we should hold fast to our hope. This hope is anchored in heaven as the Lord Jesus. When we hold fast to Him, we testify that we truly belong to Christ. This persevering in hope, laying hold on our inheritance, banking on it, being satisfied in it, and living by the power of it; all of it belongs to salvation. We cannot hold onto it with our own strength; that holding on is also a work of our salvation.

2. We are Partakers of Christ

If we hold fast the beginning of our assurance and remain firm until the very end, we have become partakers of Christ (cf. Hebrews 3:14). We, therefore, must hold fast. Yes, we can hold fast because we are held fast. We cannot assume that we have already taken hold of it or have already attained perfect maturity. No, we must continue our pursuit in hope that we may come to possess it. This being especially since we have indeed been taken possession of by the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Philippians 3:12). It is the power of the Lord Jesus in us which ensures that we hold fast to our hope.

3. We are Securely Bonden to Heaven

It is written that Christ was faithful as a Son over His house (cf. Hebrews 3:6). We are this house if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope remains firm until the very end. Our holding fast is evidence that we are Christ’s house. We are His new creation, being owned by Him because He purchased us by His blood; being indwelt by Him because we are his home. This makes secure our perseverance because we are solidly bound to the anchor of our soul in as much as He is bound to Heaven.

4. God’s Work Brings Us to Heaven

When the Lord Jesus purchased our salvation by His blood of the eternal covenant (cf. Luke 22:20), He obtained for us, by this new covenant, not just heaven but the faith and hope that it takes to get to heaven. In this covenant, the law was placed within us, and written upon our hearts; and He became our God, and we are His people (cf. Jeremiah 31:33). He has made an everlasting covenant with us. He will never cease to do good to us.

He has put the spirit of the fear of the Lord in our hearts (which in itself is a gift of the Holy Spirit) so that we never turn away from Him (cf. Jeremiah 32:40). He has put in us the one heart of flesh and a new spirit within to enable us to walk in His statutes and keep His ordinances. We are therefore His people, and He is certainly our God (cf. Ezekiel 11:19-20). In short, remaining well-anchored in heaven is not our self-securing work. It is the blood-bought work of God in us which brings us to heaven.

Take-Home

If you wish to hold fast to the well-anchored hope, you need some serious help from the Lord God. You must allow the Lord to work in you. The Lord God must furnish you with all that is good, so that you may do His will. The Lord must carry out in you what is pleasing to Him, and this being done through the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. Ezekiel 13:21).

You must be anchored to Him from one end as He is firmly attached to Heaven at the other end. This is the salvation that He obtained by his Blood that there is the hope of heaven, and the holding fast to get there here on earth. We must understand that we have not and will not be left to our weak selves to stay attached. We are surely well-anchored to the Lord Jesus and to Heaven.