Hebrews 6:13-20

Series In Hebrews: Jesus Is Truly Better
OT Lesson Genesis 22:1-19 NT Lesson Hebrews 6:13-6:20
“We have this [hope]-like a sure and firm anchor of the soul”

Introduction: Having just dealt with the thorny issue of apostasy (6:4) in order to explain why some have left this congregation and returned to Judaism, the preacher now explains why he is    “confident of the better things connected with salvation” (6:9).  What follows is an exhortation to confidence in God’s covenantal promise of grace.  This conclusion made after five chapters of explaining Christ’s superiority.  It is because of Christ’s superiority that “We have this [hope]-like a sure and firm anchor of the soul” (6:19).


I. Hebrews 6:13 explains the gravity of God’s promise as “He swore by Himself”.  Unlike His fallen creation who swear upon some greater authority (v16) to legitimize our promise, God has no authority greater than Himself to swear by.  His words are not subject to truth, do not reflect truth, do not cohere with truth, God’s word is truth (Jn.17:17).  Therefore when God speaks we have full confidence in what He has said even to the patriarch Abraham (Gen.15:8-21; 22:17).

II. Hebrews 6:15 speaks to the promise God had made with Abraham (Gen.12:2; 15:4-6) and its fulfilment (Gen 22:17).  The promises were a son, a great nation, and the blessing.  While Abraham did receive the promise of a son Isaac, he did not see the fulfillment of the great nation and the blessing.  However, our preacher in Hebrews said that the promise was obtained.  That is because the promise was always in Christ (ref. Rom. 4:10-25).  This is why Mary can say at the birth of her Son, “He (God) has helped His servant Israel, mindful of His mercy,just as He spoke to our ancestors, to Abraham and his descendants forever (Luke 1:54,55) and at the same time Zechariah says, “He has dealt mercifully with our fathers and remembered His holy covenant-the oath that He swore to our father Abraham” (Luke 1:72,73).

III. Hebrews 6:17,18 God desiring more clarity in His plan of redemption offered two unchangeable things in the promise He made with Abraham and his heirs as well as an oath that confirmed it.

IV. Hebrews 6:19 the preacher uses another nautical reference as he did in chapter 2:1.  Here our hope in God’s promise is being compared to an anchor for our soul that enters deeply in the Holy of Holies and is unseen as it is behind the veil.  For what good is an anchor that can be seen?

V. Hebrews 6:20 is a discussion that is picked up from chapter 5 and goes into detail about Jesus as our High Priest.  However here the preacher informs us that Jesus has entered the Holy of Holies as a forerunner for us.

VI. The application is quite obvious.  Namely that all our hope and trust is in God’s promise of redemption so that trials, tribulations, or even persecution as this congregation is facing can be addressed from the perspective of God’s promise.