The Christian's 'hope' is the confidence that all God's promises will be fulfilled for our blessing and His glory as we trust in Him. Only Jesus can bring together all the promises and power of God to build His kingdom and be its King (1 Peter 1:3). Although we must wait, our 'hope' is sustained by faith in God's Word even though we groan under suffering (Romans 8:23-25). Even though we cannot see the Lord and all that He will do, we love Him, and our hope provides sustaining joy (1 Peter 1:8) until He draws us into His presence. This hope is our spiritual anchor.

A ship's anchor will only hold if it is securely set in mud or sand on the sea bed. A rocky anchorage is potentially dangerous because the anchor may become so wedged that it cannot be lifted to enable the boat to go on its journey. The picture of the anchor in these verses is different. Our hope is anchored in Jesus. He is our Rock from whom we must never be separated (Matthew 7:24-27). Jesus is not down in the depths but in heaven. We are fastened to Him by the 'rope' of faith as we trust His Word.

The writer of this letter may have reflected on the temple in Jerusalem, where the human priest entered the most holy place once a year. He had a rope attached to him so that if anything happened to him, due to the awesome presence of God, his colleagues could pull him out from under the curtain (they were not allowed to go inside themselves). Then the writer sees Jesus as the Great High Priest who has gone through the curtain into the Holy of Holies. He is always there to intercede for us [the order of Melchizedek is without any time limit (Hebrews 7:3)]. Our anchor is Jesus the Rock in heaven; our faith is the rope – not to pull Christ out, but to ensure that we are held secure until the time comes for us to be pulled in.

The security of salvation is guaranteed by God's oath (Hebrews 6:18) if we continue to put our faith in Jesus (Hebrews 3:14). Although the world, flesh and devil conspire together to pull us away from Christ, our hope has been set into Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5). He sustains us with joy and peace as we continue to trust the Lord (Romans 15:13). We need encouragement as we live in a turbulent world with its multiple philosophies, none of which want to totally submit to Jesus. Tolerance is proclaimed as the 'new peace' as long as Jesus is not supreme. Temptations try to drag us away from Jesus, suggesting a ‘better way' or 'easier lifestyle'. Sometime even churches accommodate to the changing world rather than stay secure with the unchanging Jesus. How we and our children need spiritual security. The good news of the gospel is that Jesus is our anchor. Hold on to Him because He holds onto you.