Hebrews 6:13-20

The mention of God's promise suggests the thought that it is absolutely sure, so that we may hold to it without misgiving. When God made His promise to Abraham He sealed it by an oath. Just as in human affairs men are bound to a decision when they have passed their oath, and so called on some higher power to witness (Hebrews 6:16), so God swore by Himself, since He was Himself the supreme power. His gracious will was thus confirmed by the twofold bond of His oath and His promise (Hebrews 6:17 f.). The hope He holds out to us is our only refuge, and it is a refuge which cannot possibly fail us. It is like an anchor to which the soul can trust itself without reserve amidst all perils and changes; for it is fastened to that which is within the veil i.e. it connects our earthly life with the world of eternal realities (Hebrews 6:19). And as the High Priest passed through the veil of the Tabernacle to represent the people before God in the holy of holies, so Jesus has entered on our behalf into that heavenly world. He is the true and eternal High Priest, for He belonged to no transient Levitical order, but to the higher order of Melchizedek.

Hebrews 6:19. anchor of the soul: in ancient literature the anchor is frequently employed as the emblem of hope. Our author adopts the current image, and applies it to the Christian hope of salvation.

By a skilful turn of thought the writer has come back from his long digression to his main subject the unique character of the priesthood of Jesus. The argument itself proceeds along the lines of an allegorical exegesis, and to our minds appears artificial, and at some points hardly intelligible. But the mode of presentation does not affect the essential truth and grandeur of the thought. The writer feels that the one aim of all religion is to give men access to God, and that Christianity is the highest religion because it alone has adequately achieved this aim. Christ is the true High Priest, through whom we can draw near to God, and His priesthood is different in kind from that of mere ritual religions. It has nothing to do with descent from a given stock or performance of certain functions, but is inherent in His own personality. And as He is a priest of a new and higher order, so He exercises a ministry which effects in very truth what the ancient forms of worship could only suggest in symbol.