Hebrews 6:19

Heb. 6:19. Which (hope) we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;

A lengthy one of the Notes on the Bible explains Hebrews 6:19.

[284] Hebrews 6:19, "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil." That which is here called hope, is the same with the grace of faith but only with respect to one kind of its exercises, viz. those that respect God's promises, or our own future promised good. It is no other than trust in God, (or rather faith in God,) through Christ, for salvation. This agrees with the context, beginning with the 12th verse, and with the description given of hope in the words themselves; for it is faith in Christ that is the stability of the soul, faith is that by which we are built on that strong rock, so that we cannot be overthrown, and the same is the anchor by which we are held fast, and cannot be driven to and fro of winds and storms, and shipwrecked and lost. That which is here called hope is the very same that is elsewhere called faith; and saving and justifying faith is often in the New Testament called by the name of hope; as in Romans 8:24; Romans 8:25. "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it." How are we saved by hope, but as we are saved or justified by faith? It further appears that by hope here is meant faith, by the following words, "But hope that is seen is not hope," etc. compared with the words of the same apostle, Hebrews 11:1. "Faith is the evidence of things not seen;" and by the next verse, "But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it," compared with the 12th verse of the context in this 6th of Hebrews (Hebrews 6:12), "That ye be followers of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises." And it may be further confirmed by comparing this last place with the foregoing verse, "And we desire every one of you to show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope to the end;" and also comparing both with the 19th verse (Hebrews 6:19), the text we are upon. That faith with the apostle sometimes signifies the same with hope, is manifest from his description of it in the 1st verse of 11th of Hebrews (Hebrews 11:1), "Faith is the substance of things hoped for;" and Galatians 5:5, "We through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness, through faith;" and Colossians 1:23, "If ye continue in faith grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope of the gospel:" continuing grounded and settled in faith, and unmoved in the hope of the gospel, are expressions evidently used as exegetical one of another; and Hebrews 3:6, "If we hold fast our confidence, and rejoicing of hope firm unto the end: our confidence and our hope seem to be synonymous; so, Romans 4:18, "Who against hope believed in hope. " 1 Timothy 1:1, "Jesus Christ which is our hope." So the apostle Peter seems to use the term hope. 1 Peter 1:21, "Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God." So chap. 3:15, "Be ready to give a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear;" that is, to give a reason, or declare the grounds, of your faith. So hope seems to be used for faith by the apostle John. 1 John 3:3, "Every man that hath this hope in him, purifieth himself, even as he is pure."

Hope, in the New Testament, is often spoken of as a great christian grace and virtue, and one of the main things that distinguishes a true Christian, which would be difficult to understand or account for, if by hope is meant no more than what we commonly understand by the word, viz. his thinking well of his own state, or hoping well of his future state. That is not hard to do; it is what nature is prone to; but by hope they doubtless meant something more, viz. an embracing the promises of God and fiducial relying on them through Christ for salvation. This is the great christian grace that the apostle speaks of in the 13th chap. of 1 Corinthians (1 Corinthians 13) where he speaks of faith, hope, charity; and by faith there, and also where it is distinguished from hope, is meant faith in a larger sense, viz. acquiescing in the truth in whatever he testifies or reveals, without any special regard to our own concern and future interest in what he reveals. Hope is our acquiescing and relying on God's truth and sufficiency as to what concerns our own future happiness.

According to Religious Affections, "True religion, in great part, consists in holy affections." Hebrews 6:19 is part of the proof.

Religious fear and hope are, once and again, joined together, as jointly constituting the character of the true saints. "Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy" (Psalms 33:18). "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy" (Psalms 147:11). Hope is so great a part of true religion, that the Apostle says we are saved by hope (Romans 8:24). And this is spoken of as the helmet of the Christian soldier, "and for an helmet, the hope of salvation" (1 Thessalonians 5:8); and the sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, which preserves it from being cast away by the storms of this evil world, "which hope we have, as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which entereth into that within the vail" (Hebrews 6:19). 'Tis spoken of as a great fruit and benefit which true saints receive by Christ's resurrection "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" (1 Peter 1:3).