Word Picture: Christ as our Anchor

This scripture is a bit of a mixed metaphor. The overall idea is that we were and are helpless and unable to secure our own place with Heavenly Father without Christ acting as a go-between. Without Him, we are adrift at sea in a storm or shut out from the Lord’s presence forever.

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

The harbors are quite shallow in the Mediterranean Sea. Hence, a ship could not enter a harbor when a storm threatened, because the hull would shatter when the ship was tossed in shallow water. Furthermore, the Mediterranean floor was sand without rock, so it would not have provided a secure anchor.

Therefore, to secure a ship, the anchor was put into a shallow boat, this smaller boat was rowed into the harbor, and the anchor was secured to the shore. The author has this scene in mind when he portrays Christ as the forerunner “rowing” into the inner sanctuary [on the other side of the veil] and securing the anchor there.

(NavPress Bible study, Hebrews, NavPress, Colorado Springs, CO: 1989, pg 91)

When the storms of life threaten to crash our lives, we can remember our Friend who lovingly goes before us, and is our true Anchor and safe harbor.