SEV Biblia, Chapter 6:19
la cual tenemos como por segura y firme ancla del alma, y que entra hasta en lo que est dentro del velo,
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Hebrew 6:19
Verse 19. Which hope we have as an anchor] The apostle here changes the allusion; he represents the state of the followers of God in this lower world as resembling that of a vessel striving to perform her voyage through a troublesome, tempestuous, dangerous sea. At last she gets near the port; but the tempest continues, the water is shallow, broken, and dangerous, and she cannot get in: in order to prevent her being driven to sea again she heaves out her sheet anchor, which she has been able to get within the pier head by means of her boat, though she could not herself get in; then, swinging at the length of her cable, she rides out the storm in confidence, knowing that her anchor is sound, the ground good in which it is fastened, and the cable strong. Though agitated, she is safe; though buffeted by wind and tide, she does not drive; by and by the storm ceases, the tide flows in, her sailors take to the capstan, wear the ship against the anchor, which still keeps its bite or hold, and she gets safely into port. See on "ver. 20". The comparison of hope to an anchor is frequent among the ancient heathen writers, who supposed it to be as necessary to the support of a man in adversity, as the anchor is to the safety of the ship when about to be driven on a lee shore by a storm. "To ground hope on a false supposition," says Socrates, "is like trusting to a weak anchor." He said farther, oute naun ex enov agkuriou, oute bion ek miav elpidov ormisteon? a ship ought not to trust to one anchor, nor life to one hope. Stob., Serm. 109.
The hope of eternal life is here represented as the soul's anchor; the world is the boisterous, dangerous sea; the Christian course, the voyage; the port, everlasting felicity; and the veil or inner road, the royal dock in which that anchor was cast. The storms of life continue but a short time; the anchor, hope, if fixed by faith in the eternal world, will infallibly prevent all shipwreck; the soul may be strongly tossed by various temptations, but will not drive, because the anchor is in sure ground, and itself is steadfast; it does not drag, and it does not break; faith, like the cable, is the connecting medium between the ship and the anchor, or the soul and its hope of heaven; faith sees the haven, hope desires and anticipates the rest; faith works, and hope holds fast; and, shortly, the soul enters into the haven of eternal repose.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 19. Which [hope] we have as an anchor of the soul , etc..] This world is as a sea; the church in it, and so every believer, is as a ship; the port that is bound unto is heaven; Christ is the pilot, and hope is the anchor: an anchor is cast on a bottom, out of sight; and when the ship is in a calm, or in danger of a rock, or near the shore; but is of no service without a cable: and when cast aright, keeps the ship steady: so hope is cast on Christ; whence he is often called hope itself, because he is the ground and foundation of it, and who is at present unseen to bodily eyes; and the anchor of hope without the cable of faith is of little service; but being cast aright on Christ, keeps the soul steady and immovable: in some things there is a difference between hope and an anchor; an anchor is not of so much use in tempests as in a calm, but hope is; the cable may be cut or broke, and so the anchor be useless, but so it cannot be with faith and hope; when the ship is at anchor, it does not move forward, but it is not so with the soul, when hope is in exercise; the anchor of hope is not cast on anything below, but above; and here it is called the anchor of the soul, to distinguish it from any other, and to show the peculiar benefit of it to the soul.
Pythagoras makes use of the same metaphor f93 ; riches (he says) are a weak anchor, glory: is yet weaker; the body likewise; principalities, honours, all these are weak and without strength; what then are strong anchors? prudence, magnanimity, fortitude; these no tempest shakes.
But these philosophical moral virtues are not to be compared with the Christian's grace of hope, which is both sure and steadfast ; it is in itself a grace firm and stable; it is permanent and can never be lost: and it is still more sure and steadfast, by virtue of what it is fixed upon, the person, blood, and righteousness of Christ; and by the immutability, faithfulness, and power of God it is concerned with; and through the aboundings and discoveries of divine love, grace, and mercy; and from the instances of grace to the vilest of sinners: and which entereth into that within the vail ; the holy of holies, heaven itself; in allusion to the vail which divided between the holy and the holy of holies: the things within the vail, or in heaven, which hope entering into fixes upon, are the person of Christ, who is entered there, and appears in the presence of God for his people; his blood which he has carried along with him, and by which he is entered there; his justifying righteousness, by which the law is fulfilled, the two tables of stone in the ark of the testimony; the sweet incense of his mediation, which is continually offered up by him; the mercy seat, or throne of grace, on which Jehovah sits as the God of grace; and all the glories of heaven; all which hope is concerned with, and receives strength and rigour from: and their being within the vail, is expressive of their hiddenness and invisibility at present, and of their safety and security, as well as of their sacredness; and this shows a difference between the hope of believers and others, whose hope fixes upon things short of these; and likewise the great privilege of a believer, who being made a priest unto God, has liberty and boldness to enter into the holiest of all. The Jews speak of a vail in the world to come, which some are worthy to enter into.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 11-20 - The hope here meant, is a sure looking for good things promised through those promises, with love, desire, and valuing of them. Hop has its degrees, as faith also. The promise of blessedness God has mad to believers, is from God's eternal purpose, settled between the eternal Father, Son, and Spirit. These promises of God may safely be depended upon; for here we have two things which cannot change, the counsel and the oath of God, in which it is not possible for God to lie; it would be contrary to his nature as well as to his will. And a He cannot lie; the destruction of the unbeliever, and the salvation of the believer, are alike certain. Here observe, those to whom God ha given full security of happiness, have a title to the promises by inheritance. The consolations of God are strong enough to support his people under their heaviest trials. Here is a refuge for all sinner who flee to the mercy of God, through the redemption of Christ according to the covenant of grace, laying aside all other confidences We are in this world as a ship at sea, tossed up and down, and in danger of being cast away. We need an anchor to keep us sure an steady. Gospel hope is our anchor in the storms of this world. It is sure and stedfast, or it could not keep us so. The free grace of God the merits and mediation of Christ, and the powerful influences of his Spirit, are the grounds of this hope, and so it is a stedfast hope Christ is the object and ground of the believer's hope. Let u therefore set our affections on things above, and wait patiently for his appearance, when we shall certainly appear with him in glory __________________________________________________________________
Greek Textus Receptus
ην 3739 ως 5613 αγκυραν 45 εχομεν 2192 5719 της 3588 ψυχης 5590 ασφαλη 804 τε 5037 και 2532 βεβαιαν 949 και 2532 εισερχομενην 1525 5740 εις 1519 το 3588 εσωτερον 2082 του 3588 καταπετασματος 2665
Vincent's NT Word Studies
19. An anchor of the soul (agkuran thv yuchv). The same figure is implied 1 Tim. i. 19.
Sure and steadfast (asfalh te kai bebaian). The distinction between the two adjectives expresses the relation of the same object to different tests applied from without. jAsfalh, not, sfallein to make totter, and so to baffle or foil. Hence, secure against all attempts to break the hold. Bebaian sustaining one's steps in going (bainen to go): not breaking down under what steps upon it.
Which entereth into that within the veil (eisercomenhn eiv to eswteron tou katapetasmatov). Const. the participle eijsercomenhn entering with anchor. jEswteron only here and Acts xvi. 24. Comparative, of something farther within. So ejswteran fulakhn "the inner prison," Acts xvi. 24. Katapetasma veil, o Class. Commonly in N.T. of the veil of the temple or tabernacle. See Matt. xxvii. 51; Heb. ix. 3. That within the veil is the unseen, eternal reality of the heavenly world. 199 Two figures are combined:
(a) the world a sea; the soul a ship; the hidden bottom of the deep the hidden reality of the heavenly world.
(b) The present life the forecourt of the temple; the future blessedness the shrine within the veil. The soul, as a tempest-tossed ship, is held by the anchor: the soul in the outer court of the temple is fastened by faith to the blessed reality within the shrine.
