Hebrews 6:19, New Living Translation

"This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls. It leads us through the curtain into God's inner sanctuary."

God uses the example of an anchor as a promise that He is “sure and steadfast” for you and for me.

Just as an anchor secures a ship, Jesus secures our soul. The anchor must be connected to the ship in order for it to do its job to stabilize. Jesus wants to be our anchor in the storms of life, and He longs for us to be connected to Him.

We do need an anchor for our souls. An anchor is what keeps a ship stable. A crew would drop one to ensure that the ship stays in its intended destination no matter what is happening in the sea around it. This is what we need. In fact, we need one more than we know… Why is that?

Because hardships will come. Hardship is a present reality just by way of living in a broken world, but there will be seasons in your life when that hardship will become stronger. We need a reminder that we have a firm anchor for our souls, which is what we need during times of hardship. That’s because in those times, everything seems unstable and shifting around us. Our families, our work, our income – these will all undergo change and loss. But our souls can remain secure because they are anchored to something secure – the hope in Christ that does not change.

Because our hearts tend to drift. We also need an anchor for our souls because no matter how long we have been walking with Jesus, we have a tendency to drift. If you leave a ship in the middle of a body of water, no matter how calm and serene that water might seem on the surface, it will inevitably start to drift. That’s because even though the surface appears calm, there are currents constantly operating below the surface. So, it is with the human heart.

We might seem fine on the surface. Life might be put together. Our theology might be on point. Yet inside us all is the undercurrent of sin. Because it’s there, we all have the tendency to drift. And no one drifts toward Jesus; only away from Him. This is why we need to be anchored – it’s because if we are not, then we will slowly but surely start to drift away.

Another reason we need to be anchored? We settled. We become content to find temporary pleasure and satisfaction in the things of the world instead of, by faith, believing that the greatest and only real lasting satisfaction can be found in God. This is why we need an anchor for the souls – it’s because we know ourselves, and we know that unless we are firmly anchored in the promise of what is and what’s to come, then we will settle for something less.

Just as the anchor which holds a ship is not in the exact same place as the ship itself, our hope is not in this world. Rather, it is in a holier, greater place. Since Christ has gone ahead of us, in order to secure our salvation, we should have absolute confidence. That confidence ought to lead us to greater faith, and growth in both truth and love.

We must be anchored and anchored firmly. When our hope is in Him, we are secure and confident. When our hope is not in Him, we are tossed around by the storms of life.

Is He your anchor today?