Hebrews 6:18,19 - Joseph Benson’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Bible Comments

That by two immutable things in either, much more in both, of which it was impossible for God to lie To alter his purpose and disappoint our expectation; we might have a strong consolation A powerful argument to believe the promise with a confidence excluding all doubt and fear, and might receive a great comfort thereby; who have fled for refuge Who, under a consciousness of our sinfulness and guilt, depravity, weakness, and wretchedness, have betaken ourselves for safety from deserved wrath; to lay hold on the hope The promise (so confirmed by an oath) which is the ground of our hope; set before us in Christ Through whom alone we can have salvation, present and eternal; which hope In and through Christ, our righteousness and sanctification; we have as an anchor of the soul The apostle here alludes to an anchor, which when cast, both preserves the vessel from losing the ground she has gained, and keeps her steady amid the winds and waves, when the art and skill of the mariners are overcome, and they cannot steer the ship in its right course, nor could otherwise preserve it from rocks, shelves, or sand- banks; both sure Ασφαλη, safe, that will not fail, or may with confidence be trusted to, the matter of which it is formed being solid, and the proportion of it suited to the burden of the ship; and steadfast Βεβαιαν, firm against all opposition, which no violence of winds or storms can either break or move from its hold; and which entereth into that within the veil He alludes to the veil which divided the holy place of the Jewish tabernacle or temple from the most holy: and thus he slides back to the priesthood of Christ. But he does not speak of that which was within the veil, namely, the ark and mercy-seat, the tables of stone, and cherubim, the work of men's hands, but of the things signified by them; God himself on a throne of grace, and the Lord Christ, as the high-priest of the church, at his right hand: or the Father as the author, the Lord Jesus as the purchaser, and the covenant as the conveyer of all grace; which were all typically represented by the things within the veil. And the apostle makes use of this allusion to instruct the Hebrews in the nature and use of the old tabernacle institutions; and from thence in the true nature of the priesthood of Christ, to which he is now returning. The meaning is, that the believer's hope lays hold on God himself, on a throne of grace and on Christ as the High-Priest of the church, who is in heaven itself, the place of God's presence, typified by the holy of holies.

Hebrews 6:18-19

18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

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