How is hope like an anchor? This is a beautiful picture which represents something visible and tangible in place of the unseen hope that is in the heart of the Christian. But to represent hope as a tangible rope gives it tremendous reality. We may not have thought of our hope as something as substantial as this, but this is how it is seen in Scripture. The ship at sea and the harbour are in the same realm. What separates the ship from the harbour is the difficulty of getting there. Heaven and earth are not in the same realm but are separated by a much greater divide: the valley of the shadow of death, and death itself. Nevertheless, just as the anchor rope goes continuously all the way from the ship, tossed about by the swell, to the anchor lying quietly in the harbour, so our hope connects us directly with heaven itself which lies on the other side of death. That anchor rope is able to cross over death itself to reach its heavenly harbour, so that when we metaphorically pull on the rope, we are feeling an anchor on the other end which is already safely in heaven. That is where we long to be. The figurative representation of heaven in the Old Testament temple was the holy of holies, and the veil separated that inner sanctuary from the rest of the temple. Therefore the writer pictures the anchor as being placed within the veil.
That is where our Saviour is and we desire earnestly to be with him. He has overcome death for us, and he has risen from the dead and ascended into heaven and taken his place there as the guarantee of where his people will come. We are united with him by faith, and death cannot break that connection. Because he has overcome death, our anchor rope does not go into the realm of death and get lost there as a loose end, but it comes out on the other side, through the resurrection, and continues into the glory of heaven. He has prayed to the Father that where he is, there his people will be also, and that prayer must be answered. He is our anchor, and the hope of salvation connects us to him.
Your hope is in heaven with Christ, your Saviour, who died for you and while you are attached to that anchor and thinking of that, you are held and you cannot be overpowered, overwhelmed, or washed away by anything. Your soul is safe: that is the meaning of the passage, so we must pay close attention to the assurance of hope. Do you want that conviction? Well, feelings come and go. If you want that conviction, that certainty, to remain alive in your heart, then live for and think of your destiny. Heaven with the Lord: that is where the anchor of your soul is firmly held. This hope allows us to dismiss the threat of the storms and trials of this world as something which cannot ultimately harm us or separate us from Christ. It is your future hope that is the main ground and strengths of your conviction. It is thinking on your future hope and ordering all your priorities in life to serve that coming day of Christ. That is where the anchor of your soul is. So if you do not think about heaven, and work towards heaven, and prepare yourself for heaven, and if you do not serve the Lord and win souls against heaven and that coming day, then of course your certainty and your hope will shrink and wither. This is the anchor of your soul.