Hope---#3

Hebrews 6:19-20 Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec.

In part two of this series on hope, I talked about the hope of salvation and the blessed hope of Christ's return. Our verse tells us that this hope is an anchor of the soul. This anchor reaches in behind the veil.

In the Old Testament Jewish temple there was a heavy thick veil that separated the holy place from the Most holy place where God's presence dwelt. No one was allowed in this place except for the High Priest who went in there once a year to atone for the sins of the people. Hebrews 9:7 tells us:

"But into the second (Most Holy Place) went the high priest alone once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and for the errors of the people:"

There was only one High Priest at a time. Another was not put into office until the one before died. When Christ came and made the supreme sacrifice for our sins on the cross and rose again from the dead, God made Him an High Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec. God effectively abolished the need for earthly priests when He made Christ our High Priest for ever. Hebrews 7:24 says,

"But this man, because he continueth ever, hath an unchangeable priesthood." {or, which passeth not from one to another}

At Christ's death the veil in the temple was torn in two.

Matthew 27:50-51 "Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud voice, yielded up the ghost. And, behold, the veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top to the bottom; and the earth did quake, and the rocks rent;"

Christ entered the Most Holy Place, offering up His own blood to atone for our sins. The veil was torn open making the way for us to come into God's presence through the righteousness of Christ. This should bring great comfort and hope to us as we meditate on these truths.

The second, third and fourth verses of the old hymn, "The Solid Rock", says,

"When darkness veils his lovely face, I rest upon unchanging grace;

In every rough and stormy gale my anchor holds within the veil.

His oath, his covenant, his blood support me in the whelming flood;

When all around my soul gives way, He then is all my Hope and Stay.

When I shall launch in world's unseen, O may I then be found in him;

Dressed in his righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne."

Dear Father, The words to the hymn says it all. It's Your unchanging grace that is my anchor through all the storms of life. I pray that my readers also have this anchor for their souls. Amen.

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