I love the way this verse describes the Lord Jesus Christ – as a steadfast anchor and hope for our souls. An anchor is a device used to prevent a craft from drifting due to wind or current. And hope is confident expectation and firm assurance regarding things that are unclear and unknown.
In this world, we have many winds or currents threatening to cause us to drift into dangerous waters. Some of these winds include:
- Financial Issues
- Relationship Problems
- Job Insecurities
- Chronic Illness or Disease
These winds can quickly carry us into the dangerous waters of:
- Doubt (James 1:6)
- Fear (Isaiah 41:10)
- Self-Reliance (1 Cor. 10:12)
- Despair (2 Cor. 4:8-9)
Unless…we are looking to the steadfast anchor and hope of our souls. Jesus keeps us from drifting into dangerous waters. When we, by faith, look to the promises of God, through Jesus Christ, we can experience a calmness of the soul in the midst of the stormy waters of life.
The “inner place behind the curtain” was the place where only the high priest could enter in the Old Testament tabernacle. When Jesus died on the cross, that curtain was torn in two, and now every believer can enter into the holy, soul-stabilizing presence of the Father through Jesus His Son.
But we must exercise faith. “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.” (James 1:6) When we doubt, we are severing our boat’s ties to the anchor and being tossed all over the sea.
By faith, we must believe in and stake our life on the steadfast anchor and hope of our soul. Then we will experience:
- Trust (Prov. 3:5)
- A Sound Mind (2 Tim. 1:7)
- Power in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 8:1-11)
- Hope (Rom. 15:13)
We have a choice: Will we be full of doubt, tossed about by wind and wave? Or will we trust Jesus, the sure and steadfast Anchor of our souls?
