Bible Strands
Hebrews 6:19
We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain,
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The unnamed author of Hebrews writes to Jewish believers at risk of abandoning Christ for the Mosaic system. This verse is the pivot between the two unchangeable guarantees (v. 18) and the identification of who has entered beyond the curtain (v. 20).
The words — ἀσφαλῆ (asphalē) means "safe, secure, unshakable," a term that in classical usage describes something that cannot be moved or overturned. It modifies "anchor," making the hope not merely stable but impervious to external force.
The thread — Psalms 43:5 commands the soul to put its hope in God against internal despondency; Romans 5:5 grounds hope in the Spirit's poured-out love rather than in human resolve.
Why it lands — The verse requires the reader to locate their confidence in a person who has already entered the holy of holies, not in their own ability to hold on. It is a test: if your hope wavers when circumstances shift, it is not anchored in what this verse describes.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Greek words
King James Version
Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil;
Cross-references
- Psalms 43:5 Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him, my Savior and my God.
- Romans 5:5 And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.
- Romans 8:28 And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
- Hebrews 9:7 But only the high priest entered the second room, and then only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.
- Leviticus 16:2 And the LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron not to enter freely into the Most Holy Place behind the veil in front of the mercy seat on the ark, or else he will die, because I appear in the cloud above the mercy seat.
- Leviticus 16:15 Aaron shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and bring its blood behind the veil, and with its blood he must do as he did with the bull’s blood: He is to sprinkle it against the mercy seat and in front of it.
- Colossians 3:1 Therefore, since you have been raised with Christ, strive for the things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God.
- Hebrews 9:3 Behind the second curtain was a room called the Most Holy Place,
- Psalms 62:5 Rest in God alone, O my soul, for my hope comes from Him.
- Matthew 27:51 At that moment the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, and the rocks were split.