refuge, unless the context so demands. For instance, the LXX version of Leviticus 26:25 renders `gather together',

katapheugo, and the Hebrew word so translated is asaph, its normal meaning. Jeremiah 50:5 and Zechariah 2:11 use

the word to translate the Hebrew lavah, `to join'. Isaiah 54:15 uses katapheugo to translate naphal, `to fall'. In

Isaiah 55:5 the word translates the Hebrew rutz `to run'. This Hebrew word is found in Psalm 19:5 (6) where it is

used of `running a race' and in Esther 3:13,15; 8:10,14 for the `posts' that ran with letters, and Job speaks of his

days being `swifter than a post' (9:25). This meaning of the word katapheugo, viz., `to run', is in entire harmony

with both the context of Hebrews 6 and the more remote context of Hebrews 12.

The reason why we see a connection in Hebrews 12 is found in the recurrence of another word which we must

consider. The hope is said to be `set before' us. This word is prokeimai and occurs in Hebrews 12:1,2:

`Let us run with patience the race that is set before us' (prokeimai).

`Who for the joy that was set before Him' (prokeimai).

Here the subject is unmistakable. It is a race with a reward at the end. It sums up the whole series of

overcomers detailed in Hebrews 11. It speaks of those who do not draw back but who go on unto perfection, who

believe unto the acquiring of the soul. The apostle, further, urges the believer `to lay hold upon' this hope that is set

before him. This word krateo appears in Hebrews 4:14, `let us hold fast our confession'.

So far then we have seen that those who, like Abraham, were pressing on toward the goal set before them in

going on unto spiritual adulthood were comforted and supported by the fact that they had a High Priest Who knew

their temptations, Who had passed that way before them, and Who was ever ready to succour them that are tested,

even as Abraham was sustained.

Let us, however, not forget that in our own case also we have strong consolation and encouragement drawn from

Christ, not perhaps as Priest after the order of Melchisedec, but from the sublime statement of Philippians 2:6-11

where many parallels may be found with the teaching of Hebrews.

`Being confident of this very thing, that He Which hath begun a good work in you will perform (perfect) it until the day

of Jesus Christ' (Phil. 1:6).

Having seen that the hope was not to be looked upon as a `refuge', but rather as something to run for and obtain,

this hope is now likened to an anchor:

`Which we have as an anchor of the soul' (Heb. 6:19).

The use of the figure is most suggestive. It is part of the equipment of a ship that is not ordinarily used until the

voyage is ended. If the anchor is called into use before the journey's end, the suggestion is that ordinary seamanship

is of no avail. If we read the context of the only other occurrences of the word anchor in the New Testament we

shall appreciate its place in Hebrews 6 the better:

`But when the fourteenth night was come, as we were driven to and fro in the Sea of Adria, about midnight the sailors

surmised that they were drawing near to some country, and they sounded, and found twenty fathoms: and after a

little space, they sounded again, and found fifteen fathoms. And fearing lest haply we should be cast ashore on

the rocky ground, they let go four anchors from the stern, and wished for the day' (Acts 27:27-29 not AV JP).

The Hebrews were in the throes of a great `fight of afflictions'. The storm of opposition was rising, and they

were in danger of `making shipwreck concerning the faith'. This latter expression is found in 1 Timothy 1:19.

There we find the alternative is `holding faith and a good conscience', which is parallel with the thought of Hebrews

6. This was the anchor that held the worthies of Hebrews 11. These are set forth as examples of those who `believe

unto the gaining of the soul', a translation which we shall explain later.

Why is the hope called an anchor of the soul? Why not spirit? Scripture distinguishes between soul and spirit

(Heb. 4:12; 1 Thess. 5:23; 1 Cor. 15:44,45). The meaning that attaches to the soul in Hebrews we may find by

reading Matthew 16:24-27: