The Anchor of Your Hope Is Cast into Heaven

Sermon from Sunday, November 30, 2025, Tokyo Christ Church, third message in the series on the letter to the Hebrews.

An anchor that does not sink into the sea, but rises into heaven

Your life sometimes feels like a small ship. The storm rises, the waves grow deep, the wind tosses everything around. Without an anchor, the boat drifts away.

Normally, you cast an anchor into the depths of the sea. It sinks down, grips the seabed, and keeps the boat from being swept away. But the letter to the Hebrews says something astonishing : our anchor of hope is not cast downward, it is cast upward. It is planted in the heavenly sanctuary.

Your body is still on this earth, but your soul is already firmly fixed to the throne of God. You live here below, and yet you already belong to heaven. Why can you, in the middle of the storms, stay anchored in God without being carried away ? The answer lies in one phrase : great high priest. Let's look at this together.

Outline of the sermon

1. Jesus is superior to every priest

“ But now Jesus has obtained a more excellent ministry, since he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established on better promises. ” (Hebrews 8:6)

In a single verse, the author repeats three times that Jesus is better, superior, more excellent than the ordinary priests. From chapter 4, verse 14, all the way to chapter 8, verse 6, he devotes four full chapters to proving this superiority from different angles.

Jesus is not a priest from the tribe of Levi. He is a priest according to the order of Melchizedek, that mysterious figure from the book of Genesis. In the days of Abraham, when Abraham comes back from a battle, he gives a tenth of everything to this Melchizedek. Who is he ? He was the king of Salem, the future Jerusalem, and at the same time a priest. King and priest at once : this double role is found only in Melchizedek and in Jesus Christ.

How did Jesus become a priest ? Not through Aaron's line, not through birth into the tribe of Levi, but because God himself appointed him. How long does he remain a priest ? Ordinary priests were replaced when they died. Jesus, though, remains our great high priest forever.

A priest first had to offer a sacrifice for his own sins before interceding for the people. Jesus, being without sin, had no need to do so. Where animal sacrifices had to be repeated endlessly, Jesus offered his own blood once for all, and its effect is not temporary : it lasts forever. He is not the mediator of the old covenant, he is the mediator of a new and better covenant.

Why does the author insist so much on this question of the priesthood ? Because for a Jew, without a priest, it was impossible to come near to God. A sinful man absolutely needed a mediator in order to stand before a holy God. The relationship with God was always indirect, filtered through a priest. But with Jesus, there is no more need for a human priest, no more need for an animal sacrifice. Jesus himself connects you directly to God. He has become the one and only way.

2. A serious warning, then a word of love

At the time this letter is written, Jewish Christians are caught in a great storm of persecution, and many are thinking about going back to their former Judaism. The author gives them a stern warning, but one filled with love :

“ For it is impossible, in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, and have shared in the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt. ” (Hebrews 6:4-6)

This passage is recognized as one of the hardest to interpret in the whole New Testament. It is not talking about an ordinary sin, a moment of anger, or an everyday moral failure. It targets something very specific : publicly denying Jesus and returning to the old religious system, siding with those who had him crucified. It means declaring that Jesus' crucifixion was deserved, and therefore that he was not the Messiah.

If you reject Jesus as great high priest, there is no other way left to atone for sin. Logically, there is no further opportunity for repentance. Jewish Christians had finally been connected directly to God through Jesus, the ultimate priest ; watching them reinstate an intermediate mediator was a tragic step backward.

Then, suddenly, the tone shifts at verse 9 :

“ Yet, beloved, though we speak in this way, we feel sure of better things for you, things that belong to salvation. For God is not unjust so as to overlook your work and the love that you have shown for his name… And we desire each one of you to show the same earnestness to have the full assurance of hope until the end, so that you may not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. ” (Hebrews 6:9-12)

The author moves from “ you ” to “ we ”. I am with you. Let's run together. A strong call, full of love.

Today, this same trap is waiting for us. I was baptized at 28, but my old way of living is so deeply rooted in me that I can slide, without even noticing, back into an old relationship with God : living by guilt, by fear, by performance. The feeling of having to make up for my failures, of being “ someone worthless ” who has to catch up. Even while serving God in a ministry, I can find myself thinking, “ I have to work hard so people don't think badly of me. ” That is bringing back the old mediator, my own performance, in place of Jesus.

While Jesus, my great high priest, offered himself for my sins, I still live like a trembling, chained sinner. I am no longer a slave to sin, and yet I live as though I were still bound by that chain. In my own small way, that is putting Jesus back on the cross.

3. Jesus, the anchor of hope in the sanctuary

How do you hold on within this direct relationship with Jesus ? By clinging to God's promise and oath, just as Abraham did.

“ For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, he swore by himself… And thus Abraham, having patiently waited, obtained the promise… we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us. We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek. ” (Hebrews 6:13-20)

God did two unchangeable things : a promise (“ I will bless you ”) and an oath (God swears by himself). His word alone was already enough. But he adds an oath so that we, his heirs, would be powerfully encouraged.

A human example helps grasp the weight of an oath. In 1914, the British explorer Ernest Shackleton set out with his crew for Antarctica aboard the Endurance. The ship became trapped in the ice and slowly sank. Shackleton swore to his men : “ I will come back for you. ” He set out with a few men in a small lifeboat and faced a merciless sea. Miraculously, he reached South Georgia. Then came trial upon trial : four rescue attempts turned back by ice and storms. On the fourth attempt, four and a half months later, he finally reached the island where his men were waiting. Every single one had survived, because they had believed the word of their leader. In 2022, the wreck of the Endurance was found 3,000 meters down, remarkably well preserved.

If Shackleton, a mere man, kept his oath at the risk of his own life, how much more will God, your Father, keep the promise he made to you ?

That is your anchor. It does not sink into the ocean. It is cast into the heavenly sanctuary, behind the curtain. When you take hold of Jesus as your great high priest and mediator, he himself becomes the way that leads you into the Most Holy Place. Your hope is already up there. No storm can tear your ship away, because Jesus himself holds the anchor.

Why can you keep from shrinking back and run the whole race ? Not because of your own strength, your talent, your knowledge, or the strength of your grip. It is because Jesus himself never lets go of you.

Key takeaways

• Jesus is better than every priest. He is the mediator forever, according to the order of Melchizedek. No other go-between is needed.
• He has given you direct access to God through his one and only sacrifice, once for all.
• Going back to a “ mediator ” such as your performance, your guilt, or your fear denies what Jesus has done.
• Your hope rests on two unchangeable things : God's promise and his oath.
• Your anchor is in heaven, and Jesus himself is the one holding it.

Personal application

1. Today, what “ mediator ” other than Jesus do you place between yourself and God ? (Performance, guilt, other people's opinions, shame, anger…)
2. When this week did you live like a “ still chained slave ” even though Jesus has already set you free ?
3. Can you say every morning : “ God's love does not change. I have nothing to add, nothing to lose. Today, I give my best for him, in peace. ” ?
4. What storm are you going through right now? Can you lift your eyes to the anchor in heaven instead of to your hands gripping the chain?
5. How can you, this week, encourage a brother or sister not to go back to their old way of living?

Verses cited

• Hebrews 8:6, Jesus, mediator of a more excellent covenant
• Hebrews 6:4-6, the solemn warning
• Hebrews 6:9-12, the appeal to the beloved
• Hebrews 6:13-20, the sure and steadfast anchor of the soul
• Hebrews 10:10, sanctified once for all through the offering of Jesus Christ
• Genesis 14:18-20, Melchizedek, king and priest

FAQ

Why does the letter to the Hebrews focus so much on the priesthood?

For the Jews, without a priest, no one could come near to the holy God. A mediator always had to stand between sinful man and God. The author shows that Jesus is that final, great high priest, who connects you directly to God, with no human go-between.

What does Hebrews 6:4-6 mean about the impossibility of returning to repentance?

This passage is not talking about an ordinary sin or a struggling Christian. It targets those who publicly deny Jesus and return to the old system, treating his crucifixion as deserved. By rejecting Jesus as high priest, there is no other way left to atone for sin.

How do you actually live with this anchor of hope?

Every morning, remind yourself that God's love does not depend on your performance. You cannot increase it through your good works or diminish it through your failures. Live your day from the security of already being connected to heaven, not from the fear of being rejected.