Hebrews 6:13-20

v13-14: God’s promises “are all confirmed by the oath of God.” God “has given His people not only his word... but also his oath.” The oath given to Abraham, “as the father of the faithful, remains in full force to all true believers.” The promise God made, confirmed by His oath, is to bless His people.

v15: “There is always an interval... between the promise and the fulfilment.” The purpose of this period between promise and fulfilment is to test us to see whether we “have the patience to endure to the end.” If we do, we will receive the full blessing of God.

v16-17: God intends that the oath given would encourage us to “wait patiently” for Him to keep His promise.

v18: Knowing that God’s purposes are unchangeable, for “God never needs to change his purposes” as “nothing new can arise to the One who sees the end from the beginning,” should encourage us to stay faithful to God even in the face of “temptation, persecution, and death.”

v19-20: “In this world, we are like a ship at sea, liable to being tossed up and down and in danger of being shipwrecked” as we sail towards the harbour of heaven. The wind and waves that threaten to shipwreck us are “the temptations, persecutions, adversities, and sufferings we encounter.” What do we need? “We need an anchor to keep us firm and secure” and this anchor is the hope we have in the gospel. In His resurrection and ascension to heaven, Jesus has, as “the forerunner of his people,” gone “to prepare a place for them” and to “assure them that they will follow him.”