Hebrews 6:13-20

God's promise to Abraham

13 God made a promise to Abraham many years ago. God used the authority of his own name to show that his promise was true. He did that because there was nobody greater than God himself. His name showed that the promise was very serious. 14 God said to Abraham, ‘I will certainly bless you. I will give you many children and many, many grandchildren.’ 15 Abraham waited patiently for a long time. In the end, he received what God had promised to give him.

6:15Abraham and his wife wanted a son. But they could not have a child, and they were becoming very old. Then God promised to give Abraham a son, and many grandchildren. See Genesis 12:2; 13:16; 15:4. Even though it was difficult to believe that he would have children, Abraham believed what God said.

16 When someone makes a strong promise, he uses the authority of a person who is greater than himself. This shows that he will certainly obey his promise. Then nobody can argue about it. 17 God wanted to show very clearly that he would never change his purpose. He wanted his people to know that he would certainly bless them. So when he made this promise, he also used his own name to make it strong. 18 Those two things can never change. God cannot tell a lie. As a result, we can be brave and strong. We have trusted God to keep us safe with him. We should also expect to receive the good things that he has promised to give us.

19 We can be completely sure about those good things that we hope to receive. That keeps our thoughts strong, because we know that our life is safe with God. It is like an anchor that keeps a ship safe. When we hope like that, we know that we will one day arrive in God's special place in heaven. That is like the special place behind the curtain in the tabernacle. 20 Jesus has already gone in there. He has gone there before us, on our behalf. He has become our special priest for ever, in the same way that Melchizedek was God's priest.

6:19A ship with an anchor is safe, because it cannot move. When we trust Jesus, we can be completely sure about what God has promised us. God has promised to give us life with him for ever because of Jesus.
6:20In the Old Testament God told his people to build a special house where they could worship him. Behind a curtain in that house there was a very special place that belonged to God himself. Only the leader of the priests could go into that room, on one special day each year. See Leviticus 16:2 and Hebrews 9:7. That special house was like a picture of what is really true in heaven, where God himself lives. Jesus is our special priest. When he died on the cross, God tore that curtain into two pieces. See Matthew 27:51. This showed that Jesus had opened the way to heaven for us. Jesus brings us near to God himself. See also Hebrews 8:1-9:28.