THE ANCHOR

Hebrews 6:18-20

It is thought that the word comes from Latin or Greek origin. The Greek word is "anghura" according to Robert Young. I have seen various anchors in some of the Western seaport cities. They come in various sizes and configurations. Some are said to weigh 20 tons.

Serving in the Navy, and aboard a ship, I learned something about the anchor even though that was not the area in which I was trained. There are three areas I wish to emphasize:

(1) "anchor aweigh" means to reel in the anchor and lift it from the bottom. The old song famous in WW 2 was 'Anchor's Aweigh' - - - it meant you were shipping out.

(2) at anchor means the anchor has been lowered and you have moved away from it so it can plow it's blade or fluke into the ocean bottom and the ship is secured from drifting.

(3) dragging anchor is a sad state of affairs - - - the ship is adrift because the anchor is not securely embedded in the ocean floor.

I experienced the 'anchor aweigh' - - - it gives you an empty feeling if what you loved is left behind. One incident in Yokohama Bay soon after the surrender of Japan is an example of # 1 & #2 as mentioned above. One night a fierce storm raged: and sometime after midnight as we were "at anchor"; another destroyer was "dragging anchor" and drifted into our ship doing some damage and causing great anxiety among the crew.

Some of them who had been on the ship before in Leyte Bay were traumatized, and rightly so. Such is the saga of this kind of anchor.

There IS an anchor which cannot be dragged or fail in any way. For those ". . . who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us: Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an high priest for ever . . .", Hebrews 6:18-20.

I like Vs.2 of Edward Mote's grand hymn: ". . . I rest on His unchanging grace; In every high and stormy gale, My anchor holds within the veil." DDH
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