Anchor

Anchor [SHIP]

Anchor. Act 27:29.

(ἄγκυρα), the instrument fastened in the bottom of the sea to hold a vessel firm during a storm (Act 27:29-30; Act 27:40); from which passage it appears that the vessels of Roman commerce had several anchors, and that they were attached to the stern as well as prow of the boat (see Conybeare and Howson, St. Paul, 2, 335). The anchors used by the Romans were for the most part made of iron, and their form resembled that of the modern anchor. The anchor as here represented, and as commonly used, was called bidens, because it had two teeth or flukes. Sometimes it had one only. The following expressions were used for the three principal processes in managing the anchor: Ancoram solvere, ἄγκυραν χαλᾶν, “to loose the anchor;” Ancoram jacere, βάλλειν, ῥίπτειν, “to cast anchor;” Ancoram tollere, αἴρειν, ἀναιρεῖσθαι, ἀνάσπασθαι, “to weigh anchor.” The anchor usually lay on the deck, and was attached to a cable (funis), which passed through a hole in the prow, termed oculus. In the heroic times of Greece we find large stones, called εὐναί (sleepers), used instead of anchors (Hom. Iliad, 1, 436). See SHIP.

In Heb 6:19, the word anchor is used metaphorically for a spiritual support in times of trial or doubt; a figure common to modern languages. SEE HOPE.

Anchor

(as a symbol). By the early Christians we find the anchor used sometimes with reference to the stormy ocean of human life, but more often to the tempests and the fierce blasts of persecution which threatened to ingulf-the ship of the Church. Thus the anchor is one of the most ancient of emblems; and we find it engraved on rings, and depicted on monuments and on the walls of cemeteries in the Catacombs, as a type of the hope by which the Church stood firm in the midst of the storms which surrounded it. In this, as in other cases, Christianity adopted a symbol from paganism, with merely the change of application.

The symbols on sepulchral tablets often contain allusions to the name of the deceased. An anchor upon tituli bearing names derived from Spes, has been found a number of times. (De’ Rossi, De Monum. etc. p. 18; Mai, Collect. Vatican. p. 449). In some cases, above the transverse bar of the anchor stands the letter E, probably the abbreviation of the word Elpis. Further, we find the anchor associated with the fish, the symbol of the Saviour. It is clear that the union of the two symbols expresses “hope in Jesus Christ” — a formula common on Christian tablets.

The transverse bar below the ring gives the upper part of the anchor the appearance of a crux ansata [see Cross]; and perhaps this form may have had as much influence in determining the choice of this symbol by the Christians as the words of Paul. The anchor appears, as is natural, very frequently upon the tombs of martyrs (see Lupi, Severoe Epitaph. p. 136 sq.; Boldetti. Osservaz. p. 366, 370).

The anchors used by the ancients were in shape somewhat like the modern ones, as may be seen on some of the coins. When Paul was on his way to Rome, four anchors were needed to hold the ship. Act 27:29-30; Act 27:40. The anchor is used metaphorically for the hope set before the Christian, it enters into that within the veil, and is sure and steadfast. It was a great thing for the Hebrew believers to have their eyes turned to heaven; the anchor of their hope was there; no matter what storms they might meet with, the realisation of their hope was certain if set on Christ. Heb 6:19.

ANCHOR.—See Ships and Boats.

(Greek: ankyra, hook)

A symbol of hope, because it is an aid to mariners in danger of shipwreck. It was a favorite emblem in the early Church and is found frequently in the catacombs and elsewhere, often with a dolphin intertwined as a symbol of Christ. In modern religious art it is an emblem of Saint Rose of Lima, steadfast in hope and courage in spite of great sufferings, Saint Philomena, on whose tomb in the catacombs it was found inscribed, and Pope Saint Clement, miraculously freed when cast into the sea with an anchor bound to him.

aṇ´kẽr. See SHIPS.

(figurative)* [Note: For anchor in the literal sense see art. Ship.]

In Heb_6:19 the writer describes the hope set before the Christian, to which he has just referred in the preceding verse, as ‘an anchor of the soul.’ The use of an anchor as a figure of hope was not new, for it is found in pre-Christian Greek and Latin authors, and an anchor appears on ancient pagan medals as an emblem of hope. The figure would naturally suggest itself to any one who reflected on the nature and power of the faculty of hope. For it is of the essence of hope to reach into the future and lay hold of an invisible object, as an anchor drops into the sea and catches hold of the unseen bottom. Hope has power to keep the soul from wavering in times of storm and stress, just as an anchor by its firm grip keeps the ship from drifting with the winds and tides. But Christian hope reaching out towards the eternal world is something much greater than our familiar human hopes of blessings yet unrealized; and the use which this writer made of an anchor to represent the hope of the Christian soul at once transformed the figure (as the Catacombs bear witness) into one of the dearest symbols of the Christian religion.

Simple and beautiful as the figure is, however, some exegetical difficulties have to be faced in determining the extent of its application in the passage. These difficulties are reflected in the various renderings of Authorized Version and Revised Version . In the original the word ‘hope’ of Heb_6:18 is not repeated in Heb_6:19. Strictly rendered, the verse runs, ‘which we have as an anchor of the soul both sure and stedfast and entering into that within the veil’-a statement which has been understood in two different ways. Authorized Version , by supplying ‘hope’ at the beginning of the verse, makes ‘sure and stedfast’ apply to the anchor, and by introducing a comma at this point leaves it doubtful whether the anchor is also to be thought of as entering within the veil. Revised Version , by inserting ‘a hope’ immediately after ‘soul,’ limits the figure to a declaration that hope is an anchor of the soul, and makes the three epithets ‘sure,’ ‘stedfast,’ and ‘entering’ apply to hope itself and not to its symbol the anchor. The most obvious construction of the Gr. vindicates Revised Version in making the three epithets hang together as all relating to one subject. On the other hand, Authorized Version is so far supported by the fact that ἀóöáëῆ and âåâáßáí (lit. [Note: literally, literature.] ‘not failing’ and ‘firm’) suggest that the idea of an anchor was immediately in the writer’s mind. It is probably right, therefore, to conclude that he means to say that the anchor is sure, steadfast, and entering into that which is within the veil, viz. the Holy of Holies. This is really a mixture of metaphors-the metaphor of an anchor entering into the unseen world to which Christian hope clings, and another metaphor by which the Holy of Holies becomes a type of that world unseen. But, in view of what the writer says at a later stage about the Most Holy Place with its ark of the covenant and cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy-seat (Heb_9:4 f.) as a pattern of heaven itself where Christ appears before God on our behalf (Heb_9:24), the figurative faultiness of the language is more than atoned for by its rich suggestiveness as to the Christian’s grounds of hope with regard to the world to come. It is the appearance of our great High Priest ‘before the face of God for us,’ he means to say, that is the ultimate foundation of the Christian hope. Cf. John Knox on his death-bed calling to his wife, ‘Go read where I cast my first anchor!’ with reference to our Lord’s intercessory prayer in John 17. Cf. also his answer, when they asked him at the very end, ‘Have you hope?’ ‘He lifted his finger, “pointed upwards with his finger,” and so died’ (Carlyle, Heroes, 1872, p. 140).

Literature.-The Comm. on Hebrews, esp. A. B. Davidson’s; Expositor, 3rd ser. x. 45ff.

J. C. Lambert.

Heb 6:19 (a) This figure represents the firm hold that faith has in the Rock of Ages. This Rock is inside the veil with GOD. Our faith reaches through the waters of trouble, difficulty, darkness and despair to firmly grasp the Son of GOD and His Word. By this faith we are kept from being swept away in the storms of life.