Read Hebrews 6:13–20
ALSO IN SCRIPTURE
“Then they cut loose the anchors and left them in the sea.” (Acts 27:40 NLT)
Symbols carry memory and meaning far beyond words. The Church has always leaned on them—sometimes hidden in plain sight, sometimes dismissed or distorted. Yet the most powerful symbols are those that subvert the world’s expectations and draw us back to the radical heart of the Gospel. In this series, we’ll look closer at the sacred signs that shock, unsettle, and ultimately call us deeper into Christ.
Part 14: Anchor. Among the earliest followers of Jesus, the anchor was a secret cross—etched into tombs and catacombs to mark hope when hope was dangerous. To believers hunted by empire, it meant endurance. It meant, Hold fast. Christ has you. The symbol was born of storms and shipwrecks, of faith that refused to drift.
But over the centuries, that holy weight became decoration. The anchor moved from the catacombs to jewelry, from graves to church logos. It became a brand for stability and success—a symbol of safety rather than surrender. Somewhere along the way, we stopped asking what we’re anchored to.
The truth is, not every anchor holds holy ground. Some keep us safe; others keep us stuck. Faith calls us to discern where we’ve dropped anchor—in Christ or in comfort. Many believers cling to the harbor, mistaking calm waters for faithfulness. But safety and stagnation are not the same thing. Hope isn’t about hiding from the waves; it’s about trusting God when they rise.
The same can be said of churches. Congregations often pride themselves on being “rooted,” when in reality, they’re anchored to nostalgia. They drop anchor in the wrong waters—refusing to drift with the Spirit, to change course when God calls. Some cling to the past as if Christ can only be found there. But an anchor set in the silt of yesterday will corrode the hull. God’s mission is steady, but God’s movement is constant.
Even anchors have more than one use. A sailor knows that how you anchor determines whether you survive the storm.
- A full drop holds the ship still. Sometimes that’s necessary—when chaos swirls, when faith must simply endure.
- A partial drop, or drag anchor, slows the drift without stopping it—allowing guidance and motion at once. Some seasons of faith require just that balance: grounded yet open to God’s next wind.
- A sea anchor doesn’t touch the bottom at all; it steadies the ship’s direction in the middle of raging waves. That’s the anchor of trust—it doesn’t stop movement but keeps us facing Christ.
- And sometimes, as in Acts 27, the only faithful act is to cut loose the anchors entirely. When the Spirit says move, the ropes that once held us safe must be left behind.
We anchor our souls to many things—success, certainty, ideology, even religion itself—and call it faith. But the anchor of Christ is different. It steadies us without trapping us. It roots us in hope, not fear. It keeps us facing God, not chained to the shore.
The anchor is a paradox. It holds us fast, but it can also hold us back. The question isn’t whether we’re anchored—it’s where.
Hope that clings to control is not hope at all. True hope lets go when God calls. The same Jesus who calmed the sea also walked on it, showing us that faith isn’t about finding still water—it’s about trusting who stands above it.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY
Hope isn’t found in what keeps us still, but in the One who holds us fast when we move.PRAYER
Steadfast God, anchor us in your love, not in our fear. Teach us when to hold and when to release. Keep us facing you in every storm and free us from the false anchors that weigh us down. May our faith steady the world not through control, but through trust. Amen.
Devotion written by Rev. Todd R. Lattig with the assistance of ChatGPT (OpenAI).