one in perplexity reaches out to lay hold of
something. But the text which I quoted in the beginning says that this
hope which we have as an anchor to the soul lays hold of something, and
that something is the Lord Jesus Christ. It is like the ship whose
anchor goes down, far below the waves, deep down out of sight, and lays
hold of the rocks which form the foundation of the earth. So the faith
of the Christian is staid, not on things which are seen, but on the
things which are not seen. As the text expresses it, it lays hold of
those things "which entereth into that which is within the veil." That
is, this figure refers to the Temple at Jerusalem, where the Holy of
Holies was concealed from the rest of the Temple by a large curtain or
veil, and no one was permitted to go into this Holy of Holies except the
High Priest, and he but once a year. But when you and I have the faith
of the Christian, although we may not be able to enter into the great
mystery of God's grace and mercy, yet our faith lays hold of that which
is beyond our understanding, and beyond our possibility to see or fully
to comprehend, and thus our faith lays hold of that which is "within the
veil." With our understanding, you and I cannot enter into the mysteries
of God, but by faith we can enter into them. I trust that every boy and
girl here will have that faith in God, which will be as an anchor to his
soul, sure and steadfast, entering within the veil at all times.

I will tell you how this anchor of faith and hope can be of service to
you. There are times when you see other boys and girls who have many
more comforts and luxuries and possessions than you have. You may even
be discouraged sometimes because you think your lot in life is more than
usually hard and difficult.

When I myself was a boy, my father died, and only three years later my
mother died. I was left an orphan and without a home. I had to become an
errand boy in a store, and for a number of years I had a hard struggle.
I was a Christian boy, and I had this anchor of faith and hope. I
trusted in God that He would make all of these things to work out
eventually for my good. I could not at that time understand how. It was
beyond my understanding, but later on in life I found how all the trials
and struggles of my earlier years had worked together for my good. I
understood that passage of Scripture which says: "All things work
together for good to them that love God." (Romans viii: 28.)