St. Paul compares hope to an anchor because hope accomplishes for the soul the same thing, which an anchor does for a ship. An anchor preserves a ship when the waves beat and the wind blows and as long as the anchor holds, so long the ship is safe, and the mariner apprehends no danger. It is so with our souls; in the tempests and trials of life, our mind is calm as long as our hope of heaven is firm. If that gives way, all is lost.
