The Symbolism of the
  Anchor
by Rick E. Gustafson MPS

    It was late October 1991 and the phone rang.
    "Daddy, it's for you,"shouted out my four year old daughter Erica as she
handed me the receiver.
    "Hi Rick, this is Jim Justus," was the greeting, "I have a question for 
you."
    "Hi Jim, how can I help you?" I asked.
    "Last Monday night I gave the Entered Apprentice slide lecture at St.
John's Lodge No. 24," Jim explained. "The candidate, a former merchant Marine, 
asked me about one of the slides."
    "That's interesting,"I said. "They're usually half asleep by the time of 
the slide lecture."
    "Yeah right, how true," Jim chuckled. "Well anyway, he wanted to know the
significance of the anchor in the slide explaining  the Clouded Canopy  or
Starry Decked Heavens. I told him I never noticed it before and would make
some inquiries."
    "I never noticed it either," I said, "This intrigues me. Let me check it 
out and I'll get back to you."
    So began my search for the symbolism of the anchor. Not having the set of 
slides at my immediate disposal, I checked Allen Roberts' book The Craft and 
Its Symbols: Opening the Door to Masonic Symbolism. Sure enough, page 28 shows 
a picture of the slide. Granted, it wasn't exactly the same slide as used in 
Wisconsin, but it included all the essential components. It depicted a ladder 
with its several rungs leading to heaven. Next to the ladder slept Jacob, 
signifying that the image was the vision in his dream. The first four rounds 
were marked T,F, P and J which I quickly associated with the four Cardinal 
Virtues - Temperance, Fortitude, Prudence and Justice. A shield containing a 
cross, an anchor (yes, here it was), and a heart marked the next three rounds. 
I deduced these as the 'three principal rounds' which Masonic ritual tells us 
are Faith, Hope and Charity. Roberts explains that Charity, if interchanged 
with Love, brings the meaning of the ritual to life as Love is eternal while 
Charity may end with the giving of alms. Thus, the rounds admonish us to have 
Faith in God, Hope in immortality and Charity, or Love, to all mankind.
    The symbols of the cross and heart have logical connections to faith and 
charity (or love) respectively. But why is the anchor a symbol of hope? My 
search continued.
    Wisconsin's explanation for the slide in the Master Mason degree picture 
lecture depicting the Anchor and the Ark is "The Anchor and Ark are emblems of 
a well-grounded Hope and a well spent Life. They are emblematical of that Di-
vine Ark which safely wafts us over this tempestuous sea of troubles, and that
Anchor which shall safely moor us in a peaceful harbor, where the wicked cease
from troubling and the weary shall find rest." This explanation connects the 
anchor to the idea of hope.
    Further exploration of the anchor's symbolism took me to the Encyclopedia 
of Freemasonry by Albert Mackey and Symbolical Masonry, An Interpretation of 
the Three Degrees by H.L. Haywood. Both verified the anchor as a symbol of 
hope. I found additional information in the June 1949 issue of the Masonic 
Service Association's Short Talk Bulletin - Anchor and Ark. From that 
publication, we find that the anchor is an ancient device. The metal anchor in 
the form we now know it was in use in ancient Rome before Paul's time. The 
Greek Stoic Philosopher Epictetus, who taught in Rome, connected ship and 
anchor to hope and said "We ought neither to fasten our ship to one small 
anchor nor our life to a single hope."
    Much of Freemasonry's symbolism parallels biblical symbolism. There are,
however, no references to the anchor in the Old Testament and only four refer-
ences to it in the New Testament. The quotation from Hebrews, Chapter 6 verses 
18-19 is generally accepted as having made the anchor a Christian symbol of 
hope. It reads, "That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for 
God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, 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 steadfast, and which entereth into that within the veil."
    This same passage as interpreted in The Living Bible goes "He has given us
both his promise and his oath, two things we can completely count on, for it 
is impossible for God to tell a lie. Now all those who flee to him to save 
them can take new courage when they hear such assurances from God; now they 
can know without doubt that he will give them the salvation he has promised
them. This certain hope of being saved is a strong and trustworthy anchor for
our souls, connecting us with God himself behind  the  sacred  curtains  of
heaven."
    Books on church and Christian symbolism further connect the anchor to 
hope. In his book Church Symbolism: An Explanation of the More Important 
Symbols of the Old and New Testament, the Primitive, the Medieval and the 
Modern Church, Frederick R. Webber describes the anchor as one of the oldest 
of all the symbols of our Blessed Savior. Always shown forming a cross, it 
originated in the days of the catacombs. This anchor-cross, found on the 
earliest Christian burial monuments is the symbol of our hope in Jesus Christ.
A cross, an anchor and a heart are the usual emblems of Faith, Hope and Char-
ity. This information strengthens the symbolism found in the slide depicting
the shield with the cross, anchor and the heart as the three principal rounds 
of Jacob's ladder.
    The explanation of the anchor gets more involved in The Encyclopedia of 
Religion. The author of the article, Elaine Magalis states that the anchor's 
religious significance became paramount only with the growth of Christianity 
and did not become a Christian symbol until well into roman times. As a symbol 
of steadfastness and hope, the anchor became one of the commonest symbols in 
the catacombs and on early Christian jewelry and seal stones. When the anchor
appeared with the letters alpha and omega, it represented eternal hope. It
represented hope in Christ when appearing with a fish. When combined with the
dolphin, it came to mean either the Christian soul or the church guided by
Christ. The speedy dolphin, represented with the anchor, illustrated 
Augustine's motto "Festinalente" or "Make haste slowly."
    Another early use of the symbol was to identify one of the earliest 
bishops of Rome. Legend has it that the persecutors of Bishop Clement tied an 
anchor around his neck and threw him into the sea. His followers prayers made 
the waters withdraw revealing a small temple where his body was found. He was 
frequently  portrayed  with  an anchor around his neck or beside him.
    As a symbol, the anchor's popularity grew until the medieval period at 
which time it largely disappeared. It reappeared as a symbol of Nicholas of 
Myra because of his patronage of sailors. As the attribute of hope, it 
represented one of the seven virtues in Renaissance art.
    Other more exotic ideas grew up around the anchor in some forms of magic 
and mysticism. Magalis states that Evelyn Jobes, in her Dictionary of
Mythology, Folklore and Symbols, describes the bottom of the anchor as a 
crescent moon (representing the ark, boat, nave, vulva, yoni, or female 
principle) in which is placed the mast (representing the lingam, phallus, or 
male principle), around which the serpent (representing fertility or life) 
entwines itself. With the crossbeam, the parts add up to the mystic number 
four. Thus, the anchor also symbolizes the four quarters of the universe,
as well as the center of both the sun and the world. The entire symbol 
expresses the idea of androgyny and the union that results in new life.
    Finally, our Masonic ritual tells us that hope ends in fruition. One 
meaning of fruition is the enjoyment of something attained or realized. The 
realization that the symbolism of the anchor is indeed hope, brings to a close 
yet another of those allegories which unfolds its beauties to the candid and 
industrious inquirer.
      
      Bibliography.

Eliade, Mircea, Editor in Chief. The encyclopedia of Religion. New York. 
 Macmillian Publishing Co. 1987.
Grand Lodge F.& A.M. of Wisconsin. Multiple Letter Cipher. Dousman, WI. Grand
 Lodge Publications. 1987.
Haywood, HL. Symbolical Masonry: An Interpretation of The Three Degrees. 
 Washington D.C. The Masonic Service Association of the United States. 1923.
The Living Bible. Wheaton, IL. Tyndale House Publisher. 1971.
Mackey, Albert G. Encyclopedia of Freemasonry and its Kindred Sciences. 
 McClure Publishing 1917
The Masonic Service Association of the United States. Short Talk Bulletin -
 Anchor and Ark. Volume XXVII No. 6. Washington D.C. Masonic Service 
 Association. June 1949.
Roberts, Allen E. The Craft and Its Symbols: Opening the Door to Masonic 
 Symbolism. Richmond, VA. Macoy Publishing and Supply Co., Inc. 1974.
Webber, Frederick R. Church Symbolism; An Explanation of the More Important 
 Symbols of the Old and New Testament, the Primitive, the Medieval and the 
 Modern Church. Cleveland. J.H. Hanson. 1938.

