… ⁶ but Christ was faithful as a Son over His house—whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the boast of our hope firm until the end.

Incomparable comparison, that’s what this is, as we’ve written before. As great as the patriarch, Jesus Christ is infinitely greater than Moses in the same way that the son of the house-owner is greater than the greatest servant in the house. The son, being intimately and legally connected with the owner of the house has authority “over” the household. He is not just an authority among the servants as a fellow-servant, He is the authority. Compare the owner of a company with his top employee. Compare a real live person with his own portrait—one is made of flesh and blood, the other made out of chemicals on paper. Compare the potter and the clay (cp. Rom 9:21).

Now, Moses’ house and the Son’s house overlap, and figuratively speaking they hold in common all those of faith, whether loyal Jews in the Old Testament situation or those in New Testament times who embrace Christ and His grace through the cross.

Sometimes, however, in conventional language usage, words or concepts are used in a broader sense. For example, an evangelist preaching in church on a Sunday morning might say, “You must repent and be saved.” He does not at all imply that everyone there needs to do this, for some have already done it and do not need to do it again. But, the vineyard has its weeds (or “tares” Matthew 13), that still need to hear the message. We understand the evangelist to be speaking to those who are not yet saved. He might even say, “We are saved by the blood of Christ,” referring to Christians or even referring rhetorically to the truth of the gospel. So too, in the book of Hebrews, the writer refers to his readers as “beloved” (6:9). But at times he speaks to those in the faith community who are not truly believers.

In our passage today, the author writes with a distinction in mind that says, “If the shoe fits, wear it.” What do I mean? Some feel that he challenges all Christians to hold fast in order to keep their salvation secure “until the end.” We disagree with that interpretation. Otherwise there would be no true assurance of salvation until death, to prove whether or not we held fast “until the end.” However, the point could be paraphrased this way: “If you hold fast your confidence like a Christian, and boast of your hope like a Christian, then you must be a Christian, for that is where the evidence points.” My faith at times may be weak but it won’t be snuffed out. God is faithful even when we are not (2 Tim 2:13).