God Has Prepared for Them a City

By Dr. James M. Hamilton

Dr. Hamilton has served as Professor of Old Testament Interpretation and Biblical Theology since 2008 at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary.

I would invite you to open this morning to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11, and we will be looking at verses 8–22. As you turn there, I want to remind you briefly of the big idea the author of Hebrews is pressing on his audience.

You remember that we’ve talked about the way this audience has evidently suffered. In fact, if you’re in Hebrews 11, you might be able to see on the page—or the previous page—verse 34, which speaks of how they had compassion on those in prison, and how this resulted in their own property being plundered. And then over in chapter 13, he speaks of how the people of Jesus should “go to him outside the camp, bearing the reproach he endured” (Heb. 13:13). So this is an audience that has suffered in the past for the gospel, and the author expects them to suffer in the future for the gospel.

It seems he is trying to keep them from going back to Judaism, by which they could avoid future suffering. If they were to revert to being identified with the Jews, they could escape persecution, because at this point in history the Romans did not persecute the Jews. The Romans understood Judaism; they understood that the Jews worshiped only their one God. So when the Jews refused to worship the Roman gods, the Romans tolerated it. But the Christians—because they were no longer identified with the Jews—were expected to worship the Roman gods, and when they refused, the Romans persecuted them.

So the message of Hebrews is something like this: I know it’s been bad. I know it may get worse. But don’t go back to Judaism. And I think we can easily translate that big idea into our context: Don’t go back to the worldly way of life out of which the Lord called you when he summoned you to follow Jesus.

If we ask, “What does that look like?” I think the author gives us Old Testament examples in Hebrews 11:8–22 of what it looks like not to go back to the life you left behind.

I’ve suggested that this section of Hebrews runs from 10:19 through 12:25. You remember that in 10:19–25 the author urges three things: in verse 22, draw near to the Lord in the heavenly Holy of Holies; in verse 23, hold fast the confession of our faith; and in verse 24, consider how to stir up one another to love and good deeds. Then, if you look over at chapter 12, he says in verse 22, “You have come to Mount Zion.” The idea is that the Lord is enthroned in the heavenly Mount Zion. At the start of the section he says, “Draw near to the Lord,” and at the end he says, “You have come to Mount Zion.”

So again we can ask, in Hebrews 11:8–22, What does it look like to draw near, to hold fast, and to stir up one another to love and good deeds? And the author answers: It looks like Abraham.

And if we ask, “What does it mean to come to Mount Zion, even though we can’t see it?” he essentially answers with Hebrews 11:1: “Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.” You don’t see Mount Zion. But these Old Testament saints lived for Mount Zion—the City of God, the New Jerusalem.

And if we ask, “Can you tell me more about this ‘better possession’?”—the one mentioned in 10:34, the possession that enables believers to rejoice even when their property is plundered—the author says, in effect, Let me tell you about Abraham.

So look with me at Hebrews 11:8: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance.” Abraham was told, “Go to the land that I will show you,” and he was promised a great name, a great nation, and that he would be a blessing. Believing those promises—having assurance of things hoped for—Abraham obeyed. And being convinced that God would give him what he could not yet see—having conviction of things not seen—he went.

The earlier examples in verses 4–7—Abel, Enoch, Noah—are all men who recognized that what the world offered them was not as good as what God promised them. What the Lord promised was better than what the world offered. Now the author says, This is what that looks like in Abraham’s life. This is what it looks like to know that we have a better and abiding possession. So if they take away our property, we rejoice, because we believe God will make good on his promises.

Verse 8 says Abraham “went out, not knowing where he was going.” The Lord didn’t even specify the destination. But because Abraham knew God and believed his promises, he didn’t need to know where he was going. He trusted the Lord, and he went.

And notice what the author accomplishes by giving Abraham as this example. If you think about what he’s trying to communicate to his audience, he’s setting up a parallel: You have come out of the Jewish synagogue to live for the Lord Jesus in the same way Abraham came out of Ur of the Chaldeans to live for God. And if that’s right, then going back to the synagogue—going back to Judaism—would be like Abraham going back to Ur, which is essentially going back to Babylon. So the author is saying, Don’t go back to Babylon. And ironically, in this moment, Babylon is Judaism—not because Judaism was inherently wicked, but because they rejected their King. By rejecting Jesus the Messiah, they dishonored Abraham, whose seed Jesus is, and they placed themselves under God’s curse, identifying themselves with the seed of the serpent. So the author is saying, Would Abraham go back to Ur and live among the seed of the serpent? No. And neither should you.

Now notice how the author opens and closes this unit (vv. 8–22). Drop your eyes down to verse 22: “By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, made mention of the exodus of the Israelites and gave directions concerning his bones.” Abraham came out of Ur; Joseph looked forward to Israel coming out of Egypt. And in Revelation, Jerusalem is identified with Babylon and Egypt. It’s almost as though the author of Hebrews is doing something similar: just as Joseph looked to the Exodus, so you are looking to the Lord’s final deliverance. And this again identifies the Judaism they left not only with Egypt but also, in Abraham’s case, with Babylon.

And so also, we should think of the wicked world out of which we were called. We should conceptualize the place from which the Lord delivered us when he summoned us to follow Christ in terms of Babylon and Egypt. We have been delivered—symbolically speaking—from the world’s wicked system.

Now pause for a moment and consider what Abraham left—and what Joseph was looking forward to leaving. In Abraham’s case, the Lord commanded him, “Leave your country and your kindred and your father’s house.” That’s everything that makes life comfortable: the land you know, the language you speak, the people who will stand with you in conflict, the family who will protect you, the inheritance and legacy tied to your father’s house. Abraham is summoned to walk away from all of it. It’s as though the Lord is saying, “You cannot get comfortable in this world. You cannot live for this world,” when He calls Abraham to go to the land He will show him.

And then think about Joseph. The author of Hebrews doesn’t say about Joseph exactly what he says about Moses, but the idea is similar. Joseph is lord of Egypt, and yet Moses—just a few verses earlier—chose to be mistreated with the people of God rather than enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin, and he considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt. Joseph’s choice echoes that. He essentially says, “Don’t leave me in one of these lavish pyramids. Don’t bury me with all the wealth the great ones of Egypt take with them. That’s not what I live for. I want to be in the land of promise. I want my bones in the land of promise.”

And the rationale for this, I think, is resurrection hope. Why would Joseph care where his bones were buried unless his hope extended beyond the grave? The same is true for Jacob, and for Abraham and Sarah. Their insistence on burial in the land of promise is like saying, “We believe God will keep His promise. We believe He will keep it even though we die. We believe He will raise the dead and make good on everything He has spoken.”

So in Abraham, who went out from Ur, and in Joseph, who looked toward the Exodus, the author is saying to his readers, “You are like them. You who have followed Jesus are like Abraham and Joseph.” And there’s a subtle exhortation here: Abraham would not go back, and Joseph did not want to stay in a pyramid. So don’t go back. There is nothing for you in the old worldly way of life from which the Lord called you.

And I would invite you to reflect—because I don’t know the answer for you—but I would invite you to ask: What does being a Christian call you to go out from? What does following Christ summon you to leave behind? Perhaps things you don’t want to let go of. Perhaps passing, fleeting pleasures of sin you’re reluctant to release. Perhaps worldly ways of evaluating your status or performance that you still cling to. Being a Christian summons you to a new source of pleasure, a new standard of evaluation, and a new source of identity. We don’t want a home in this world. We don’t want sinful pleasure. We don’t want a worldly identity.

In verses 9–11, the author elaborates on this, and I think he shows that the promise God made to Abraham ultimately points to the new heavens and new earth and the resurrection of the seed of the woman. Look at verse 9: By faith he—Abraham—went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land. He left his country and kindred and went to a place where he didn’t know the customs, didn’t know the languages at first, didn’t know anyone. He lived there as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents. The author is drawing attention to the fact that Abraham likely had a permanent structure—a house—back in Babylon, and now he is a tent dwelling nomad, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, heirs with him of the same promise.

What would motivate someone to do this? Verse 10: For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations. Earlier I asked, “Can you tell us more about this better possession from 10:34?” Here’s the first glimpse: the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

We’ve seen another structure in Hebrews that God—not man—set up. Back in chapter 8, verse 2, we read that the Lord Jesus ministers in the holy places, in the true tent that the Lord set up, not man. In the same way that the heavenly temple was established by God, so this city with foundations has God as its architect and builder. This is what gives rise to the imagery in Revelation: the New Jerusalem descending from God, a perfect cube recalling the Holy of Holies—the final cosmic temple, the dwelling place of God. Just as God built the original creation and the heavenly temple, He has built the New Jerusalem. And in verse 10, the author is saying: That is what Abraham was looking forward to.

This suggests that Abraham discerned that when God said, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father’s house to the land that I will show you,” God was announcing the beginning of the reclamation project. Adam surrendered dominion to the serpent—the very creature he was meant to rule. The serpent is now, as Paul says, the prince of the power of the air. But God is taking it back. And the first step in the reclamation is Abraham going to a land that points to the new creation.

So Abraham can go—not knowing where he is going (v. 8), and not having a permanent dwelling place (v. 9)—because of the promise. Because he is looking forward to the city that has foundations.

We have members of Kenwood who have gone to unpleasant places—places where it is unbearably hot, where fresh fruit is scarce, where the culture is wicked and idolatrous and spiritually oppressive. And what we should pray for them is that they would endure by looking forward to the city that has foundations. That this hope would sustain them.

We have others who have left this little taste of the Garden of Eden—Kenwood Baptist Church—and gone to very unpleasant ecclesiastical situations, churches full of difficult people who have not been taught the Scriptures and perhaps do not believe in Jesus. They act like seed of the serpent. And we should pray that our brothers who pastor in such places would look to the city that has foundations, and that this hope would sustain them. We do not live for the present. We live for the future day.

He was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God.

Verse 11: By faith Sarah herself… The ESV renders this, “received power to conceive.” They’ve interpreted the literal phrase, but the literal wording is significant: Sarah received power for the foundation of the seed. That’s the phrase. She received power for the foundation of the seed. You may think that sounds odd, but the author is highlighting that Isaac is the beginning of the seed born out of death.

Did you notice our call to worship this morning, Isaiah 51:1–2? Isaiah says, “Look to the rock from which you were hewn.” Rocks are dead. He is symbolically speaking of Abraham as a dead rock from which the people came to life. Then he says, “Look to the quarry from which you were dug.” It’s as though they were dug out of the grave. And then he says, “Look to Abraham and Sarah.” It’s almost as though Isaiah is saying Abraham and Sarah were as good as dead.

And look at Hebrews 11:12: “Therefore from one man, and him as good as dead…” The author of Hebrews speaks of Abraham and Sarah the same way Isaiah does, and the same way Moses does when he says in Genesis 11:30, “Now Sarah was barren.” Her womb was dead—dead to the life giving power of bearing children.

So when the author says in verse 11 that Sarah received power for the foundation of the seed, it’s like a grain of wheat falling into the ground and dying and then bearing much fruit. By faith Sarah herself received power to conceive when she was past the age, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. And the same dynamic is at work in Abraham.

Now notice the connection here between the land—the land of promise, which I’m suggesting Abraham understands at some level as pointing to the new creation—and the seed, the seed of promise, which also points forward. I think Abraham grasps, at least in part, that the seed of the woman will bring about the new creation. So at one level, the promise points to the Lord Jesus, and at another level it points to all those who are Abraham’s seed—that is, all believers.

You can see the inheritance theme in the land. In verse 8, he was to receive it as an inheritance, and then in verse 9 he lived there as in a foreign land. And the reason Abraham can do this is the same reason Sarah could do it. Abraham, in verse 10, was looking forward to the city that has foundations—that is, he was believing the promises. Sarah, in verse 11, received power for the foundation of the seed because she considered him faithful who had promised.

And this confronts us with a question, doesn’t it? Do we consider him faithful? Are we convinced enough that the One who promised is faithful that, when they take our stuff, our response will be, “Praise the Lord that I get to suffer for Jesus”—the way the audience of Hebrews suffered for Jesus? When they reproach us for what, in their worldview, are our “harmful” ways of thinking—when they say it’s harmful to insist that you shouldn’t mutilate someone by removing healthy organs because of what’s going on in their mind (I’m talking about sexual reassignment surgery)—we’re the harmful ones. I’m being ironic. But they will reproach us for being harmful, for being bigoted, for not getting on board.

Are we convinced enough of the One who has promised that we’re willing to say, “I will gladly bear the reproach of Christ”? And are we convinced enough that, if you’re in a job interview and they ask, “Are you on board with gay marriage? Are you on board with this or that cultural emphasis?”—are we convinced enough to say, “I will always identify with the Lord Jesus and the teaching of Scripture. I will always say that what he says is right and what he says is wrong”?

And perhaps more pressing for many of us: are we convinced enough that the joys of the city that has foundations, and the trustworthiness of the One of whom Scripture says, “He withholds no good thing from those who walk uprightly,” are enough for us to say no to whatever tempts us? No, I will not indulge that passing pleasure of sin.

It really comes down to this: are we looking to the city that has foundations, and are we considering him faithful who has promised?

So in verses 9–11, the promise pertains to the new heavens and new earth and to the resurrection of the seed of the woman. Now, I think there’s a corresponding unit in verses 17–21, and I think you’ll see the similarities as soon as we look at it. Drop your eyes down to verses 17–21.

Verse 17: “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac.” He—the one connected to the foundation of the seed (remember Sarah receiving power to conceive in verse 11)—he offered up Isaac. And he who had received the promises was in the act of offering up his only son, of whom it was said, “Through Isaac shall your seed be named.” And then verse 19: “He considered that God was able even to raise him from the dead,” and figuratively speaking, he did receive him back.

The author is telling us that when Abraham took Isaac up the mountain, he did so because he believed God could raise him from the dead. If we could have stopped Abraham on the way up and asked, “What are you doing?” he would have said, “I’m doing what God told me to do.” “What will that entail?” “I’m going to put my son to death.” “Isn’t he the child of promise?” “Yes.” “Then how will God keep the promise?” “God will raise him from the dead.”

And if we asked, “What reason do you have for thinking God will raise Isaac from the dead?” I think Abraham would say, “God already brought life out of Sarah’s dead womb.” So there’s a parallel between Sarah’s barren, dead womb bringing forth Isaac, and Abraham offering Isaac up, believing God would raise him to keep the promise. The author says “figuratively speaking”—we could translate that “parabolically,” like a parable. A parable sets a story next to a reality to illuminate the reality. So it’s as though Isaac was raised from the dead when the ram was provided in his place.

And again, there’s a twofold correspondence: first, with the Lord Jesus, the seed of promise. Mary wasn’t barren like Sarah, but she was a virgin—God brought life where life could not naturally come. Jesus was offered up, slain, and God raised him from the dead. And second, with all the descendants of Abraham: God has caused life from the dead to happen in us when we are born again. There’s resurrection everywhere in this passage.

If you are a believer—if you are a true believer—your faith is resurrection faith. Your faith is life-from-the-dead faith. If God can bring life from death—if, as Paul says in Romans 4, he calls into being things that do not exist—then nothing is impossible for him. If he can give you life out of death, resurrection faith, then there is nothing he cannot do.

Look again at verse 17: “By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac.” I think the author wants to highlight Abraham’s willingness to lose anything in obedience to the Lord. Abraham is trusting the Lord no matter what. And this is confrontational for us, isn’t it? It asks us whether our confidence in God is such that we will obey him whatever he calls us to do. That’s the kind of faith we need: ready obedience to whatever the Lord commands.

And we want to have faith that God has raised the seed from the dead—like he did with Isaac at his birth and when Abraham offered him up. That resurrection faith points to our resurrection and our enjoyment of the city that has foundations.

Now, I think the central unit of this text is in verses 12–16. It’s interesting how before and after this unit you have all these “by faith” statements: verse 8, verse 9, verse 11; then verse 17, verse 20, verse 21, verse 22. Let me pick up verses 20–21 before we look at the central section. Verse 20: “By faith Isaac invoked future blessings on Jacob and Esau.” Isaac is looking to the future, announcing blessings over his sons in light of the future resurrection. Verse 21: “By faith Jacob, when dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph, bowing in worship over the head of his staff.” Again, Jacob is looking to the future, to the way God will keep his promises.

And the author really explains what’s going on with all these people in verses 12–16. So look back at verse 12: “Therefore, from one man—and him as good as dead…” Literally the text says “being dead,” and the translators soften it to “as good as dead” so no one misunderstands. The author means Abraham’s reproductive capacity was dead, though physically he was alive. From this one man “were born descendants as many as the stars of heaven and as many as the innumerable grains of sand by the seashore.” You remember Genesis 15: God says, “Go outside. Look at the stars. Count them if you can. So shall your offspring be.” And elsewhere he promises descendants as numerous as the sand on the seashore.

Verse 13: “These all died in faith.” I think “these all” refers to Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and the rest. They all died in faith, not having received the things promised. They lived for the new heavens and new earth, for the resurrection from the dead, and they didn’t receive those things before their bodies expired. But they saw them and greeted them from afar, acknowledging that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

In other words, verse 10 says Abraham was looking forward to the city that has foundations. Or, as 10:34 puts it, “you yourselves know that you have a better possession and an abiding one.” That’s what it looks like to see these things and greet them from afar.

And when the author says they “acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles,” the word rendered having acknowledged is another form of the word for confession in 10:23—“let us hold fast our confession.” It’s as though they made the good confession: We do not live for this world. Abraham didn’t go back to Ur of the Chaldeans. Joseph didn’t settle down in Egypt. They confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

Now look back at verse 12, and let me offer an application question. “From one man, and him as good as dead…” What power is at work in the birth of Isaac? Is it Abraham’s potency? No—Abraham is impotent. So it is not Abraham’s power that brings Isaac into the world.

What power is at work in our walk of faith? Are we doing this by our own effort? Are we simply trying harder to keep believing? Or are we, like Abraham, impotent for that? I think we are. And the Lord Jesus said, “Apart from me you can do nothing.” We need the life giving Word of God spoken into us to make us alive. We need that for our initial conversion. We need it for our ongoing sanctification. We need it for everything we attempt as we seek the kingdom. We cannot do this on our own power or cleverness. It cannot rest on us.

Then verse 13: “These all died in faith, not having received the things promised.” Why does he tell his audience this? Because they are tempted to go back to Judaism for peace, safety, and freedom from persecution. And he’s saying, “Look at the Old Testament faithful—they died in faith without receiving the promises.”

So let me ask: does verse 13 point to an earthly realization of the kingdom of God prior to the return of Christ? No. I don’t know about you, but the answer seems obviously no. Yet there are people today running around insisting that we are going to bring in the kingdom. I think the Bible testifies against them.

Now look at verse 14. I think verse 14 is the heart of the whole passage. “For people who speak thus…” How do they speak?

Consider Abraham: More important to me than my country, my kindred, my father’s house—more important even than the ongoing life of my beloved son—is God, and living for Him, and doing whatever He calls me to do.

Consider Sarah: More important to me than what makes sense to me—more important than my safety or peace in this world—is God and what He has promised. Babies born to barren women do not make sense. She laughed when God said she would have a child. But she came to believe Him.

People who speak thus—people who speak like this—make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. And the homeland the author has in mind is the new and better Garden of Eden. Our fundamental problem is that Adam sinned and we were driven out of the presence of God. We were made for Eden. We long for Eden. But none of us lives in Eden. We are all seeking a homeland. The question is: where will you seek it? Will you seek the new and better Eden as your true homeland? Or will you pretend that Louisville—or Babylon, or Egypt—is the new and better Garden of Eden?

Luke and I were recently in Egypt. You can ask him—Egypt is nothing like the Garden of Eden.

You don’t want a substitute. You don’t want a cheap, worldly, satanic imitation of the real thing. You want the true homeland.

“People who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.” Verse 15: “If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.” Abraham could have gone back. He didn’t. Why? Verse 16: “As it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.” Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for He has prepared for them a city.

A better possession (10:34).

A city that has foundations (11:10).

A homeland (11:14).

A better country, a heavenly one (11:16).

And John resolves this for us when he describes the New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven, heaven and earth united at last, the New Jerusalem as the Holy of Holies of the new cosmic temple. God has prepared for them a city. Notice in 11:16 he says, “As it is, they desire a better country.” Let me run through the author’s use of this word better throughout the letter. It’s not always translated “better,” but it’s the same term:

• 1:4 — Jesus has inherited a name better than the angels. • 6:9 — “We are persuaded of better things concerning you.” • 7:7 — The lesser (Abraham!) is blessed by the better (Melchizedek). • 7:19 — Jesus introduces a better hope. • 7:22 — A better covenant. • 8:6 — A better covenant enacted on better promises. • 9:23 — Brought about with better sacrifices. • 10:34 — A better possession. • 11:16 — A better country. • 11:35 — A better resurrection. • 11:40 — God has provided something better for us. • 12:24 — The blood of Jesus speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.

So how do we apply this? We practice. When something is difficult, we practice. We discipline ourselves in the skill of setting side by side the better hope, the better kingdom, the better country—everything that is better—next to whatever temptation says, “You can have this now.” When we set them side by side, there is no comparison.

And we practice this by hiding the Word in our hearts, by going over it again and again. Like learning a piece of footwork in dance or sport: you take your feet through it slowly, learning where they go, how to shift your weight, which muscles to engage. Then you get faster. This is what we must practice: setting side by side the things that tempt us with what we stand to gain by faithfulness. We want to long for the better country, and we need to practice longing for it.

The author is essentially saying: Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham and Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph—and in the next section, Moses—they all lived for the better possession, the city that has foundations, the homeland, the better heavenly country, the city of Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem. And you should too.

Let’s pray.

Lord, give us grace. Cause the Word to be to our souls like your word of command, “Let there be light.” Make it happen, we pray. Make us those who speak thus and demonstrate that we are seeking a homeland. Do this for the glory of your great name and for our deep satisfaction in all the good things you lavishly bestow on those who fear you. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.

This article is based upon a verbatim transcript of a sermon by Dr. James Hamilton. It has been lightly edited for conciseness by Copilot AI, as well as the Theological Staff at Third Millennium Ministries.