Colossians 1:5 – Hope Stored

...because of the hope being stored for you in heaven which you heard before in the word of the truth of the Gospel...

In the last post, we discussed the meaning of hope as a theological virtue that God infuses into our souls that we may desire and expect from Him eternal life and all the grace we need to attain it (Catechism Glossary). This hope, we learn from Paul, or rather, the object of this hope, is being stored for us in Heaven.

What does it mean for hope to be stored? The Greek word here is apokeimenēn. It is a present participle of the verb apokeimai, and it modifies the noun elpida, hope. The verb carries a range of meanings: to be stored, to be reserved, to be put away, to be awaiting, and to be appointed. Its present aspect (or tense) in this verse probably refers to something going on right now and continually or habitually, something that is in process. The participle directly applies to elpida, hope.

So we have a hope being _____ right now in this moment and continually in an ongoing process. But how do we fill in the blank?

We might say that this hope is being stored, or reserved, or put away for us in Heaven. That gives us one aspect of the verb's meaning. And this works. We can picture our Lord tucking away wonderful things for us. He did say, after all, that He was going to prepare a place for us in His Father's house, a place just right, perfectly suited, for each of us.

Or we might say that this hope is awaiting us in Heaven. This implies, of course, that God is storing up our hope for us, but it focuses on expectation. Eternal life is waiting for us just as we are waiting for it. Rather neat thought...

We might even say that this hope is appointed for us. God is doing the appointing, of course. He's arranging everything just as it should be, getting everything perfectly ready, establishing for us all we need to enjoy everlasting life with Him.

So any way we translate apokeimenēn into English, we reveal a picture of God's loving care for us. He is making a place for us in His Heavenly kingdom, and we can look forward with trust that He will give us everything we need to get there if only we remain open to His amazing grace.

(Greek definitions come from Biblehub.com, especially HELPS Word Studies.)