"These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth." The presence of faith requires the existence of hope. In fact, hope is the main ingredient in faith:
"Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (vs. 1). All the great examples of faith in Hebrews 11 are characterized by having a hope for something beyond what this present life offers:
"They desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one"(vs. 16). For example, if Abraham was looking for an earthly homeland, he could have returned to his hometown of Haran. Instead, he persisted in following God's leading and focusing on the promise God made to him. So people who have faith in God are hopeful people and, conversely, people who do not have faith in God are hopeless people. When you are a Christian, you have joined the ranks of the hopeful. Like Abraham and the other great pillars of our faith, you have acknowledged that this world doesn't offer what you are looking for because you are
"looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God" (vs. 10).
