Hebrews 11:10

10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

Hebrews 11:10 in Other Translations

10 For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

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

10 Abraham was confidently looking forward to a city with eternal foundations, a city designed and built by God.

10 Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations - the City designed and built by God.

10 for he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

10 Abraham was waiting for the city that God had designed and built, the city with permanent foundations.

10 For he was looking forward to the city that has foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

10 Abraham was looking forward to the city that has foundations. He was waiting for the city that God planned and built.

Hebrews 11:10 Meaning and Commentary

Hebrews 11:10

For he looked for a city which hath foundations
Not the city of Jerusalem, nor the Gospel church state; but either the city of the new Jerusalem, said to have twelve foundations, ( Revelation 21:14 ) and in which glorious state, Abraham, with the rest of the saints, being raised from the dead, will in person possess the promised land; or else the ultimate glory of the saints in heaven, where God dwells, and keeps his palace; and which will be the dwelling place of the saints, and will have in it many habitations; and which will be both peaceable and safe, and full of glory, riches, joy, and pleasure; and into which none but holy and righteous persons will enter; the "foundations" of which are the everlasting love of God, eternal election, the covenant of grace, the promise and preparation of it by God, from the foundation of the world, and the Lord Jesus Christ, his blood and righteousness; which show the immovableness of it, it being opposed to the tabernacles Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob dwelt in, and to the transitory enjoyments of this world: and for this sure, immovable, and comfortable state of things, Abraham was "looking" by faith; he looked through, and above temporal things, to spiritual things; he went through difficulties with cheerfulness, did not greedily covet earthly things, but looked with disdain upon them, and to heaven with faith, affection, and earnest desire; and this proves his faith to be, as that is defined, ( Hebrews 11:1 )

whose builder and maker is God:
God the Father has prepared this glory from the foundation of the world, and has promised before the world began, and has chosen his people to it; the Spirit of God makes it known, and prepares them for it; and the Lord Jesus Christ is the forerunner entered, who is gone to get it ready for them, and will put them into the possession of it: this shows the superior excellency of this city, or glorious state; and that God has the sole right to dispose of it.

Hebrews 11:10 In-Context

8 By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going.

9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise.

10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.

11 And by faith even Sarah, who was past childbearing age, was enabled to bear children because she considered him faithful who had made the promise.

12 And so from this one man, and he as good as dead, came descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as countless as the sand on the seashore.

Cross References

• 1. Hebrews 12:22; Hebrews 13:14
• 2. Revelation 21:2,14
• 3. ver 16