Concise Bible Dictionary:
This is described as waiting for something that is not seen but which has been promised. Rom (8:24-25). Blessed is the man whose hope the Lord is; though troubles arise he will not cease to bear fruit (Jer. 17:7-8). There is nothing vague in the Christian’s hope: it is an anchor of the soul, sure and steadfast, because the Lord Himself is his hope, and Christ in him is the hope of glory (Col. 1:27; 1 Tim. 1:1; Heb. 6:18-19). The coming of the Lord, and not death, is a blessed part of the Christian’s hope (1 Thess. 4:13-18; 1 John 3:2-3).
From Anstey’s Doctrinal Definitions:
In Scripture, hope is not used in the same way as it is in the common vernacular—today’s language. We use the word in our day to refer to something that we would like to see happen, but we have no guarantee that it will take place. In the Bible, hope is a deferred certainty; it has expectancy with assurance connected with it.
In Romans 5:2, Paul speaks of "the hope of the glory of God," which has to do with the believer's future glorification at the Lord’s coming (the Rapture). It is something that the believer is looking forward to with certainty. It will definitely happen—we just don't know when. This glorious end of being with and like Christ is the Christian’s hope. When we first believed the gospel and received the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour, we were put in hope of our eventual glorification. Paul refers to this in Romans 8:24, stating that we have been "saved in hope." (The KJV says that we are saved "by" hope, but it should read "in" hope.) This means that when we first trusted Christ as our Saviour, it was in view of our having this final aspect of redemption. Thus, when we were "saved," it was "in hope" of the full and final thing that is coming.
Knowing the glorious future that lies ahead for us sustains us in the path, because the thing hoped for is steadfast and sure. In hope we have been saved, and in its power we live. It gives us “patience” to wait for it (Rom. 8:25). It has been said that faith and hope are good travelling companions for the Christian in his wilderness pathway through this world, and this is true. But at the coming of the Lord (the Rapture), we will part ways with those companions, and enter heaven with the Lord where love will abide alone. We will not need faith and hope there.
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