Hebrews 11:39

And these all having had witness borne to them through their faith, received not the promise God having provided some better thing concerning us, that apart from us they should not be made perfect.

Received not the promise should be studied in connection with other references in this chapter to the "promise," or the "promises." "Promise," in the singular, is a reference to the Great Promise of true and total redemption in the true and only seed of Abraham, which is Christ. Faithful as the ancient heroes were, the fullness of time had to arrive before they could obtain THAT promise. "The promises," in the plural, as in Hebrews 11:13, is also a reference to this same Great Promise, the plural taking into account the renewal of the promise and the reiteration of it to several of the patriarchs. Back in Hebrews 10:36 our author had written, "Ye have need of patience, that having done the will of God, ye may receive the promise."

Then, what is that Great Promise which none of the ancients could receive, even though righteous; and which, apart from us, they shall never receive? And have either we or they received it now? The answer is both "Yes" and "No." Certain aspects of the Great Promise have already been received by the faithful in Christ. The Christ has indeed appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself; and the great atonement has already been made. Every obedient believer has received the discharge of his sins through the blood of Christ, an earnest of the Holy Spirit in his heart, the communion of the fellowship of the saints in Christ, the blessed privileges of prayer and reliance upon the providence of God, and the sure and certain hope of the resurrection of our bodies from the grave, and of the final entry into the home of the soul on high. But other aspects of the Great Promise shall await the consummation of all things. Lenski's words on this are simply beautiful. He said,

It is the final and supreme fulfillment, the consummation at the last day, the ultimate of all we are hoping for, of all that is not seen (Hebrews 11:1). It is the final approving testimony of Christ before the whole universe (Matthew 25:34-40), when Christ shall confess us, who have confessed him before men, before his Father (Matthew 10:32) and before the angels (Revelation 3:5). It includes the resurrection and glorification of our bodies ("a better resurrection," Hebrews 11:35), when Christ shall appear in the second epiphany to those who are expecting him for salvation. Thrice Jesus promised, "I will raise him up at the last day" (John 6:40,44,54; Philippians 3:21). All that this promise contains - "the things hoped for, the things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1), to be apprehended until they arrive only by faith pure and simple. It is the city that has the foundations (Hebrews 11:10), the new heaven and the new earth, when the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, comes down from God out of heaven (Revelation 21:1,2), which event is described at length in Revelation 21:10-27)."[44]

There is no contradiction between the assertion here that none of the ancients received the promise and the statement in Hebrews 6:15 that Abraham did "obtain the promise"; for, in that instance, the reference is to God's revealing the promise to him and confirming it with an oath, and perhaps also to Abraham's having received a certain typical fulfillment of it; but in the larger sense of having actually carried off the promise, that shall come for all the redeemed simultaneously, as Paul said,

Henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give to me, at that day; and not to me only, but also to all them that have loved his appearing (2 Timothy 4:8).