Charles Spurgeon Commentary Hebrews 11:9-10

"By faith he became a sojourner in the land of promise, as in a [land] not his own, dwelling in tents, with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for the city which hath the foundations, whose builder and maker is God." — Hebrews 11:9-10 (ASV)

With Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

And he was content to be a pilgrim and wanderer until he should reach that city; he was quite willing to dispense with all present comfort for the sake of that glorious future which God set before the eyes of his faith.

By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

There have been many here in this house of prayer who have looked for this city, and they have gone to it. Others of us sit waiting here until our Lord's dear hand will beckon us, and his voice will say, "Come up higher." We are looking for the city. Keep looking, beloved, there is nothing here worth looking for; but look for a city which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God.

By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: for he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

He was only a sojourner in the land of promise. He knew that even the promised land was only a tenting-ground for him and his descendants. But he also knew that he was on his way to a divinely planned and divinely built city—not like the temporary cities of earth, which will all perish and pass away, but a city with everlasting foundations, a city that will last as long as God himself exists.

With Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise: For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.

He did not build a city. He did not try to do so, for he looked for a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker is God.