John Calvin Commentary Hebrews 11:39

"And these all, having had witness borne to them through their faith, received not the promise," — Hebrews 11:39 (ASV)

And these all, etc. This is an argument from the less to the greater. For if they on whom the light of grace had not yet so brightly shone displayed such great constancy in enduring evils, what should the full brightness of the Gospel produce in us? A small spark of light led them to heaven; when the sun of righteousness shines over us, with what pretense can we excuse ourselves if we still cling to the earth? This is the real meaning of the Apostle.

I know that Chrysostom and others have given a different explanation, but the context clearly shows that what is intended here is the difference in the grace which God bestowed on the faithful under the Law and that which he bestows on us now. For since a more abundant grace is poured on us, it would be very strange if we should have less faith. He then says that those fathers who were endowed with such remarkable faith did not yet have such strong reasons for believing as we do. Immediately after, he states the reason: God intended to unite us all into one body, and he distributed a small portion of grace to them so that he might defer its full perfection to our time, even to the coming of Christ.

And it is a singular evidence of God’s benevolence towards us, that even though he has shown himself bountifully to his children from the beginning of the world, he has still so distributed his grace as to provide for the well-being of the whole body. What more could any of us desire than that, in all the blessings which God bestowed on Abraham, Moses, David, and all the Patriarchs, on the Prophets and godly kings, he should have regard for us, so that we might be united together with them in the body of Christ? Let us then know that we are doubly and triply ungrateful to God if less faith appears in us under the kingdom of Christ than the fathers had under the Law, as proved by so many remarkable examples of patience. By the words, that they received not the promise, is to be understood its ultimate fulfillment, which took place in Christ, about which something has already been said.