In looking at the mentions of Christ’s hands by the apostle John, we see in today’s verses the hands of divine security; it is a very clear statement about the eternal security of the “sheep” who are in His hands.

The Lord Jesus, first of all, says that He gives His sheep “eternal life, and they shall never perish.” This itself would be enough to give us the calmness and assurance in knowing our eternal security, but the Lord adds more. The sheep are held not only in the divine security of His blessed hands, but also in the hands of His Father. Wonderful statement! How secure then are the sheep? The Lord Himself goes on to tell us, “I and My Father are one.” This is not a disconnected sentence from the topic, but rather vitally connected with it: we are as secure as the Godhead. Divine Persons are one in their purpose of love with regards to the sheep: the Son died for the sheep which the Father had given to Him. We get the same thing in Romans 8, where we read, “Who shall separate from the love of Christ,” and that nothing “shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:35, 39).

No man, creature, or power of hell is able to “snatch,” or “pluck” us out of the hands of the Father and the Son. The word “snatch” is the same word translated “caught up” in 1 Thessalonians 4:17, where it refers to the Rapture. The sheep can never be snatched out of the hands of divine security, but the Son Himself will descend and “snatch” us out of this world and take us to the Father’s house.