In an amphitheater, the stands were always packed with supporters cheering on the athletes. In the same way the witnesses from Hebrews 11 are watching and encouraging us: do not give up. Keep going!
A cloud of witnesses
does not refer to a literal cloud in the sky, in which the deceased believers watch over us. However unimaginable and beautiful this idea is, it finds no support in the Bible. That cloud is a metaphor for all the people surrounding us in the stands. They have run the race in their day and have remained faithful. They have reached the finish line and are now resting. They wait for us, until we also reach the finish line. To then celebrate together the feast of the prize-giving (Hebrews 11:39–40). They are not without us and we are not without them! This is how they look at us today and call on us: keep going! Join us. Do not give up!
1 Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,