This is kinda the crux of the point. You actually said it yourself in the above statement, then went one to explain it differently. Our hope (noun) is "our desire". The
manifestation of our hope (noun) that we are hoping (verb) for is not the
invisible thing, in the sense that it exists like wonder womans invisible plane, we just cant see it or touch it. The
thing that we are hoping for is an
invisible thing in the sense that it exists only as a hope; that is, as a picture in our mind, a concept, an idea, a blueprint; or, as you said, desire. And that is the definition of hope. In fact, usually the
manifestation of what we are hoping for
already exists in the natural world, we simply do not yet have possession or ownership of it, therefore it cannot be
invisible.
Let me give an example to clarify what I mean. If we are believing God for finances, there are not
invisible dollar bills floating around that we are trying to use our faith to manifest. I'm sure we have all heard the analogy that God is not a counterfeiter. He is not printing faith dollars for us. If He did, what serial numbers would He put on them? Would that be like the Fed printing money? Can we blame Him then for the devaluation of the dollar? (I know that you don't believe that, just having some fun!) No, faith isn't the substance of some invisible dollars bills. Faith is the substance of our HOPE; that is, the idea, concept, picture or desire to have enough money to pay our bills.
If we are believing God for our daily bread, are their
invisible loaves of bread floating around, that we cannot see, just waiting for our faith to manifest? No, faith isn't the substance of some invisible loaves of bread floating around. Faith is the substance of our HOPE; that is, the idea, concept, picture or desire that we have of our hunger being filled.
No, these things that we are believing God for
are invisible because they exist only in thought form. They exist in our mind, in the form of ideas, concepts, pictures, or blueprints; what we call hope.
These invisible things are our HOPE. (The Bible also calls this light. Light and Hope are synonyms in the Bible, because it is light that gives us direction, shows us where we are going.) Now, the term things
not seen is used in Hebrews 11:1 as a synonym for what HOPE does:
1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
-Hebrews 11:1
Let me break it down this way so that you can get a clearer idea of what I am saying:
- Faith is the substance..........of things..........hoped for...
- Faith is the evidence............of things..........not seen...
Here, the phrase
not seen, or
invisible (I think we are in agreement that what is not seen is invisible) is used as a synonym for the phrase
hoped for.
Of course
hoped is a verb. A verb describes the action of a
noun. The noun that
hoped for describes is
HOPE itself, which is a noun, that is, a
thing.
The thing that is hoped for is our HOPE. We could say it this way, (though it wouldn't be proper English) that
Hope hopes. That is what hope (the noun) does, it hopes (the verb). It sounds odd because in this case both the verb and the noun are essentially the same word.
With the word
Faith it is clearer, because
Faith is the noun, and
Believe (the verb) is what we do with our Faith.
Faith Believes. But
Hope Hopes, if you follow my logic.
In other words
it is hope itself that is the things we cannot see. What the writer is referring to as invisible here is not the manifestation itself, which may or may not already exist, (and therefore may well
not be invisible); but the picture, the concept, idea or blueprint that we have in our mind; that is, our HOPE.
Therefore
HOPE itself is the invisible things that are being referred to here.
This also makes perfect sense when combined with Pauls statement:
24 For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?
25 But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.
-Romans 8:24-25
Here Paul uses hope as a noun in verse 24, and then as a verb in verse 25. Essentially he is saying that 'Hope
(noun) that is unseen is what we hope
(verb) for, and patiently wait for...', because 'Hope that is seen is not hope'. It can sound confusing because the word HOPE is again being used both as a noun and a verb in the sentence. We have to determine from the sentence structure itself which is which. It might be easier to use a synonym for the noun here to clarify the meaning. Like this: "The picture in our mind that is unseen is what we hope for...".
Therefore,
HOPE itself is the unseen thing that is being referred to here.
Peace...