Edward Mote (1797–1874) grew up in London as a rebellious youth, raised by parents who ran a pub and kept him away from church. At age 18, he was apprenticed to a cabinetmaker and heard the Gospel preached, leading to a joyful conversion. While walking to work as a successful cabinetmaker one morning in 1834, the opening lines of a hymn came to his mind: 'My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness.' He wrote 'The Solid Rock' to declare that Christ is the only anchor that holds when everything else in life collapses.