Today's daily Bible reading brought me to 1 Timothy, Paul's charge to a young man placed into leadership at the church in Ephesus. It's a great read for any Christian man (or woman, really -- all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable).

In particular, this caught my attention:

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time. For this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

I desire then that in every place the men should pray, lifting holy hands without anger or quarreling;

 

[(1 Timothy 2:1-8 ESV)][1]

Is this saying that God desires to save everyone? If so, why does Hell exist? Why isn't everyone saved?

The original Greek here gives the sense not of "each and every person", but "all kinds of people", which is ambiguously translated here into "all people." God no longer limits his revelation to one ethnic group as He formerly had with Israel. 

This meaning makes more sense in context as well: since God has given salvation to all kinds of people, there is no longer any need for a priesthood from every group. Rather, there is one God over all peoples, and one Mediator between God and men. Paul then reminds Timothy of his own calling as an apostle: to teach the Gentiles -- a group that had formerly been excluded by the law, but is now grafted in as fellow heirs of salvation.

[1]: http://esv.to/1 Timothy 2:1-8