Revelation 21:9-27 The New Jerusalem

Revelation 21:9-14 The description of the holy bride of Christ conveys the importance of mankind's history. The glory of God appears to John as the brilliance of clear cut jasper. Jasper is a form of chalcedony that may take on several tints. It cuts cleanly. It was one or possibly two of the stones in Aaron's breastplate. But more straightforwardly, the messengers at the gates have written on them the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. These are the messengers who invite people into the holy city, which is otherwise impregnable behind very high walls. The twelve apostles are the foundation stones of the wall. This seems odd. The apostles were the sent ones, to carry the gospel to the world and invite people into the kingdom of God. What does this configuration tell us? Most easily interpreted is that it was the preaching of the gospel by the apostles that established the foundation of the church as the bride of Christ initially; it was not the law. Perhaps the messengers at the gates refers to the 144,000 from the twelve tribes who witnessed to Jesus during the great tribulation, who were from the twelve named tribes of Israel. (Rev. 7:4-8) They were the final apostles - sent ones.

Revelation 21:15-21 The measurement of the city seems reminiscent of Ezekiel's vision, in which the temple was measured (Ezekiel 40-43), and then the land was portioned out although not measured (Ezekiel 45:1-6, 48:1-29), and finally the dimensions of the city were given (Ezekiel 48:30-35). This city is somewhat different. In John's vision, there is no physical temple. (Rev. 21:22) The length of the walls is 12,000 stadia, or approximately 2,200 km. The city that Ezekiel saw was 4,500 cubits (long cubits which were a cubit plus a hand breadth), or approximately 2.3 km. John saw a city that was approximately 1,000 times as large in each of its horizontal wall dimensions. The wall in John's vision is 144 angelic cubits high. We lack any real information on how long an angelic cubit is. If it were 20.2 inches, then the wall would be approximately 74 m high. No height was mentioned for the city wall that Ezekiel saw.

          The wall was jasper but the city itself was pure gold like glass.  Physically this does not seem to make sense, since gold is opaque. Perhaps the meaning is in the repetition of the Greek word katharo (or katheron), emphasizing the cleanness of the gold, like the cleanness of glass. If gold represents the divinity of God, this suggests that the city, i.e., the church, the bride of Christ, is imbued with the Holy Spirit through and through.

          The foundation stones of the city walls are adorned with precious stones, much like Aaron's breastplate. (Exodus 28:17-20). The gates themselves are each a single pearl, suggesting that entrance into the city is through the pearl of great price. (Matthew 13:45-46) Finally, the broad places (plateia) of the city are clear gold like glass, evidently like the city itself (Rev. 21:18)

Revelation 21:22-27 The Temple has always symbolized the presence of God with His people. When the people have the reality they no longer need the symbol. Physical light was originally channelled through the sun and moon (Genesis 1:14-18), but in the new heavens and new earth, light is God's glory and comes directly from the Lamb. There is no night because God's glory continues without ceasing. How are we to understand this? Does Jesus glow like a light bulb? (Matthew 17:2; Mark 9:3; Luke 9:29) Is it pure metaphor? Or perhaps existence in the new earth is of such a different essential nature that we cannot understand what this means?

          The next reference seems odd. It implies that even in this new earth, there are nations and kings outside the city. There evidently continue to exist unclean things and people who practice lying and other abominations outside the city, despite the fact that all whose names were not found in the book of life were earlier cast into the lake of fire (Rev 20:15). Now we read that only those whose names are in the Lamb's book of life are allowed to enter the city. Does this imply the continued existence of those who were not in His book? Most likely this is a warning to the reader in our age, when it is still possible to repent and be saved, that only those who do so are allowed into the New Jerusalem, so respond now, while reading the words of the warning.