The New Jerusalem - Revelation 21:7-21

Revelation of Jesus Christ and the Voice of Prophecy

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What is one of the happiest or best memories you have?

EXPLORE IT

What did John see once all the judgments had taken place? (Rev.21:1)

In his vision, what did John see coming down out of heaven from God? (Rev.21:2)

What did the voice that John heard speaking from the throne of God announce? (Rev.21:3)

What will life be like in heaven? (Rev.21:4)

How did the voice from heaven describe the new world to come? (Rev.21:4-5)

What did the one on the throne promise to those who are thirsty? (Rev.21:6)

What did the one on the throne promise to those who overcome? (Rev.21:7)

What fate was assured for those who are evil? (Rev.21:8)

What did an angel do with John? Why? (Rev.21:9-10)

What were some of the more spectacular features of the New Jerusalem that John saw? (Rev.21:10-21)

In what way will the New Jerusalem reflect God’s glory and holiness? (Rev.21:21-27)

What did John discover about the temple in the New Jerusalem? (Rev.21:22)

What will be the New Jerusalem’s source of light? (Rev.21:23-24)

How did John describe the New Jerusalem in terms of safety and security? (Rev.21:25)

How did John describe the heavenly city in terms of purity? (Rev.21:26-27)

 

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Why do you think God revealed so many details about the measurement and appearance of the New Jerusalem?

How can we prepare ourselves for a place like the New Jerusalem?

APPLY IT

How can you remind yourself every day this week of God’s promised future for His people?

 

Commentary

Throughout the history of the church, God’s people rightly have been preoccupied with heaven. They have longed for its joys because they have been only loosely tied to this earth. They have seen themselves as “strangers and exiles on the earth” who “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Heb. 11:13, 16). With the psalmist they have said to God, “Whom have I in heaven but You? And besides You, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Ps. 73:25-26); and “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?” (Ps. 42:1-2). Through the centuries, that desire to see God (Matt. 5:8) and to be in His presence and enjoy Him forever (Ps. 16:11), that intense longing that nothing on this earth can satisfy (Heb. 11:13-16), has marked believers.

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea. (Rev.21:1)

As chapter 21 opens, all the sinners of all the ages, as well as Satan and his demons, have been sentenced to the lake of fire (Rev.20:10-15). With all ungodly men and angels banished forever and the present universe destroyed (Rev.20:11), God will create a new realm for the redeemed and the holy angels to dwell in forever.

The phrase a new heaven and a new earth derives from two passages in Isaiah. In Isaiah 65:17 God declared, “For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth; and the former things will not be remembered or come to mind.” In Isaiah 66:22 He added, “‘For just as the new heavens and the new earth which I make will endure before Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘so your offspring and your name will endure.’” What Isaiah predicted is now a reality in John’s vision.

Kainos (new) does not mean new in a chronological sense, but new in a qualitative sense. The new heaven and the new earth will not merely succeed the present universe in chronological sequence; they will be something brand new, fresh, never seen. God must create a new heaven and a new earth because the first heaven and the first earth passed away. God originally created the earth to be suitable as mankind’s permanent home. The entrance of sin, however, corrupted the earth and the universe, and God will destroy them (Rev.20:11). What lies ahead for the earth is not a nuclear or an ecological holocaust, but a divine judgment.

The first hint of what the new heaven and new earth will be like comes in John’s observation that there will no longer be any sea. That will be a startling change from the present earth, nearly three-fourths of which is covered by water. The sea is emblematic of the present water-based environment. All life on earth is dependent on water for its survival, and the earth is the only known place in the universe where there is sufficient water to sustain life. But believers’ glorified bodies will not require water, unlike present human bodies, whose blood is 90 percent water, and whose flesh is 65 percent water. Thus, the new heaven and the new earth will be based on a completely different life principle than the present universe. 

There will be a river in heaven, not of water, but of the “water of life” (Rev.21:1, 17). Without a sea, there can be no hydro-logical cycle, so that every feature of life and climate will be dramatically different.

And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. (Rev.21:2)

As the next stage in his vision unfolds, the apostle John moves from a description of the new heaven and the new earth in general to a description of the capital city of the eternal state. Since the text plainly identifies it as such, there is no reason to doubt that the holy city, new Jerusalem, is an actual city. The new Jerusalem is not heaven, but heaven’s capital. It is not synonymous with heaven, because its dimensions are given in 21:16. It will be the third city named Jerusalem in redemptive history. The first is the historic Jerusalem, the City of David, which currently exists in Palestine. Scripture repeatedly calls it the holy city (Rev.11:2; Neh. 11:1; Isa. 52:1; Dan. 9:24; Matt. 4:5; 27:53) because it was set apart for God’s purposes. The second Jerusalem will be the restored Jerusalem where Christ will rule during the millennial kingdom.

But the new Jerusalem does not belong to the first creation, so it is neither the historic city, nor the millennial city; it is the altogether new eternal city (Rev. 22:10; 3:12; Heb. 11:10; Rev.12:22-24;Rev.13:14). The old Jerusalem, in ruins for twenty-five years when John received this vision, is too stained with sin, too much a part of the old creation to survive into the eternal state. The new Jerusalem is called the holy city because everyone in it is holy, since “blessed and holy is the one who has a part in the first resurrection” (Rev.20:6). The concept of a city includes relationships, activity, responsibility, unity, socialization, communion, and cooperation. Unlike the evil cities of the present earth, the perfectly holy people in the new Jerusalem will live and work together in perfect harmony.

In his vision, John saw the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, its “architect and builder” (Heb. 11:10). The implication is that it already exists, a truth reinforced by Hebrews 12:22-23: “You have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect.” All of heaven is currently contained in the new Jerusalem; it is separate from the present universe, which is tainted by sin. Believers who die go to the “heavenly Jerusalem,” where Jesus has gone before them to prepare a place for them (John 14:1-3). But when God creates the new heaven and the new earth, the new Jerusalem will descend into the midst of that holy new universe (Rev.21:10) and serve as the dwelling place of the redeemed for all eternity. Since the throne of God will be in the new Jerusalem, which will come down to the new earth, that city will be the bond between the new earth and the new heaven. 

Further describing heaven’s capital city, John notes that it was made ready as a bride adorned for her husband. The city is pictured as a bride because it contains the bride and takes on her character. The imagery is drawn from a Jewish wedding, which typically had three parts. First was the betrothal, which was like a modern engagement, but more legally binding. The betrothal of the Lord’s bride took place in eternity past when God pledged to His Son a redeemed people. The next stage was the presentation, a time of celebration and feasting leading up to the actual wedding ceremony. The presentation of the bride took place following the Rapture of the church when believers are taken to heaven. The third stage was the ceremony, which for the Lord’s bride began at the marriage supper of the Lamb (19:7-9) and stretched through the millennial kingdom. The final stage was the consummation, which corresponds to the eternal state. John saw the bride adorned for her husband because it was time for the consummation. Adorned is from the verb kosmeō (“to order,” or “to arrange”); the related noun kosmos (translated “adornment” in 1 Pet. 3:3) is the root of the English word “cosmetics.” The bride has become appropriately ordered in all her beauty. By this point in Revelation, the bride concept expands to include not only the church (as it has since Acts 2),but also all the rest of the redeemed from all the ages who live forever in that eternal city (see the discussion of Rev.19:9 in chapter 14 of this volume). This is the moment described by Paul in 1 Corinthians 15:28: “When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.”

And I heard a loud voice from the throne, saying, “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men, and He will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them, (Rev.21:3)

The supreme glory and joy of heaven is the Person of God (Ps. 73:25). Here, as twenty times previously in Revelation, a loud voice heralds an announcement of great importance. The source of the voice is not revealed. It is not God (who speaks in Rev. 22:5) but is probably an angel (Rev.5:2; 7:2; 14:9, 15, 18; 19:17). The portentous announcement he makes is “Behold, the tabernacle of God is among men.” Skene (tabernacle) can also mean “tent,” or “dwelling place.” God will pitch His tent among His people; no longer will He be far off, distant, transcendent. No more will His presence be veiled in the human form of Jesus Christ, even in His millennial majesty, or in the cloud and pillar of fire, or inside the Holy of Holies. The amazing reality that “the pure in heart … shall see God” (Matt. 5:8) will come to pass. Christ’s prayer, recorded in John 17:24, will be answered: “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given Me, be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me” (John 14:1-3; 1 Thess. 4:13-17). There will be “no temple in [heaven], for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple” (Rev.21:22). Their presence will permeate heaven and will not be confined to one place of manifestation.

So staggering is this truth that the heavenly voice repeats it several ways. To the mind-boggling reality that the tabernacle of God is among men he adds the statement that God will dwell among them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself will be among them (Rev.22:3-4). This will be a manifestation of God’s glorious presence to His people like no other in redemptive history and the culmination of all divine promise and human hope (Lev. 26:11-12; Jer. 24:7; 30:22; 31:1,33; 32:38; Ezek. 37:27; 48:35; Zech. 2:10; 8:8; 2 Cor. 6:16).

and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have passed away.” And He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” And He said, “Write, for these words are faithful and true.” Then He said to me, “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.” (Rev.21:4-6a)

Heaven will be so dramatically different from the present world that to describe it requires the use of negatives, as well as the previous positives. To describe what is totally beyond human understanding also requires pointing out how it differs from present human experience.

The first change from their earthly life believers in heaven will experience is that God will wipe away every tear from their eyes (Rev.7:17; Isa. 25:8). That does not mean that people who arrive in heaven will be crying and God will comfort them. They will not, as some imagine, be weeping as they face the record of their sins. There is no such record, because “there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 8:1), since Christ “bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed” (1 Pet. 2:24). What it declares is the absence of anything to be sorry about—no sadness, no disappointment, no pain. There will be no tears of misfortune, tears over lost love, tears of remorse, tears of regret, tears over the death of loved ones, or tears for any other reason.

Another dramatic difference from the present world will be that in heaven there will no longer be any death (Isa. 25:8). The greatest curse of human existence will be no more. “Death,” as Paul promised, “is swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54). Both Satan, who had the power of death (Heb. 2:14) and death itself will have been cast into the lake of fire (Rev.20:10,14). Nor will there be any mourning or crying in heaven. The grief, sorrow, and distress that produce mourning and its outward manifestation, crying, will not exist in heaven. This glorious reality will be the fulfillment of Isaiah 53:3-4: “He was despised and forsaken of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried; yet we ourselves esteemed Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.” When Christ bore believers’ sins on the cross, He also bore their sorrows, since sin is the cause of sorrow.

All those changes that will mark the new heaven and the new earth indicate that the first things have passed away. Old human experience related to the original, fallen creation is gone forever, and with it all the mourning, suffering, sorrow, disease, pain, and death that has characterized it since the Fall. Summarizing those changes in a positive way, He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” The One who sits on the throne is the same One “from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them” (Rev.20:11). As noted in Rev. 17 of this volume, the present universe will be uncreated. The new heaven and the new earth will be truly a new creation, and not merely a refurbishing of the present heaven and earth. In that forever new creation, there will be no entropy, no atrophy, no decay, no decline, and no waste.

Overwhelmed by all that he had seen, John seems to have lost his concentration. Thus, God Himself, the glorious, majestic One on the throne said to him “Write, for these words are faithful and true” (Rev.1:19). The words John was commanded by God to write are as faithful and true (Rev.21:6) as the One revealing them to him (Rev.3:14; 19:11). Though the present “heaven and earth will pass away,” still God’s “words will not pass away” (Luke 21:33). There will be an end to the universe, but not to the truth God reveals to His people. Whether or not men understand and believe that truth, it will come to pass.

Also, by way of summary, the majestic voice of the One sitting on heaven’s throne said to John, “It is done.” Those words are reminiscent of Jesus’ words on the cross, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). Jesus’ words marked the completion of the work of redemption; these words mark the end of redemptive history. It is the time of which Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 15:24-28: Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to the God and Father, when He has abolished all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy that will be abolished is death. For He has put all things in subjection under His feet. But when He says, “All things are put in subjection,” it is evident that He is excepted who put all things in subjection to Him. When all things are subjected to Him, then the Son Himself also will be subjected to the One who subjected all things to Him, so that God may be all in all.

The One who sits on the throne is qualified to declare the end of redemptive history, because He is the Alpha and the Omega (the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet; Rev.1:8), the beginning and the end (Isa. 44:6; 48:12). God started history, and He will end it, and all of it has unfolded according to His sovereign plan. That this same phrase is applied to the Lord Jesus Christ in Rev.21:13 offers proof of His full deity and equality with the Father.

I will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God and he will be My son. (Rev.21:6-7)

Two descriptive phrases reveal who will live in the glorious new heaven and new earth. First, a citizen of heaven is described as one who thirsts. That phrase signifies those who, recognizing their desperate spiritual need, “hunger and thirst for righteousness” (Matt. 5:6). They are the ones to whom Isaiah cries out, “Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you who have no money come, buy, and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost” (Isa. 55:1). Those who will be redeemed and enter heaven are those who are dissatisfied with their hopeless, lost condition and crave God’s righteousness with every part of their being. The psalmist expressed that strong desire in Psalm 42:1-2: “As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God?” The promise to such earnest seekers is that their thirst will be satisfied. God will give to the one who thirsts from the spring of the water of life without cost. To the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well Jesus promised, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again; but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him shall never thirst; but the water that I will give him will become in him a well of water springing up to eternal life” (John 4:13-14). It is the water of which He spoke in John 7:37-38: “Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, “From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.”’ “This same promise is also repeated in Rev.22:17 (7:17): “The Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost.” The water in all those passages symbolizes eternal life. Those who thirst for and passionately seek salvation are the ones who will receive it and enjoy the eternal bliss of heaven.

Second, heaven belongs to he who overcomes. An overcomer, according to 1 John 5:4-5, is one who exercises saving faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. The overcomer is the person who in faith drinks the water of salvation freely offered by God. John uses this distinctive term for believers in the closing promise of each of the letters to the seven churches. The promise here to those who overcome is that they will inherit these things. They will “obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for [them]” (1 Pet. 1:4). They will enjoy perfection of soul (Heb. 12:23) and body (Rev.20:6; John 5:28-29; Rom. 8:23; 1 Cor. 15:35-44; 2 Cor. 5:2; Phil. 3:21; 1 John 3:2) forever in the bliss of the new heaven and the new earth.

But the most wonderful promise to the one who overcomes, who thirsts for righteousness, is God’s promise I will be his God (Gen. 17:7-8; Ex. 6:7; 29:45; Lev. 26:12; Deut. 29:13; 2 Sam. 7:24; Jer. 7:23; 11:4; 24:7; 30:22; Ezek. 11:20; 34:24; 36:28; 37:23, 27; Zech. 8:8). Equally amazing is God’s promise that the one who overcomes will be My son. 

“But for the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and immoral persons and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.” (Rev.21:8)

John concludes his overview of the new heaven and the new earth with a serious and solemn warning. He delineates those who will be excluded from any participation in the blessings of heaven—all unforgiven and unredeemed sinners. There are similar lists of such sinners in 22:15; Romans 1:28-32; 1 Corinthians 6:9-10; Galatians 5:19-21; and 2 Timothy 3:2-5. The first group excluded from heaven are the cowardly. These are the ones who lack endurance (Matt. 24:13; Mark 8:35). They fell away when their faith was challenged or opposed because their faith was not genuine. Jesus described such people in the parable of the soils: “The one on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, this is the man who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no firm root in himself, but is only temporary, and when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he falls away” (Matt. 13:20-21). These are the ones who “shrink back to destruction” (Heb. 10:39). In John 8:31 Jesus defined those whose faith is genuine as those who continue in His Word. 

Because they lack saving faith and are unbelieving, their disloyalty excludes them from heaven. They are also abominable (vile, polluted, detestable, wholly caught up in wickedness and evil), murderers, immoral persons, sorcerers (from the Greek word pharmakos, from which the English words “pharmacy” and “pharmaceuticals” derive; that indicates the inclusion of those who use mind-altering drugs in occult religion), idolaters, and liars. Those whose lives are characterized by such things give evidence that they are not saved and will never enter the heavenly city. On the contrary, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. In contrast to the eternal bliss of the righteous in heaven, the wicked will suffer eternal torment in hell. (For a further discussion of the lake that burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death, see chapter 17 of this volume.)

The new heaven and the new earth await believers and the final hell awaits resurrected unbelievers. For believers, it will be a universe of eternal happiness as they dwell forever in the glorious presence of God. For unbelievers, it will be a terrifying place of unbearable torment and unrelieved misery away from God’s presence (2 Thess. 1:9). The choices men and women make in this life determine in which of those realms they will live forever.

Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, having the glory of God. Her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. (Rev.21:9-11)

As the vision opened, an angel appeared to call John’s attention to the city. The last appearance of an angel was one thousand years earlier at the beginning of the Millennium (20:1). Angels play a significant role in Revelation, and this angel was involved in the Tribulation judgments. Those judgments unfolded in three telescoping series: the seal, trumpet, and, climactically, the bowl judgments. This angel was one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues (Rev.15:1). Either he or another of those seven angels also introduced the impending judgment of the harlot city of Babylon (Rev.17:1), making the contrast between the two cities apparent. Inaugurating John’s personal tour of heaven’s capital city, the angel came and spoke with the apostle, saying, “Come here, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” The New Jerusalem is described as a bride because it draws its character from its occupants. Those occupants consist of the bride of the Lamb, a title originally given to the church (Rev.19:7), but now enlarged to encompass all the redeemed of all the ages, who live there forever. The New Jerusalem is likened to a bride because the redeemed are forever united to God and the Lamb. It is further defined as the wife of the Lamb because the marriage has taken place (Rev.19:7).

John’s incredible vision began when the angel carried him away in the Spirit. When he received the visions that comprise the book of Revelation, the aged apostle was a prisoner of the Romans on the island of Patmos (Rev.1:9). But he was transported from there in an amazing spiritual journey to see what unaided human eyes could never see. John’s visions were not dreams, but spiritual realities, like those Paul saw when he was also caught up to the third heaven (2 Cor. 12:2-4).

The first stop was a great and high mountain. From that vantage point, the angel showed John the holy city, Jerusalem. The apostle repeats his observation from verse 2 that the New Jerusalem came down out of heaven from God. That emphasizes its divine origin; it is the city “whose architect and builder is God” (Heb. 11:10). It should be noted that what is described here is not the creation of heaven; it is merely the descent of what already existed from eternity past, and is now situated in the center of the new heaven and the new earth.

The most distinguishing characteristic of the capital city of eternity is that it is the throne of the eternal, almighty One, and therefore had the glory of God in it. That glory will reach its fullest expression there (John 17:24); it will be unlimited and unconfined, flashing from that city throughout the re-created universe. The glory of God is the sum total of His attributes (Ex. 33:18-19) and is manifested as blazing light (Ex. 13:21; 19:18; 24:17; 34:29-30, 35; 40:34; 1 Kings 8:10-11; Ps. 104:2; Isa. 4:5; Ezek. 10:4; Hab. 3:3-4; Luke 2:9) and in His Son (Matt. 17:2; 24:27, 30; 1 Tim. 6:16). Sadly, though God revealed His glory, disobedient, rebellious people rejected Him. Even the Lord Jesus Christ, the embodiment of God’s glory in human form (John 1:14), “was despised and forsaken of men” (Isa. 53:3). Radiating from the New Jerusalem will be the brilliance of the full manifestation of God’s glory, so much so that “the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb” (Rev.21:23). 

Describing the effect of God’s glory radiating from the new Jerusalem, John notes that her brilliance was like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. Phōstēr (brilliance) refers to something from which light radiates. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, uses it in Genesis 1:14 and 16 to describe heavenly light-bearing objects. To John, the heavenly city appeared like a giant lightbulb, with the brilliant light of God’s glory streaming out of it. But that light did not shine through the thin glass of a lightbulb, but through what looked to John like a very costly stone, as a stone of crystal-clear jasper. The city appeared to the apostle like one gigantic precious stone. Jasper does not refer to the modern stone of the same name, which is opaque; it is a transliteration of the Greek word iaspis, which describes a translucent stone. The word jasper in this passage is best understood as referring to a diamond, a very costly one because it is crystal-clear and unblemished. Heaven’s capital city is thus pictured as a huge, flawless diamond, refracting the brilliant, blazing glory of God throughout the new heaven and the new earth.

It had a great and high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels; and names were written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. There were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. And the wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

The one who spoke with me had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. The city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles; its length and width and height are equal. And he measured its wall, seventy-two yards, according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. The material of the wall was jasper; and the city was pure gold, like clear glass. The foundation stones of the city wall were adorned with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation stone was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald; the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, topaz; the tenth, chrysoprase; the eleventh, jacinth; the twelfth, amethyst. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; each one of the gates was a single pearl. (Rev.21:12-21a)

Human language is inadequate to fully describe the unimaginable magnificence of the believers’ indescribable eternal home. Unwilling to take the language of Scripture at face value, many seek for some hidden meaning behind John’s description. But if the words do not mean what they say, who has the authority to say what they do mean? Abandoning the literal meaning of the text leads only to baseless, groundless, futile speculation. The truth about the heavenly city is more than is described, but not less and not different from what is described. It is a material creation, yet so unique as to be unimaginable to us. The words of John provide all the detail we have been given by God to excite our hope.

That the city had a great and high wall indicates that it is not an amorphous, nebulous, floating place. It has specific dimensions; it has limits; it can be entered and left through its twelve gates. At those gates twelve angels were stationed, to attend to God’s glory and to serve His people (Heb. 1:14). The gates had names … written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel, celebrating for all eternity God’s covenant relationship with Israel, the people of the promises, the covenants, the Scriptures, and the Messiah. They were arranged symmetrically; there were three gates on the east and three gates on the north and three gates on the south and three gates on the west. That arrangement is reminiscent of the way the twelve tribes camped around the tabernacle (Num. 2), and of the allotment of the tribal lands around the millennial temple (Ezek. 48).

The massive wall of the city was anchored by twelve foundation stones, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Those stones commemorate God’s covenant relationship with the church, of which the apostles are the foundation (Eph. 2:20). At the top of each gate was the name of one of the tribes of Israel; at the bottom of each gate was the name of one of the apostles. Thus, the layout of the city’s gates pictures God’s favor on all His redeemed people, both those under the old covenant, and those under the new covenant.

Then a curious thing occurred. The angel who spoke with John had a gold measuring rod to measure the city, and its gates and its wall. This interesting event is reminiscent of the measuring of the millennial temple (Ezek. 40:3ff.) and the measuring of the Tribulation temple (11:1). The significance of all three measurements is that they mark out what belongs to God.

The results of the angel’s measuring revealed that the city is laid out as a square, and its length is as great as the width; and he measured the city with the rod, fifteen hundred miles (lit. “12,000 stadia”; a stadion was about 607 feet. Thus, the city walls are about 1,380 miles in each direction); its length and width and height are equal. 

The angel next measured the city’s wall at seventy-two yards (most likely its thickness). Then, as if to emphasize that the city’s dimensions are literal and not mystical, John adds the parenthetical footnote that those dimensions were given according to human measurements, which are also angelic measurements. A yard is a yard, a foot is a foot, and a mile is a mile, whether for humans or angels.

The material that the massive city wall was made from was jasper—the same diamond-like stone mentioned in verse 11. Not only was the wall translucent, but also the city itself was pure gold, like clear glass. The new Jerusalem’s walls and buildings must be clear for the city to radiate the glory of God. Some may be concerned that the city’s translucence will preclude any privacy. There will be nothing in heaven, however, that calls for privacy.

John next turns his attention in the vision to the foundation stones of the city wall, which he describes in amazing detail. They were adorned with every kind of precious stone, twelve of which the apostle names. The names of some of the stones have changed through the centuries, making their identification uncertain. Eight of these stones were mounted on the high priest’s breast piece (Ex. 28:17-20; 39:10-13). The first foundation stone was jasper which, as previously noted, is best identified as a diamond; the second was sapphire, a brilliant blue stone; the third was chalcedony, an agate stone from the Chalcedon region of what is now modern Turkey, sky blue in color with colored stripes; the fourth was emerald, a bright green stone; the fifth was sardonyx, a red and white striped stone; the sixth was sardius, a common quartz stone found in various shades of red; the seventh was chrysolite, a transparent gold or yellow-hued stone; the eighth was beryl, a stone found in various colors, including shades of green, yellow, and blue; the ninth was topaz, a yellow-green stone; the tenth was chrysoprase, a gold-tinted green stone; the eleventh was jacinth, a blue or violet-colored stone in John’s day, though the modern equivalent is a red or reddish-brown zircon; the twelfth was amethyst, a purple stone. These brightly colored stones refract the shining brilliance of God’s glory into a panoply of beautiful colors. The scene was one of breathtaking beauty, a spectrum of dazzling colors flashing from the New Jerusalem throughout the re-created universe.

The next facet of the heavenly city that caught John’s eye was the twelve gates, which were twelve pearls. Pearls were highly prized and of great value in John’s day. But these pearls were like no pearl ever produced by an oyster, because each one of the gates was a single gigantic pearl nearly 1,400 miles high. There is a spiritual truth illustrated by the fact that the gates were made of pearls. How appropriate! All other precious gems are metals or stones, but a pearl is a gem formed within the oyster—the only one formed by living flesh. The humble oyster receives an irritation or a wound, and around the offending article that has penetrated and hurt it, the oyster builds a pearl. The pearl, we might say, is the answer of the oyster to that which injured it. The glory land is God’s answer, in Christ, to wicked men who crucified heaven’s beloved and put Him to open shame. How like God it is to make the gates of the new Jerusalem of pearl. The saints as they come and go will be forever reminded, as they pass the gates of glory, that access to God’s home is only because of Calvary. Think of the size of those gates! Think of the supernatural pearls from which they are made! What gigantic suffering is symbolized by those gates of pearl! Throughout the endless ages we shall be reminded by those pearly gates of the immensity of the sufferings of Christ. Those pearls, hung eternally at the access routes to glory, will remind us forever of One who hung upon a tree and whose answer to those who injured Him was to invite them to share His home. And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. In the daytime (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed; and they will bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it; and nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. (Rev.21:21b-27)

Once inside the city, the first thing John noted was that there was no temple in it. Up to this point, there has been a temple in heaven (Rev.7:15; 11:19; 14:15, 17; 15:5-8; 16:1, 17). But there will be no need for a temple in the new Jerusalem, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. Their blazing glory will fill the new heaven and the new earth, and there will be no need for anyone to go anywhere to worship God. Life will be worship and worship will be life. Believers will be constantly in His presence (Rev.21:3); there will never be a moment when they are not in perfect, holy communion with the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. Thus, there will be no need to go to a temple, cathedral, church, chapel, or any other house of worship. Believers will be the true worshipers God has always sought (John 4:23).

Returning to the theme of God’s brilliant, shining glory, John notes that the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. The new heaven and the new earth will be radically different from the present earth, which is totally dependent on the sun and moon. They provide the cycles of light and darkness, and the moon causes the ocean tides. But in the new heaven and the new earth, they will be unnecessary. There will be no seas (Rev.21:1) and hence no tides. Nor will the sun and moon be needed to provide light, for the glory of God will illumine the New Jerusalem and its lamp will be the Lamb. Once again in Revelation, God the Father and the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ, share authority (Rev.3:21).

People from every tongue, tribe, and nation—both Jews and Gentiles—will be united as God’s people. Every believer will be fully equal in the eternal capital city. It may be that the truth that the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it offers further proof of the absolute equality in heaven. That phrase may indicate that there will be no social or class structure, that those who enter the city will surrender their earthly glory. Thus, everyone would be at the same level. That the kings of the earth will bring their glory into the New Jerusalem refers to the translation of those believers before the uncreation of the present universe. 

Then John adds another detail to his description of the New Jerusalem. Throughout the never-ending daytime of the eternal state (for there will be no night there) its gates will never be closed. In an ancient walled city, the gates were closed at nightfall to keep invaders, marauders, criminals, and other potentially dangerous individuals from entering the city under cover of darkness. That there will be no night in eternity, and the gates of the New Jerusalem will never need to be closed, depicts the city’s complete security. It will be a place of rest, safety, and refreshment, where God’s people will “rest from their labors” (Rev.14:13).

The kings will not be the only ones to surrender their earthly prestige and glory when they enter heaven. The glory and the honor of the nations will also dissolve, as it were, into the eternal worship of God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Like the twenty-four elders, all who enter heaven “will cast their crowns before the throne” of God (Rev.4:10). All in heaven will be perfectly holy. Thus, nothing unclean, and no one who practices abomination and lying, shall ever come into the New Jerusalem. The only ones there will be those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life. 

THINK ABOUT THIS: God’s purpose is not to rob His people of good things by their self-denial and afflictions but to give His people the best things, the treasures that will last. He will make all things new, not just the minds and spirits of believers but also their bodies and the world in which they live. All the glory of mankind in this fallen world is but a small shadow of the splendor that awaits those who trust in the Lord. Therefore, Christian, rejoice! 

The glory that shines in all the delights of heaven is the glory of God in Christ. The Lord is the sweetness, beauty, pleasure, and treasure of His kingdom. Heaven holds nothing for those who do not love God for His own sake. Those who do not delight in the Lord and holiness would be repulsed by heaven if they could go there. Do you love Jesus Christ and His holiness? What are some signs of a true love for God that can assure believers that God is preparing them for eternity with Him?