Gates That Never Close Again

On the night of November 9, 1989, East Berliners gathered at the checkpoints that had imprisoned them for twenty-eight years. When the gates finally opened, thousands streamed through with tears running down their faces. Strangers embraced strangers. Families separated for decades fell into each other's arms at the Brandenburg Gate. Nobody slept that night in Berlin. The city blazed with celebration, and for the first time in a generation, people walked freely in every direction without papers, without permission, without fear.

But by morning, the old anxieties crept back. Would the gates close again? Would the soldiers return? It took months before Berliners truly believed the wall was gone for good.

John's vision in Revelation offers something the people of Berlin could only hope for. He sees a city whose gates are never shut — not because a government made a temporary policy change, but because the One who sits on the throne has made all things new. There is no temple to restrict access, because the Almighty and the Lamb are present everywhere. There is no sun to set and bring darkness, because the glory of God is the city's unending light. The river of life flows freely down the middle of the street, and the leaves of the tree of life bring healing to every nation.

Berlin's gates could open because a wall fell. The New Jerusalem's gates stand open because death itself has fallen — and it will never rise again.