The Holy City: Revelation 21:9-27

One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.

The same angel who showed Babylon—the prostitute—now showed the bride. Come and see the contrast. The bride. The wife of the Lamb. The holy city.

And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.

Spirit-carried to a great mountain—the prophetic vantage point. From there John saw the Holy City. Descending from God. Heaven coming to earth.

It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.

Shining. The glory of God radiating from within. Brilliance like jasper—the same gem around God's throne. Clear as crystal—transparent, pure.

It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.

The wall—great and high—security and definition. Twelve gates—entry from every direction. Twelve angels—guardians. Twelve tribes—Israel's names inscribed. The old covenant people honored.

There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west.

Gates on every side. Access from every direction. No one approaches from the wrong angle.

The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

Twelve foundations. Twelve apostles' names. The new covenant people honored. Israel and the church together—gates and foundations of the eternal city.

The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls.

Measurement taken. Gold measuring rod—precious instrument for precious calculation.

The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long.

A cube. 12,000 stadia—about 1,400 miles. In length, width, and height. The Holy of Holies was a cube. The new Jerusalem is the Holy of Holies expanded to city size.

The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits thick.

144 cubits—12 times 12. The wall massive, but the measurement symbolic. Completeness.

The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass.

Jasper walls—the gem of glory. Gold so pure it was transparent—glass-like gold. Materials beyond earthly experience.

The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone.

Twelve foundations, twelve kinds of stones: jasper, sapphire, agate, emerald, onyx, ruby, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, turquoise, jacinth, amethyst. Colors beyond description. Beauty layered on beauty.

The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl.

Single pearls. Each gate one pearl—impossibly large, incomparably valuable. The entrance to the city through pearl gates.

The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.

The street—gold. Transparent gold. What is rare on earth is pavement in heaven. The precious becomes common; the common becomes precious.

I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.

No temple. The structure meant to house God's presence was unnecessary. God himself—and the Lamb—were the temple. Presence unmediated.

The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.

No sun needed. No moon required. The glory of God illuminates. The Lamb is the lamp. Light from the source of light.

The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it.

Nations walking by divine light. Kings bringing glory—the cultural treasures of humanity offered to the city. The wealth of nations flowing in.

On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there.

Gates never shut. No night. No danger requiring closed gates. No darkness requiring vigilance. Eternal day.

The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it.

The best of human achievement, redeemed and brought in. The glory of nations preserved and presented.

Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life.

The entry requirement: purity. Nothing impure enters. No one shameful or deceitful. Only those in the book of life. The city is holy, and only the holy enter.

The Holy City. Cube of glory. Gates of pearl. Streets of gold. God as temple. The Lamb as lamp. Nations bringing honor. Gates never closed. The dwelling place of God with humanity forever.