Revelation 21:9-27--The New Jerusalem

Revelation 21:9-27
English Standard Version

The New Jerusalem
9 Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, 11 having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

15 And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies foursquare, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement. 18 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 19 The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. 21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each of the gates made of a single pearl, and the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.

22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 They will bring into it the glory and the honor of the nations. 27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false, but only those who are written in the Lamb's book of life.

---

Again, one of the seven angels that had one of the seven final plagues came and spoke to John saying that he was going to be shown the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.  John was carried to the top of a high mountain (if this is the same earth, the whole earth is flat other than the Mountain of God where Jerusalem sits).  John saw the New Jerusalem, which was both a city and a people coming down out of heaven from God.  That people and city have the glory of God so that the city radiated like a jewel that produced its own light.  Specifically, it was like jasper (a red jewel).

The City will have a high wall and twelve gates, though it needs neither walls nor gates to defend itself since there is no longer any threat from outside.  It has the same length and width, so we're probably looking at a cube, with three gates on each side.  The twelve gates are named after the Twelve Tribes of Israel and each gate is guarded by an angel.  The walls of the city where built on twelve foundations, each named after one of the Twelve Apostles.

John is then given a measuring rod by the angel speaking to him and told to measure the city.  We don't use "stadia" as a measurement anymore, but each side is roughly 1,380 to 1,400 miles in length (its length, width, and height are all equal).  The walls were made of pure jasper so that they were as clear as glass though probably with the red hue of jasper.  The foundations were adorned with every kind of jewel--specifically the same or nearly-the-same jewels that would have been found in the breastplate of the High Priest of Israel as each of the stones represented one of the tribes.  I have some images below to show you that there is great similarity between the lists--it's hard to say they are identical lists because it is hard to translate some of the names of gemstones from Hebrew to Greek or vice versa, and from either Hebrew or Greek to English.  Each gate was made from a single, flawless pearl, and the streets were made of pure gold so that they also appeared to be transparent.

"The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with every kind of jewel. The first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst"

There was no Temple in the city (there is no more need for a Temple building because God will dwell among His people, but it is fair to say that the City is the new Temple in the same way that The Garden of Eden was a Temple).  God dwells with His people (both the Father and the Son will live among them), and is that not what the purpose of the Temple was?  To point towards a time God would be with us once again? There is no more need for the lesser thing that pointed to the greater thing because the greater thing is here.

There will also be no more need for the sun, moon, or stars--John doesn't specifically say they don't exist anymore, but just that it will always be as daytime and the brightness of the Lord will eclipse even the brightness of the sun (if it still exists) so that we won't see it--I have a feeling though that all this will pass away when the "first creation" comes to an end.  I can't prove that to you, but there is no more need for any of the things that were there as we won't see them and give God glory for them.

The gates of the city will never be shut (they were shut at night, and it will never be night) as there is no danger from robbers or wild animals.  All the beautiful things from all the nations will be brought to it--this is one of the arguments for the world of the first creation not being destroyed, because it sounds as if we may take everything valuable that the world had to offer and bring it to Jesus (though what the world had to offer would pale in comparison to what He has offered us).

Nothing (and no one) unclean will ever enter its gates (that's why the angels are there).  Though, we don't have to worry about that anymore.  Those who do detestable things and whose names are not written in the Lamb's Book of Life will never enter (or even see) this great City.   It is reserved only for the people of God--there will be no one who escapes judgment and somehow sneaks into the City to do damage or harm.