The New Jerusalem
THE NEW JERUSALEM
REVELATION 21:9-21
Here we consider the future state of the church seen as a bride and a city.
It has already been pointed out that we are dealing with the glorified church (21:9). If the gates have the names of “the twelve tribes” (21:12), and the foundations those of “the twelve apostles” (21:14), it means that the true Israel and the victorious church, whose essential unity has been assumed throughout the book, have now coalesced, though we are not told how. Those who speak of a heavenly calling for the church and an earthly one for the Jew are correct only on a short-term view.
“Twelve thousand stadia” are about 1,500 miles. A perfect cube (21:16) of such dimensions makes no practical sense, especially if it has a wall only “144 cubits” (21:17), ie 216 feet, high. We can, however, interpret it in terms of Ezekiel 40:2 and see a pyramid-shaped mountain. But instead of there being a relatively small temple on the summit, the city, which received only passing notice in Ezekiel 48:30-35 (note the twelve gates), has now filled the mountain; see also Daniel 2:35; Isaiah 11:9. The measurements are, of course, as symbolic as the city itself. Spurgeon in one of his lectures made fun of the literalist by calculating the size of the oyster needed to produce “a pearl” (21:21) large enough to form a city gate, and speculated on the kind of sea needed to grow such an oyster. Those used to abstract or poetic thought can be satisfied with “having the glory of God” (21:11), but for the more primitive or childlike mind this has to be expressed in material terms.
Eight of the precious stones in 21:19f. are found in the standard Greek translation of Exodus 28:17-20, though not in this order. It is a safe guess then that they are meant to be the twelve stones of the breastplate of judgment, the Greek version available to John using other names in the missing positions. If this is so, any symbolic meaning in the stones must be sought in their Old Testament significance. The walls are founded on judgment, but also on the love and thought of God, for the breastplate was worn over Aaron’s heart. Yet the values of the city are not those of this world, for gold, for which many people will sell their souls, is of no more value than to be used as a paving material to be trodden underfoot.