15The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16The 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. 17He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man's measurement, which the angel was using. 18The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst. 21The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass.
22I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23The 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. 24The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27Nothing 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.
Dig Deeper
When I was in college I was separated from my fiancée, my now wife, by over 700 miles. Because I wasn’t able to enjoy her presence very often symbols of her became very important to me. My room was filled with pictures, with items that reminded me of her and I often read the letters that she had written me. Now that we are married, those things aren’t that important. There are still a few pictures and mementos around the house but I don’t cling to them the way I did in college. Those letters are still around and special to me, but they’re in a folder, in a box, down in the basement. I don’t take them out and read them all the time. This doesn’t mean that my love for my wife has faded or that I just don’t care anymore. Quite the opposite. There is nothing I enjoy more than spending time with her and being in her presence. Being in her presence is what makes all the difference. The symbols aren’t really needed anymore because I am in her presence.
As John describes the coming of the New Jerusalem and the age to come, he says that things like the Temple, the sun, and the moon are no longer necessary. John is not trying to write scientifically about future astronomical events. He is simply trying to describe a time when God’s people will actually be fully in the indescribable presence of our holy God. This means that it’s very difficult to find regular language to describe such a thing. More importantly, though, it means that things like a Temple, which were formerly the places where God’s presence physically broke into our real are no longer necessary. You don’t need small mementos or symbols when you have the real thing.
21:15-17 - One of the seven bowl-angels had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its and its walls. Just as the sanctuary had to be measured earlier (Rev. 11:1-2), so now, the entire city, which is the Temple, is to be measured. We should remember that measuring is a symbolic scriptural technique used to distinguish the holy from the profane (see Ezek. 22:26; 40-43; Zech. 2:1-5; cf Jer. 10:16; 51:19; Rev. 11:1-2). John says that 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. . . And it was 144 cubits thick. The city is a perfect cube just as the Holy of Holies was (1 Ki. 6:20). Thus, New Jerusalem is a spiritual Holy of Holies. Some have tried to interpret this passage literally, which is frankly, absurd. The numbers are clearly symbolic. The multiples of twelve are a reference to the majesty and perfection of the Church in the eyes of God. If these numbers were translated into modern measurements, John would be describing a wall 1,500 miles long and 216 feet high. Each of the original numbers are deeply symbolic, if interpreted as actual distances in English, they become meaningless and ridiculous.
21:18-21 - The city is now described in terms of jewelry, connecting it to the perfect Edenic pattern (cf. Gen. 2:10-12; Ezek. 28:13). The wall was made of jasper, an image of God (Rev. 4:3; 21:11). The city was of pure gold, as pure as glass; gold is often used as an image of the glory of God, and was used in the Tabernacle and Temple, and on the clothes of the priests; the gold associated with paradise is good (Gen. 2:12). The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. There were twelve foundations, thus connecting this description with the breastplate of the High Priest, who had four rows of three gems each that represented the twelve tribes of Israel (Ex. 28:15-21). John then lists each precious stone. Much speculation has been made as to the specific order of these stones, some of which are quite interesting. An in depth discussion of this is not permitted by the space of this format, but I will say that these stones clearly correspond in some way in John’s mind, to the tribes of Israel.
John then tells us that the twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. (This again shows the symbolic nature of the passage. If we were interpreting this literally we would need a single pearl big enough to provide for a gate that would be 216 feet high). The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass. This emphasizes the glory of God. Everywhere you walk in the city, you are walking on the symbol of God’s incredible glory. The description of the coming Kingdom in obviously symbolic terms of great city is similar to Isaiah’s description in Isa. 54:11-12.
21:22-23 - There is no Temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its Temple. This is another way of stating the blessings already described in Rev. 3:12 and 7:15. Austin Farrer, in The Revelation of St. John the Divine, says "Their city of residence is their temple; it contains within it no temple whose walls or doors intervene between them and the God they adore. God is temple to the city and the city is temple to God. The city will shine with the indwelling of the glory cloud of God so 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. This is just as Isaiah had prophesied centuries before (Isa. 60:1-3, 19-21).
21:24-27 - Throughout the same prophecy, Isaiah says that the nations will flow into the city of God (Isa. 60:5-6, 9, 11). John applies this prophecy to the new Jerusalem, saying, the nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 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 Church will be the city on the hill, the light of the world. People from all nations will bring to the Kingdom the very best of their cultures and backgrounds, but nothing impure will ever be allowed into the holy city.
Devotional Thought
John says, in symbolic terms, that the city does not need the sun or moon because the glory of God gives it light. Is your life illuminated by God’s glory or do you look to other things for your happiness and contentment. What would you need to change in your way of thinking and in your actions in order for God to truly be the source of light in your life?
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