In 1987, I took a guided trip up a mountain while I was in Portugal. At the top I saw Pena palace with spires slicing through the clouds. I never forgot that sight, I felt like I was in a story book world of fairy tales.
This passage is a guided tour of heaven that should give us hope for the future. However, this passage shouldn’t foster an escapist mentality among Christians because we see a better life ahead. Have you ever heard the saying that someone was so heavenly minded that they are no earthly good! That saying has some truth. Our lives in this world are important. Knowing about heaven helps us to hold out in our present life with faith, hope and love.
Chapter 22:6-7 state the purpose of the vision of heaven. “Then he said to me, “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place.” “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is He who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
Heaven is real. It’s a physical place and God made it for His people. The reality of heaven is given so that we may know that God is faithful and true. (Hebrews 12:22-28). Let’s take our brochure, the bible so we can understand more about heaven.
I.) It’s a City Aglow. 9-11
Our guided tour of heaven is from an angel.
Notice verse 9 it’s an angel unveiling the city in vivid detail. The angelic guide is an experienced tour guide. He is one of the angels that had the seven last judgments in chapter 13. The angel says “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” It’s a tour of the place and the people that are called the “heritage of peace” or the New Jerusalem.
The first stop on our tour is on a great high mountain top and from there we see the Holy city coming down from heaven. On this tour there are people that ask why we need to go to the mountain top to start our tour? The impression of these two terms “a great high mountain top” and “the holy city coming down” emphasize the association with God and His Revelation to mankind. For instance, mountains are often used in the OT and NT to disclose information from God. For example Abraham, and Moses were given information on a Mountain. Jesus instructed His disciples on a mountain side. (cf. Gen 22:1-14; Ex 3:1, 12; 19:1–34:35; Ezek 28, 1 Kgs 19:1-18; Matt 5–7).
As we continue on our tour, there is one fact that is often overlooked. This Holy city has always existed. This city is not being created, it’s always been. This is the place that Abraham looked for. This is noted in Hebrews 11:9-10 “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to the place which he would receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise; for he waited for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”
In verse 11 in your tour guide, there is an important detail of the city. Note the phrase “having the glory of God.” This means the city radiates or reflects the glory of God. The “radiance” of this city is embedded in two Greek words. The first is the Greek word “φωστήρ phoster.” This is the same root word for our English word photo. This Greek word means brilliant. The city’s brilliance was like a precious stone! The second Greek word is “ἴασπις iáspidos,” Jasper stone. This particular stone is very rare because unlike most jasper stones this one is a translucent crystal that reflects light in brilliant rays.
John Walvoord in his commentary on Revelation said the city is full of “unmistakable beauty, designed to reflect the glory of God in a spectrum of brilliant color.”
She is beautiful to look upon. Next, we get to see the engineering of the city…
II.) The City has an Architect and unique Architecture. 11-15
As you look down at your brochure of heaven you’ll notice more of the city. Verses 11-14 form one single sentence in the Greek. The sentence is connected with three consecutive participles that are describing the Holy City.
- “Having the Glory of God…”
- “Having great high walls and twelve gates…”
- Having twelve foundations…”
The greatest architect in the universe built this city.
Check out those high walls, they are an anomaly. The city has unique walls. Translating the measurements in verses 16 and 17, the city is 1500 miles high and the walls are only seventy-five yards high. Since there are 1,760 yards in one mile, the city walls rise .0000284 or 3 hundred thousands of one percent of the height of the city.
Unlike the walls of cities in man’s civilization, these walls are not to keep the unwanted out because no enemies exist. A theologian named Grant Osborne suggested that “the walls exist to assist in reflecting the glory of God.”
Continue on in your guide book, also listed with great and high walls, are twelve gates and twelve foundations. These characteristics have associational identities. Notice this in verse 12 “twelve angels at the gates, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.” And in verse 14 “twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
The gates and walls represent the people who God worked through to build the population of this city. Israel brought the Law and the Redeemer and the Apostles spread the Good News to all nations. The result is that there are many people in this city!
Yet, there are more details about this city…
III.) The Assessment of the City. 16-21
Now the angel notes the measurement and materials of this city.
The size of the city, is 3,375,000,000 cubic miles. This means the city would cover the area from the northern tip of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. The width would cover the coast of California to Chicago’s edge with lake Michigan and then the same in height.
New York has the distinction of being the largest city by land mass in the world. But it is only 4,669 square miles.
Please turn to your guide book and follow along as I read verses 18-20.
Revelation 21:18-20 The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass. 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.
The city is not just about the population or its size or the materials it’s made of.
It’s a city of overwhelming brilliance, beauty, and worth. This is a city worthy to be the dwelling place of God. This is the most amazing truth that God reveals, He wants to share this with people.
Continue to follow along in your guidebook in verse 21.
Revelation 21:21 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.
One person left this in a suggestion box at the end of his tour of heaven. Allow me to share this comment from the theologian John Phillips. He noticed “many precious metals and stones but only one of them is formed by a living organism.” His comment was that “the pearl is created from an irritation or a wound when an oyster is hurt.” Notice that each of the gates of the city are made of one great pearl. The formation of the pearl is made through affliction. All who enter the city through one of the pearl gates will know it’s because of the suffering and affliction of Jesus Christ on the cross for all their sin.
Let’s continue on our guided tour!
IV.) What’s Absent in the City. 22-27
In verse 22 the New Jerusalem has no temple. For a bit of historical information about temples: The main purpose of a temple served as a connection between the people and God. The temple was where God dwelled among His people and where the people gave their offerings and sacrifices to God. Inside New Jerusalem, God and the Lamb dwell directly with the people. There will be no more separation of the secular and the scared. No separation of God and His people.
John Macarthur stated; “there will never be a moment when His people will not be in perfect Holy Communion with the Lord in the New Jerusalem.”
Actually verse 22 declares that the entire city is “the holy of Holies.”
Our guide also catalogues some other missing features and activities in the city.
There will be..
- no sun,
- no moon,
- no night,
- the gates will not be shut.
For obvious reasons there will be no need of them.
However, the most significant absence in the city is give in verse 27. Look, “But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
There will be no access at all for anyone who has not been washed in the blood of the Lamb!
God has reminded people many times that they need to trust Him and His Word to be invited to live in the city. In the O.T. it was by faith they looked forward to the Messiah, for us today we look back to Jesus’ sacrifice.
One of those recordings is found in Romans 5:8-11 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only that, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation.
V.) The Internal Aesthetics of the City 22:1-7
Finally, we get near to the throne of God and the Lamb. Chapter 22:1-6 records the objects that proceed from the throne.
In verse 1, “in the middle of the street of gold is the water of life. The water of life everlastingly flows out of the throne and it is clear as crystal.
On either side of the street of gold is another source of eternal life. In verse 2 the tree of life continually blesses the population with health. The angel explains this tree of life by describing the parts of the tree. The tree is everbearing. It has twelve fruits which means it yields fruit every month, and it has everbearing leaves! This is an everbearing tree that provides consistent provision for people for all eternity.
In verse 3, the people will rejoice because there is no curse! The city is sin free.
One key detail is in verse 4 of the tour. Notice the people will be able to see God’s face. Every person will have personal fellowship with the Lamb. Also God’s name will be on each of their foreheads. This is for a reminder that they will forever and ever have the privilege of enjoying God and the Lamb for they are His.
In verse 5 “There is no night or need of lamps, nor light of the sun because the Lord God gives them light.” The emphasis is on the fact that all the inhabitants of the city will delight in their never-ending and beautiful existence. This was promised long ago and recorded in Numbers 6:25-26 “The LORD make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.”
Now there is one more important description of these citizens. They will enjoy a glorious transformation. The end of verse 5 states that they will enjoy partnership with God and the Lamb and live together in complete unity. Something Jesus Christ desired while He walked upon earth recorded in John 17:21 “that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me.”
This is the end of the tour. The master and owner Jesus Christ wants you to enjoy this place. He has a message or everyone in verses 6 and 7! Jesus’ required that this information be disclosed. “These words are faithful and true.” And the Lord God of the holy prophets sent His angel to show His servants the things which must shortly take place. “Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book.”
Jesus desires that everyone who knows this information will seek to honor Him by heeding His Words!
Another citizen of Heaven recorded this, Romans 10:8-11 “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes on Him will not be put to shame.”
Will you be there? You can be, will you put your trust in Christ today. For God so loved the world, that He gave His only son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life -John 3:16. God wants you to be there!
Are you excited to be there someday if you are already a believer? If you are, keep living for Christ by obeying His Word, and know that your future is going to be amazing and worth the wait.