1And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. 2And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.
These verses record the seventh of the seven events in the final narrative section of the book of Revelation. After the thousand year reign of Christ on the earth and after the great white throne judgment, there will be a new heaven and a new earth. John also saw the new Jerusalem coming down from God out of heaven. There are details given later in this chapter about the new Jerusalem, but the only description of the new heaven and the new earth given in the book of Revelation is that “there was no more sea.” Thus, there must be great significance in that one statement.
When the earth was formed, darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters (Genesis 1:2). The darkness was probably the result of the sin of Satan before the earth was formed. God described the bursting forth of the sea as the birth of one that had to be restrained: Or who shut up the sea with doors, when it brake forth, as if it had issued out of the womb? When I made the cloud the garment thereof, and thick darkness a swaddlingband for it, and brake up for it my decreed place, and set bars and doors, and said, Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed? (Job 38:8-11). James used the same birth metaphor for sin: Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death (James 1:15).
The sea is likely a symbol of sin and death. In the new heaven and the new earth there will be no more sin and death. Peter said the same thing in the positive: Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness (II Peter 3:13).
John sees the holy city, the New Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. That city will be the eternal dwelling place of the bride of Christ.
3And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. 4And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. 5And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful. 6And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely. 7He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. 8But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
The forms of the Greek verbs in these six verses (λεγουσης…ειπεν…λεγει…ειπε) indicate that there are two speakers. The first is probably an angel, and the second is the Lord Jesus. Each one speaks two times.
First, the angel says that God will dwell with His people. What a rich statement! Zechariah said, Sing and rejoice, O daughter of Zion: for, lo, I come, and I will dwell in the midst of thee, saith the LORD. And many nations shall be joined to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people: and I will dwell in the midst of thee, and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto thee (Zechariah 2:10-11). Zechariah's prophecy says that the LORD will send the LORD, who will dwell in the midst of His people. Yahweh the Father sent Yahweh the Son. The Son will dwell in the midst of His people. In Revelation 21, the city comes down from God, and yet God will be with His people in the city. The words of the angel may be translated like this: “…and He will dwell with them and they will be His people and He will be God with them.” “God with them” is the fulfillment of the name of Jesus, “Immanuel” (Matthew 1:23; Isaiah 7:14).
The angel also says that the Lord Jesus will wipe away every tear from the eyes of His people. As God said through Isaiah, For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind (Isaiah 65:17). There will be no suffering any more.
Then the Lord Jesus, the One sitting on the throne, says, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then the angel speaks again: “Write: for these words are true and faithful.” Finally, the Lord Jesus speaks again, saying that He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. His next words then contain both a wonderful invitation and a solemn warning to the readers of the book of Revelation. He offers the water of life freely to anyone who thirsts. He offers a God-and-child relationship to anyone who overcomes (see notes under 2:7). He then warns those who choose to go on in sin that He will give them their place in the lake of fire.
But didn’t people like Abraham and David and Peter commit sins that are in the list in verse 8? Is there anybody other than Jesus who hasn’t? (No.) The wonderful promise of the result of Christ’s death is found in Jeremiah 31:34 and quoted in Hebrews 8:12: For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their iniquities will I remember no more. Jesus took Abraham’s and David’s and Peter’s and our sins upon Himself at the cross. Anyone who believes in Him as Savior is declared righteous before God because the price of their sin is paid. God remembers their sins no more.
The verses 3-8 above are thus separate from the narrative section 19:11-21:2. The angel and the Lord Jesus are speaking in summary to the readers of the book of Revelation.
9And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.
In verses 1 and 2 of this chapter John saw the New Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God. There are at least three structural reasons to support the thought that the section beginning with verse 9 is not simply a continuation of the content of verses 1 and 2. First, verses 3-8 intervene. Second, in verse 8 the words of the Lord Jesus clearly go back to a time frame before the great white throne judgment. Third, verse 9 begins with the coming of “one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues.” That is, the context of the Tribulation period is in view.
The parallel between 21:9 and 17:1 is clear:
“And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will shew unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters” (17:1).
“And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb's wife” (21:9).
A contrast is being made between the whore of false religion in chapter 17 and the bride of Christ in chapter 21. The word “wife” found in 21:9 could also simply be translated “woman” : “I will show you the woman, the bride of the Lamb.” The contrast is between two women, one picturing the sensuality and passing wealth of false religion (17:4,6,7,9,18) and the other picturing the beauty and purity of those saved by the Lord Jesus.
10And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God,
Is verse 10 just a replay of verse 2? For the three reasons given above and because of details in the description of the city shown to John in 21:10-22:5, it seems correct not to see verse 10 as a replay of verse 2. It seems that this new section views the same city but in its presentation at the beginning of the thousand year reign of Christ. That is, 21:1-2 closes out the narrative section which began in 19:11. The seventh and last event in that section is the presentation of the city after the thousand year wedding feast and after the disintegration of the old heaven and earth and after the great white throne judgment. Then verses 3-8 contain comments by an angel and by the Lord Jesus, comments which go back to events which precede 21:1-2. Next, in a new section introduced by an angel of that prior time, John sees the city in its millennial context.
Thus, 19:1-10 celebrate the fall of Babylon and anticipate the marriage supper of the Lamb. Then, 19:11-21:2 give a step-by-step revelation of the immediately following seven last events. Next, 21:9-22:5 go back to the time of the marriage supper and describe in detail the prepared home of the bride.
11Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 12and had a wall great and high, and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel: 13on the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates. 14And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
First, it is stated that the city has the glory of God. God will be present there with His people. Two sets of twelve names are mentioned: the names of the twelve tribes of Israel on the twelve gates of the city and the names of the twelve apostles on the twelve foundations of the wall. Jesus said to the church in Philadelphia, “Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name” (Revelation 3:12). The very presence of God will be the temple of the city (21:22), and the believers of the church will be the pillars of that temple. It seems that we will always be in the city with our Lord. The gates are for those who go in and out. Perhaps that is why the gates bear the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. The security of the city (the wall) rests on the foundational truth given to the apostles concerning the finished work of Christ. The presence of both sets of 12 names upon the structures of the city indicates a continuing distinctness and a unity between the saved of Israel and those of the church.
15And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof. 16And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal. 17And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.
The holy city will be a cube; the length, width, and height will be equal. The measure given for the city is about 1400 miles. The measure of the wall is about 215 feet. Probably that is the thickness of the wall.
18And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass. 19And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald; 20the fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.
According to verse 10, the descent of the holy city out of heaven was visible to John from the high mountain where he was, but the verse does not say that the city came down to the earth. Some students of Revelation have suggested that this city will remain above the earth. It has been pointed out that in that case light from within the city would shine out through the jasper walls and through the beautiful array of gems in the foundation of the wall. The thought that the city will remain above the earth seems consistent with chapters 40-48 of Ezekiel. Those chapters describe in great detail the temple which will be on the earth during the thousand year reign of Christ. Yet the holy city that will be on earth during the millennium is described only briefly in those chapters (Ezekiel 40:2; 45:6; 48:15,20,30-35). It is not given the focus that is given to the city which will descend out of heaven from God in Revelation 21. Also, if the city in Revelation 21 remains separate from the earth during the thousand years, it would thus also remain separate from the destruction of the earth which will come at the end of the thousand years.
21And the twelve gates were twelve pearls: every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.
When John saw the harlot of false religion in chapter 17, she was “decked with gold and precious stones and pearls” (17:4). She had sold herself for the world’s treasures which she could not keep. They were just cheap trinkets in comparison with the boundless blessing to be given to the bride of Christ. The holy city of the future will be a city of pure gold (21:18) with a wide street of pure gold. The foundations of its wall will be of precious stones. Each of its gates will be a single pearl. The perfect beauty of the residence that Christ has prepared for His bride will be hers to enjoy forever.
Jesus said, Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it (Matthew 13:44-46). In this parable, the man who sells all that He has to buy the field and the pearl is Jesus Himself. The treasure in the field likely represents the true believers of Israel (Exodus 19:5; Psalm 135:4), and the pearl likely represents the church. Perhaps this is the significance of the fact that each gate of the future holy city will be one pearl. The gates will bear testimony to the great price that Christ paid so that His people may enter. These gates and the names of the twelve tribes of Israel at the twelve gates may be a statement of mutual acknowledgement. Israel will recognize on entrance to the city that the church inside is Christ’s bride. The church will ever acknowledge that the Savior who paid the price for entrance is the child born to the nation of Israel (12:1-2,6).
22And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it. 23And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. 24And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it. 25And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there. 26And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it. 27And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life.
The very presence of God will be in the holy city. There will be no temple there. The prophet Ezekiel, however, prophesied in great detail of a future temple (Ezekiel 40-47). In describing waters that will flow out from that temple, Ezekiel mentioned specific place names in Israel (Ezekiel 47:8-10). The temple that Ezekiel saw will be on earth. The city that John saw in Revelation 21 will probably remain above the earth. In the city that John saw there will be no night, but on earth during the thousand years there will be day and night (Isaiah 4:5).
There will be one criterion for entrance into the future holy city: a person’s name must be written in “the Lamb’s book of life.” When John the Baptist saw Jesus, he said, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Anyone whose sins have been taken away through faith in the Lamb of God will be allowed to enter the city.
Note: All Scriptures are quoted from the King James Version of the Bible.