1I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth have passed away, and the sea is no more. 2I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband. 3I heard a loud voice out of heaven saying, “Behold, God’s dwelling is with people; and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; neither will there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. The first things have passed away.”
5He who sits on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” He said, “Write, for these words of God are faithful and true.” 6He said to me, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give freely to him who is thirsty from the spring of the water of life. 7He who overcomes, I will give him these things. I will be his God, and he will be my son. 8But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
9One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls which were loaded with the seven last plagues came, and he spoke with me, saying, “Come here. I will show you the bride, the Lamb’s wife.” 10He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 12having a great and high wall with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names written on them, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. 13On the east were three gates, and on the north three gates, and on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve Apostles of the Lamb.
15He who spoke with me had for a measure a golden reed to measure the city, its gates, and its walls. 16The city is square. Its length is as great as its width. He measured the city with the reed: twelve thousand twelve stadia. Its length, width, and height are equal. 17Its wall is one hundred forty-four cubits, by the measure of a man, that is, of an angel. 18The construction of its wall was jasper. The city was pure gold, like pure glass. 19The foundations of the city’s wall were adorned with all kinds of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire; the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius, 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 one of the gates was made of one pearl. The street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
22I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23The city has no need for the sun or moon to shine, for the very glory of God illuminated it and its lamp is the Lamb. 24The nations will walk in its light. The kings of the earth bring the glory and honor of the nations into it. 25Its gates will in no way be shut by day (for there will be no night there), 26and they shall bring the glory and the honor of the nations into it so that they may enter. 27There will in no way enter into it anything profane, or one who causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
The New Jerusalem is the wife of the Lamb and is a massive city of crystal and gold. Just as one of the seven bowl judgment angels showed John Mystery Babylon, another of them now shows him New Jerusalem. Where the first angel took him to a wilderness to watch the destruction of Babylon, this angel takes him to a high mountain to watch the arrival of New Jerusalem to the new Earth.
The city’s glory is that of God, not of the city itself. The description of the city as crystalline, clear jasper stone indicates its beauty. Many interpreters feel that this description should be viewed as symbolic and not literal. It does have symbolic significance. However, God is not limited by the present laws of physics. The existence of the city is a result of His will, not any rules of nature.
Like the earthly city of Jerusalem, the New Jerusalem will have twelve gates, named after the twelve tribes of Israel. Likely, the twelve gates will be named after the twelve patriarchs, though the tribe of Dan, along with the half-tribe of Ephraim, were excluded from the 144,000 witnesses. Along with the twelve gates are twelve foundations named after the twelve apostles. Matthias will be listed along with the original eleven, not the Apostle Paul (Acts 1:26).
The description of the city itself begins with its measurement by an angel. It is not perfectly clear if the city is a cube or a pyramid. It is more likely to be a cube because the Holy of Holies was a cube, and in some sense, New Jerusalem serves as the heavenly Holy of Holies. The twelve thousand and twelve stadia measures approximately 1,380 miles. In comparison, the state of Texas is only 801 miles at its widest point (north to south). The wall’s 144 cubits (216 feet) likely refers to its thickness rather than height since the city’s height is equal to its width. This leads to interpretive problems since a city of that size being placed on the surface of the planet would interfere with its rotation. Furthermore, commercial aircraft do not fly more than seven miles above the surface. Low-orbiting satellites are only 1,200 miles above the planet. This, along with the materials of the city, leads many interpreters to view this as purely symbolic language.
The materials of the city are precious stones and pure gold. Everything is crystalline clear, other than the gates that are pearls. Its golden streets are so pure that they are transparent. This allows the glory of God to shine through and enlighten every corner of the city. Though many interpreters question the literalness of this description, God is not limited by our present creation’s limitations. He had already created New Jerusalem and dwells in it. That is the location of His throne. It is a physical, material location that has breathable air, food, and water, which have sustained Elijah and Enoch for thousands of years. Jesus is living there now in His resurrected human body. We should not be surprised that God would create such a glorious city to dwell in.