Revelation 21:9 - Meaning and Application

We have already looked at the vision of the new Jerusalem in a general way, as a picture of heaven. Now we come to the vision itself. First, notice the angel who opened the vision to John, one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues (Revelation 21:9). God gives his holy angels many kinds of work. At times they sound the trumpet of God’s providence and warn a careless world. At other times they pour out God’s anger on stubborn sinners. Here, one of them shows heavenly things to those who will inherit salvation.

The angels obey every command they receive from God. When this world ends, they will still have fitting and joyful work from the great God forever. Second, notice the place from which John saw this glorious sight. He was carried away in spirit to a high mountain. People often get their clearest view of nearby cities from high places. In the same way, those who want a clear view of heaven should climb as near to heaven as they can, to the mountain of vision, the mountain of meditation and faith. From there, like Moses on Pisgah, they may look out over the good land of the heavenly Canaan.

Third, notice the main subject of the vision, the bride, the Lamb’s wife (Revelation 21:10). This is the church of God in her glorious, complete, and victorious state, pictured as Jerusalem. The glory of God shines in her brightness. As a bride is made beautiful by the honor and grace of her husband, so the church is made glorious by her relation to Christ, by his image made perfect in her, and by his favor resting on her.

Now we have a full description of the church triumphant under the image of a city, one that far surpasses all the cities of this world in riches and splendor. This new Jerusalem is shown to us in both its outer and inner parts. The outer part is the wall and the gates. The wall stands for safety, and the gates stand for entrance.

The wall shows that heaven is a safe state. Those who are there are enclosed by a wall that keeps them from every evil and enemy. Its height is very great, enough for both beauty and protection (Revelation 21:17). Its material is jasper, a wall made of precious stone, strong and shining (Revelation 21:11). This city has a wall that cannot be broken and is also beautiful.

Its shape is also regular and even, four-square, with length equal to breadth. In the new Jerusalem, all will be equal in purity and perfection. There will be complete harmony in the church triumphant, something we may desire on earth but cannot expect until heaven.

The wall’s measure is also given, twelve thousand furlongs on each side, forty-eight thousand furlongs around the whole city, or about fifteen hundred German miles (Revelation 21:15, Revelation 21:16). There is room enough there for all God’s people, many rooms in the Father’s house. Heaven is a city that has foundations (Revelation 21:19). The promise and power of God, and the purchase made by Christ, are the strong foundation of the church’s safety and happiness.

These foundations are numbered twelve, pointing to the twelve apostles (Revelation 21:14). Their gospel teaching is the foundation on which the church is built, with Christ himself as the chief cornerstone. The materials of the foundations are many and precious, shown by twelve kinds of precious stones. These suggest the rich variety and excellence of gospel truth, the grace of the Holy Spirit, or the personal beauty of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then come the gates for entrance. Heaven is not closed off. There is a way opened into the most holy place, and all who are made holy may enter. They will not find themselves shut out. There are twelve gates, answering to the twelve tribes of Israel. All the true Israel of God will enter the new Jerusalem, just as each tribe entered earthly Jerusalem.

Twelve angels stand guard at the gates, ready to receive the different tribes of spiritual Israel and keep others out. The names of the twelve tribes are written on the gates, showing that they have a right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city. The gates are set on all four sides of the city, three on each side, because the city is square and reaches toward the four quarters of the world, east, west, north, and south. This shows that people from every part of the earth will be brought safely to heaven and welcomed there. The entrance is as free from one region as from another, for in Christ there is no Jew or Greek, no barbarian or Scythian, no slave or free person. People of every nation and language who believe in Christ have access through him to God in grace now and in glory later.

The gates are made of pearls, and each gate is one pearl, whether that means one pearl of a vast size or one pearl of a single kind. Christ is the pearl of great price, and he is the way to God. Nothing in this world is glorious enough to fully show the splendor of heaven. If we could picture such a city, even only its outer part, with such a wall and such gates, it would be astonishing and glorious. Yet even that would be only a dim shadow of what heaven truly is.

Now we are brought into the inner part of the new Jerusalem (Revelation 21:22-27). We have seen its strong wall, grand gates, and glorious guards. Now we enter the city itself. The first thing we notice there is the street, which is pure gold, like clear glass (Revelation 21:21). The saints in heaven walk on gold. The new Jerusalem has streets, which shows the exact order of heaven. Every saint has his own place.

There is also fellowship in heaven. The saints rest there, but their rest is not dead stillness. It is not sleep or inactivity, but joyful movement. The saved nations walk in its light. They walk with Christ in white. They enjoy communion not only with God, but also with one another. All their steps are steady and clean. They are pure and clear like gold and transparent glass.

Notice also the temple of the new Jerusalem. It is not a material temple made by human hands, like the temple of Solomon or Zerubbabel. It is a temple that is wholly spiritual and divine, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. There the saints are above the need of outward ordinances, which were the means used to prepare them for heaven.

When the goal is reached, the means are no longer needed. Perfect and immediate fellowship with God will more than replace the outward forms of gospel worship.

The light of this city is another part of its glory. Where there is no light, there can be no beauty or joy. Heaven is the inheritance of the saints in light, but what is that light? There is no sun or moon shining there (Revelation 21:23). Light is sweet, and it is pleasant to see the sun. How dark this world would be without sunlight. What, then, replaces it in heaven? There is no need for the sun or moon, because the glory of God gives light to the city, and the Lamb is its lamp. God in Christ will be an endless source of knowledge and joy for the saints in heaven. If that is so, there is no need for the sun or moon, just as we do not need to light candles at noon when the sun is shining in full strength.

The people who live in this city are also described in several ways. First, there are many of them, whole nations of saved souls, some from every nation, and many from some nations. All those large groups who were sealed on earth are saved in heaven. Second, they are honored people, including some kings and princes of the earth, great kings. God will bring people from every rank into the heavenly dwelling places, high and low alike. And when the greatest kings come to heaven, they will see their former honor swallowed up by a glory far greater than anything on earth.

Third, there is a steady coming and entering into this city. The gates will never be shut. There is no night there, so there is no need to close the gates. Someone is coming in at every hour and moment, and those who are made holy always find the gates open. They have a full welcome into the kingdom. Fourth, the city’s blessings are rich and abundant: all the glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. Everything good and valuable in this world will be enjoyed there in a purer form and to a much greater degree, brighter crowns, a better and lasting inheritance, sweeter and more satisfying feasts, more glorious service, a truer sense of honor and higher places of honor, a nobler spirit, and a body and face more glorious than anything known in this world.

Fifth, everyone in the new Jerusalem will be completely pure (Revelation 21:27). The saints will have no impurity left in them. At death they will be cleansed from everything that defiles. Right now, they still feel the sad mix of sin with their graces. That mixture hinders their service to God, interrupts fellowship with him, and hides the light of his favor. But when they enter the holy place, they are washed in the blood of Christ and presented to the Father without spot.

There will also be no impure people admitted there. In the earthly Jerusalem, there will always be some mixture, no matter how much care is taken. Some roots of bitterness will spring up and trouble Christian communities. But in the new Jerusalem, the society is perfectly pure. It is free from those who are openly wicked. No one who does abominations is allowed into heaven. On earth, people sometimes profane holy things, and they use sacred acts for selfish or worldly ends. Nothing like that can exist in heaven. It is also free from hypocrites, those who practice lies, claiming to be Jews when they are not, and so lying about their true condition. Such people may slip into Christ’s churches on earth and stay hidden for a long time, perhaps all their lives. But they cannot enter the new Jerusalem, which belongs only to those who are called, chosen, and faithful, all written not just in the visible church’s records, but in the Lamb’s book of life.