(*All Bible verses are from the NIV unless otherwise noted)
Chapter 21
9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.
11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.
12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel.
13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west.
14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
Rev 21:9-10
Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb He… showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God:
John has seen that the bride of the Lamb is the Church, redeemed and made pure by the blood of Christ:
Rev 19:7 Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. 8 Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear.” (Fine linen stands for the righteous acts of God’s holy people.)
Writers of the Testaments used the analogy of a faithful bride being prepared for her bridegroom to describe the relationship of God with His children:
Jer 2:2 “Go and proclaim in the hearing of Jerusalem: “This is what the LORD says: “ ‘I remember the devotion of your youth, how as a bride you loved me and followed me through the wilderness, through a land not sown.
Isa 62:4 No longer will they call you Deserted, or name your land Desolate. But you will be called Hephzibah, and your land Beulah; for the LORD will take delight in you, and your land will be married.
5 As a young man marries a young woman, so will your Builder marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you.
Matt 9:15 Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast.
Eph 5:25 Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, 27 and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.
2Cor 11:2 I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy. I promised you to one husband, to Christ, so that I might present you as a pure virgin to him.
Here, John sees the Church represented by the “New Jerusalem” where God indwells the saints, where there will be no darkness, and where Christ lights the life of every believer!
Rev 22:5 There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever.
As an eternal principle, the coming of the Holy City, the bride of Christ, is not just an event in the far future. It’s an essential characteristic of the New Jerusalem, the bride of the Lamb.
Rev 21:11
It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel Like a jasper, clear as crystal:
Phil 2:15 …so that you may become blameless and pure, “children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation.” Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky
The occurrence of dazzling light is associated with God’s presence throughout the scriptures:
Ezek 1:27 I saw that from what appeared to be his waist up he looked like glowing metal, as if full of fire, and that from there down he looked like fire; and brilliant light surrounded him.
Hab 3:4 His splendor was like the sunrise; rays flashed from his hand, where his power was hidden.
Rev 4:3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.
In a spiritual as well as physical sense, the presence of bright light illuminates the darkness and clearly shows the way forward. In Christ, there is no darkness. How can we know what an invisible God is like? We can look at Jesus – the life he lived, the words he spoke, the love he demonstrated as he ministered to people:
John 14:8 8 Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.” 9 Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.
Col 1:15 The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.
Rev 21:12-14
[The city] had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel … The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb:
Ezekiel had a similar vision, where he saw a heavenly being measuring the holy city and its Temple; its walls, alcoves, porticos, rooms, and gates (Ezek 40-48).
Ezek 43:7 He said: “Son of man, this is the place of my throne and the place for the soles of my feet. This is where I will live among the Israelites forever…
Ezek 48:31 …the gates of the city will be named after the tribes of Israel…
Once again, the spiritual implication of the number twelve as one of Scripture’s foundational structures is illustrated. Twelve symbolizes the perfect governmental foundation of God’s kingdom and the completeness of His plans for humankind. For example:
- Twelve sons of Jacob become the twelve tribes of Israel (Gen 35).
- Twelve of Jesus’ disciples become his special witnesses to the world (Luke 6:13).
- Twelve thousand from each tribe represent the redeemed of the world (Rev 7:4),
- Christ’s prophetic bride, the church, wears a crown containing 12 stars (Rev 12:1).
John sees that the Church, the bride of the Lamb, figuratively the “Holy City,” the “New Jerusalem,” is protected by a high wall guarded by twelve angels. The holy city can be entered through twelve gates, representing God’s covenant with his holy people, Israel. In Jesus, God established a new covenant that embraced not only the Jews but all humankind:
Gal 3:26 So in Christ Jesus, you are all children of God through faith, 27 for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. 29 If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.
Matt 28:19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
If the New Jerusalem represents the bride of the Lamb, and the bride represents God’s redeemed people, Jesus is the gate through which a person enters into this covenant relationship with the Father:
John 10:1 “Very truly I tell you Pharisees, anyone who does not enter the sheep pen by the gate, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a robber. 2 The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. 3 The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. 5 But they will never follow a stranger; in fact, they will run away from him because they do not recognize a stranger’s voice.” 6 Jesus used this figure of speech, but the Pharisees did not understand what he was telling them. 7 Therefore Jesus said again, “Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.
Acts 20:32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.
The New Testament presents a rich spiritual foundation for our faith in Christ. Faith is not a city built of bricks and mortar but one built on the foundational teachings of Jesus and his Apostles, eyewitnesses, and guarantors of a new and eternal Covenant!
Isa 28:16 So this is what the Sovereign LORD says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who relies on it will never be stricken with panic.
Isa 33:6 He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure.
Eph 2:19 Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. 21 In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. 22 And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.
*All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.comThe “NIV” and “New International Version” are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™
