In recent days, we have been contemplating the events that occur when Jesus returns. All those who have called upon the Lord and turned away from sin will be united with the Lord and dwell with Him. Here’s what John the Apostle writes in the Book of Revelation:
Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." 10And 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. 11It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12It 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. 13There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. 15The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long (Revelation 21:9-16).
The wall surrounding this city is 144 cubits thick, which is equivalent to 216 feet. The New Jerusalem measures 12,000 stadia and is as wide as it is long, translating to 1,400 miles in both width and length. This area resembles the land stretching from California to the Appalachian Mountains in the Eastern United States and from Canada to Mexico. The ground level alone covers nearly two million square miles. However, keep in mind that the distance is as high as it is wide and long (v. 16). If each story is a generous 12 feet, that would amount to 600,000 stories. Billions of people could reside there, each having many square miles to themselves. The city's dimensions form a perfect cube. In Solomon's Temple, there was a room that only the High Priest could enter once a year, carrying the sacrificial blood of a slain animal beyond the heavy curtain that separated mankind from the very presence of God. This curtain was torn at Christ's sacrificial death on the cross (Matthew 27:51). Interestingly, the Most Holy Place, where God alone dwelt, was a cube measuring twenty cubits (1 Kings 6:20).
22I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's book of life (Revelation 21:22-27, emphasis added).
The New Jerusalem's dimensions reveal that God desires humanity to live with Him forever. It paints a picture of humanity being invited into God's very presence, enjoying Him and His people permanently in the Holy of Holies. How beautiful it must have been for John the Apostle, the one who recorded the Revelation, to see his name on one of the foundation stones (Revelation 21:14). We may not know how our efforts for Christ impact others in this world—only God knows. Yet, John sees that his life has made a difference for eternity. The New Jerusalem is where Christ enjoys eternity with His bride, a place filled with oneness of heart and mind, where we will live with Him forever and ever.
They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads (Revelation 22:4).
What joy that will be! To see the face of Christ, behold His beauty, and live in a relationship with Him. Are you starting to recognize the value that God places on you? Kind David wrote: “What is man that you are mindful of him?” (Psalm 8:4). How special we are to God, for of all the Universe, the Lord God Almighty and His Son choose to reside with Man in the New Jerusalem. No matter where you are, the God of heaven is inviting you to come to His home and dwell with Him forever and ever. The invitation is for you and your family. There's nothing you can do to earn it, for it is only by grace, God’s undeserved favor. Will you give your life to Him? He wants you to know that Heaven is your eternal home. Keith Thomas
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Taken from the series Insights into Eternity, found in the All Studies box. Click on the study The Wedding of the Lamb.
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