The New Jerusalem

Thank You for Your glorious promises, Lord. May I stand on them today. Amen


"... And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass. But I saw no temple in it, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. The city had no need of the sun or of the moon to shine in it, for the glory of God illuminated it. The Lamb is its light" (Revelation 21:21-23)


The human mind cannot comprehend all that heaven is going to be. So God puts it in symbols for us, and the descriptions of the unspeakably beautiful things we find here in these verses are just prophecies of the greater glories which are to come!


We see New Jerusalem, the capital city of heaven, radiating the very glory of God like a brilliant diamond (Revelation 2111). The city itself and the streets are of gold so pure it is translucent. It has magnificent walls bestrewn with jewels and twelve gates, each made of one gigantic pearl.


The shimmering walls of this city are not there to keep people in, because the gates remain open. The walls are not there to keep the wicked out, because they are in hell. These walls are monuments to the glory of God. On them are written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and on their foundation the names of the twelve apostles. The message of the Messiah, which came through the prophets and the apostles, is the very foundation for heaven.


The city's measurements are immense! Thousands upon thousands of miles - and it is foursquare, a reminder of the Holy of Holies, a foursquare cubicle in the Temple where the high priest would apply the blood to the mercy seat. But no temple is needed here. For the temple with all its symbolic elements was just a prophecy of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is now the sanctuary of heaven. He is the One to Whom we are going!


We can be grateful for all the splendors of Glory - but it is Jesus that makes heaven heaven.


~Adrian Rogers~