Verse 10 says, “And he carried me away in spirit onto a great and high mountain and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God.” In verses 2 and 10, several words are used to describe this city. It is a new city, and it is a holy city. The New Jerusalem is something new, and it is something holy, something separated from all other things unto God to match God. Moreover, it is something great, not small.
Verse 11 continues, “Having the glory of God. Her light was like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone, as clear as crystal.” The new city, the New Jerusalem, has the glory of God. This simply means that the God of glory shines through her. Her light is like a most precious stone, like a jasper stone. In the figures and types of the Scriptures, what does jasper represent? The explanation is in chapter four, where verses 2-3a say, “Immediately I was in spirit; and behold, there was a throne set in heaven, and upon the throne there was One sitting; and He who was sitting was like a jasper stone.” The One on the throne, who is the Lord God Himself, has the appearance of a jasper stone. Thus, jasper stands for the appearance, likeness, and expression of God. The New Jerusalem, the holy city, has the glory of God, and her light is like a jasper stone, having the appearance, likeness, and expression of God. Her appearance, her shining likeness, is exactly the same as the appearance and likeness of God. Therefore, the holy city, the New Jerusalem, is the expression of God. God is expressed through her, and her expression, appearance, and likeness is nothing but God Himself. Therefore, her light is like jasper, shining continually as God does.
Verse 12 in chapter twenty-one says, “It had a great and high wall and had twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names inscribed, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel.” The wall of the city is great and high, not small and low. This wall has twelve gates, and on the twelve gates are inscribed the twelve names of the twelve tribes of Israel. This means that the Israelites are the entrances, the gates, into the holy city, implying that the gospel is out of the Jews. It is the Jewish nation, the people of Israel, who began to preach the gospel from Jerusalem to the uttermost part of the earth to bring people to share and enter into the holy city. Verse 13 says, “On the east three gates, and on the north three gates, and on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.” There are three gates on each of the four sides, comprising the number twelve, which is composed of three times four.
Verse 14 says, “And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” The foundations are also twelve in number, and on the twelve foundations are the names of the twelve apostles. The holy city having twelve gates (the twelve tribes) and twelve foundations (the twelve apostles) clearly indicates that the New Jerusalem is a composition of two groups of people, the Old Testament saints represented by the twelve tribes and the New Testament saints represented by the twelve apostles of Christ.
Verses 15-16 say, “And he who spoke with me had a golden reed as a measure that he might measure the city and its gates and its wall. And the city lies square, and its length is as great as the breadth. And he measured the city with the reed to a length of twelve thousand stadia; the length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.” The measurements of the city are composed of the number twelve. The gates are twelve, the foundations are twelve, and the measurement of each dimension of the city is also twelve, but here it is one thousand times twelve. The length is twelve thousand stadia, the width is twelve thousand stadia, and the height is twelve thousand stadia. The city is a cube, that is, it has four sides in three dimensions, once again producing the number twelve. Creation extends in four directions, and the four sides of the New Jerusalem are toward the four directions of the whole universe. Moreover, the three dimensions-length, breadth, and height-imply the Divine Trinity. In the number twelve, four represents the creatures, as with the four living creatures in 4:6-9 and 19:4, and three represents the Divine Trinity, the Triune God. When the Triune God mingles with the creatures, we have twelve, signifying completion in administration. When God, represented by three, is mingled with man, represented by four, we have eternal completion and the eternal government, the eternal administration, represented by twelve.
Verse 17 says, “And he measured its wall, a hundred and forty-four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel.” One hundred forty-four is twelve times twelve, signifying the completion of completions. What then is the meaning of the measure of a man being the measure of an angel? Do not forget that all the things recorded in this chapter are signs. Man is the center of the living things on this earth and the angels are the center of all the things created by God in the heavens. The measurement of a man being the measurement of an angel means that with the holy city, the New Jerusalem, heaven and earth are mingled together. Today there is a difference between heaven and earth and between angels and human beings. One day, however, when the New Jerusalem comes, heaven will be joined with earth, and the things in heaven will be mingled with the things on earth. When that day comes, there will be no more difference between the things in heaven and the things on earth. This very city, this new city, this holy Jerusalem, is the embodiment of the mingling of the things in heaven with the things on the earth. The universe includes time and space. It is a composition of the saints in the Old Testament time and the saints in the New Testament time, and it is also a mingling of the things in heaven and the things on earth. As far as time is concerned, the New Jerusalem is a combination; as far as space is concerned, the New Jerusalem is a mingling. The New Jerusalem is the central item of the whole universe, the center of time and space. In her, the Old Testament saints and the New Testament saints are combined, and the things in the heavens and the things on the earth are mingled as one. However, do not misunderstand; there is still a difference between angels and men, but as far as the mingling of the holy city is concerned, there is no difference between heaven and earth.
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