In this message we will continue to consider Christ as the Husband of the New Jerusalem.
Revelation 21:14 says, “The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.” Christ’s twelve apostles will be the twelve foundations of the wall of the holy city, the universal wife of Christ. This indicates that the apostles are the foremost servants of God.
The apostles represent all the saints in the church; they are the representatives of the church. Hence, whenever the New Testament speaks of the apostles, the church is implied, for the apostles represent the church. This principle will still be in effect in the New Jerusalem.
Verse 12 says that on the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem there are names inscribed, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel. This indicates that this city includes all the redeemed saints of Israel in the Old Testament times. Verse 14 says that the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. This proves that this city also includes the New Testament believers, who are represented by the twelve apostles. On the gates are the names of the twelve tribes, and on the foundations are the names of the twelve apostles. Putting these names together, it is clear that this city is a composition of all the redeemed saints of the Old Testament and the believers of the New Testament.
Luke 13:28-29 tells us that in the coming kingdom of God, there will be not only Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and other Old Testament saints but also believers who will come from the east and the west and from the north and the south. Many New Testament believers and Old Testament saints will be together in the kingdom. Hebrews 11:8-10, 13, and 16 tell us that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the other Old Testament saints eagerly waited for the city which has the foundations, which is the New Jerusalem. According to these verses, it seems that the New Jerusalem will be only for the Old Testament saints. However, verses 39 and 40 tell us that the saints in the Old Testament times could not obtain the promise of the city apart from us, the New Testament believers. Hebrews 11, therefore, corresponds with Revelation 21, showing us that the New Jerusalem is a living composition of both the Old Testament saints and New Testament believers.
The New Jerusalem is a living composition of the Old Testament saints, represented by the twelve tribes (Rev. 21:12), and the New Testament saints, represented by the twelve apostles (v. 14). The Old Testament is a history of the twelve tribes, and the New Testament is a history of the twelve apostles. Therefore, these twenty-four names indicate that the New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the history of the twelve tribes and of the history of the twelve apostles. In other words, if we would understand the significance of the twelve names of the twelve tribes, we need to understand the entire Old Testament. Also, if we would understand the significance of the twelve apostles, we need to understand the entire New Testament. These twenty-four names are a part of the ultimate consummation of the things in the Bible.
The New Testament believers are not for the gates; they are for the wall. The gates are for propagation and entrance, but the wall is for separation, protection, and expression. First, the wall sanctifies all the things belonging to God. God would not let any of His things be mixed up with the things which are not of Him, so there is the need of separation. The New Jerusalem’s wall functions to separate the New Jerusalem unto God as something holy. This is why it is called the holy city.
Second, the wall protects. In ancient times cities had walls around them for protection. The wall of the holy city protects the interest of the riches of God’s divinity and the attainments of Christ’s consummation.
The third function of the wall is to express God. God’s appearance is like jasper, and the light of the New Jerusalem is like jasper; hence, the whole city will express God. God the Father is the gold as the base, God the Son is the gates to bring people in, and God the Spirit transforms people to express God. The base of gold is something within, but the wall can be seen. This wall is in the color of the stone that signifies God, that is, jasper. Revelation 21:11 reveals that the city’s glory is like the glory of jasper. That is God’s appearance (4:3). Today the function of the Body of Christ, which consummates in the New Jerusalem, is to express Christ.
The names of the twelve apostles are inscribed on the twelve foundations (21:14). The twelve names of the twelve tribes being inscribed on the twelve gates of the city indicates that the twelve gates are there to fulfill the requirement of the law and to satisfy the law’s demand upon sinners. The twelve foundations bearing the twelve names of the apostles, who are the representatives of the grace of the New Testament, signify that the New Jerusalem is built upon the grace of God according to the New Testament. The entrance of the city answers the requirements of the Old Testament law, and the foundations of the city show us the grace of the New Testament. The law is for the entry, and the grace is for the foundation. We enter into the New Jerusalem according to the requirement of the law, and we are in the New Jerusalem according to and based on the grace of the New Testament. The twelve apostles here represent the grace of the New Testament, signifying that the New Jerusalem is built upon the grace of God. The entrance to the holy city is according to the law of God, and the city is built upon the grace of God. The twelve tribes of Israel represent the law of the Old Testament, whereas the twelve apostles of the Lamb represent the apostles’ teaching of the New Testament. The gates of the New Jerusalem are the initial section of the building, and the wall is the consummated section. The twelve foundations of the wall, built with every precious stone (vv. 19-20), bear the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb (v. 14b). This indicates that the New Jerusalem, this precious organic building, is built according to the apostles’ teaching of the New Testament and that the New Testament believers are the main constituents of this organic building to be the consummated section of this building for the building of its main structure in order that the saints could be built together as God’s eternal enlargement and expression.
The apostles are the foundations of this city. Therefore, today we need to read the biographies, the experiences of life, and the teachings of the apostles. We must take the apostles as the foundation. Whether in our personal life or in the services of the church, the wall, the boundary, cannot be according to our discernment or view. Neither can it be according to public opinion or the ideology of this age. It must be according to the lives and teachings of the apostles. They are the foundation of everything, a foundation which cannot be destroyed.
That the wall is built upon the foundations of the apostles of the Lamb also means that the wall is built upon the Christ who is brought to us by the apostles. The apostles of the Lamb are the bearers of Christ. They are the transformed transmitting agents of Christ. This simply means that the wall is built upon the Christ who is brought to us through the apostles as the transmitting agents. The children of Israel are the entrances, but the apostles of the Lamb are the foundations because they have Christ, and they brought Christ to us. This is a picture of the church. The church is built upon nothing other than the Christ brought and taught to us by the apostles.
The foundations of the New Jerusalem are not the foundation mentioned in 1 Corinthians 3:10-11, which is Christ. Rather, they are the twelve apostles of the Lamb. Today the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets (Eph. 2:20). This means that their teaching and their speaking concerning Christ laid a foundation. Since in eternity there will be no further need for the prophets, the foundations of the holy city will consist only of the apostles. When we enter into the new heaven and the new earth, all the four dispensations will have been completed, and there will be no need for prophecy. Everything will have been accomplished and fulfilled, and all the apostles will abide forever. The apostles will abide through eternity because they represent the testimony, mercy, grace, and faithfulness of God, and they have become the precious stones.