The temple is the house (palace) of God the Father, who is the King of kings, and of His household, His many sons, His royal family, who are the co-kings with the Father to be its reign (Rev. 22:5b). These co-kings are also the priests who serve God (v. 3b). Hence, they are the royal priesthood, the kingly priesthood (1 Pet. 2:9).
Because the Dweller and His children will be kings, this temple becomes a palace. Solomon built a temple for God and also a palace for himself separately. These two buildings were separate and divided, but now in the New Jerusalem our temple and our palace are one. God’s temple is our palace. All the members of the same divine family live in that temple where they worship God and live as kings, making that living place a palace. The Father is the Father-King, and the children are the children-kings. This is the reigning and ruling royal family. Their dwelling place is not only the place for them to serve God but also a palace for them to live as kings.
There has never been such a family on earth. The Japanese have their emperors, and the British have their kings, but there has never been a situation where every member of a family is a king. We believers in Christ who are washed by the blood and regenerated by the Spirit are the children of God who will eventually become kings (Rev. 22:5). Our Father-King is the unique Father, but He will have millions of co-rulers, or co-regents, because we will all be His co-kings. Romans 5:17 says that by the abundance of grace we can reign in life as a king today. The entire Bible tells us that we, the children of God, eventually will be the children-kings in the King’s house. The reign in the holy city will be not only God Himself as the Father-King but also His children as the co-kings with their Father.
The Greek word for temple in Revelation 21:22, naos, does not denote the whole temple in a common way. Rather, it denotes the inner temple, the Holy of Holies. This inner temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb, signifying that God and the Lamb will be the place in which we serve God.
As we have pointed out, the measurement of the New Jerusalem is the same in length, breadth, and height. In three dimensions the city measures twelve thousand stadia (v. 16). The principle revealed in the Bible is that a building with three equal dimensions indicates the Holy of Holies. The Holy of Holies in the tabernacle was ten cubits in three dimensions. The Holy of Holies in the temple according to 1 Kings 6:20 was also three equal dimensions of twenty cubits. Accordingly, the New Jerusalem, the holy city, must also be the Holy of Holies.
The entire city of New Jerusalem is the Holy of Holies, and God and the Lamb are the temple of this city. If we put these two points together, we will realize that this city is God and the Lamb. Because the whole city is the Holy of Holies and because the inner temple is God and the Lamb, the city itself is God and the Lamb.
Furthermore, the whole city is called the tabernacle (Rev. 21:3). Just as a boy is the precursor of a man, so also the tabernacle is the precursor of the temple. Before the temple appears, there is the tabernacle. But when the tabernacle comes into its fullness, it becomes the temple. Therefore, we need to keep three points before us: that the whole city is the Holy of Holies, that the temple is God Himself and the Lamb, and that the whole city is the tabernacle. When we put all these points together, we see that God Himself is the whole city of New Jerusalem.
The entire city of New Jerusalem is not only God Himself but also a living composition of all God’s redeemed ones. On the one hand, God is the entire city; on the other hand, the city is a living composition of the redeemed. Similarly, the church today is Christ, and it is also a composition of all the believers. On the one hand, the church is a composition of all the believers; on the other hand, Christ is both the Head and the Body. Hence, 1 Corinthians 12:12 indicates that Christ is not only the Head but also the Body: “Even as the body is one and has many members, yet all the members of the body, being many, are one body, so also is the Christ.” The principle is the same in both the church and New Jerusalem.
The church is also the enlargement of Christ. Christ Himself is the individual Christ, but the church is the corporate Christ, Christ enlarged and expanded. Therefore, the church is Christ’s expansion, His enlargement. In like manner, the New Jerusalem is the enlargement and the expansion of the Triune God. We should desire to dwell in God, even in the enlargement of God. The expansion and the enlargement of God will be our eternal city in which we will dwell for eternity.
When we come to the New Jerusalem, we are told that it is the tabernacle of God. John then says that the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb are the temple. Here we can see that the city is not only the tabernacle but also the temple. As the tabernacle, the city is the wife of the Lamb. As the temple, the city is the enlargement of God Himself and the Lamb.