We still need to see more of the vision concerning the New Jerusalem. We must see that this vision is concerning the ultimate consummation of the entire revelation of God, of the entire Bible, and of the entire Triune God with all His plan, economy, and all His achievements. In this message I want to point out how we can apply this ultimate consummation to the facts in the Bible.
First, this New Jerusalem is a composition of the Old Testament saints, represented by the twelve tribes (Rev. 21:12), and the New Testament saints, represented by the twelve apostles (Rev. 21:14). The Old Testament is a history of the twelve tribes and the New Testament is a history of the twelve apostles. Therefore, when these twenty-four names are put on this composition, this indicates that this compostion is an ultimate consummation of the history of the twelve tribes and of the history of the twelve apostles. In other words, if we are going to understand the items of the twelve names of the twelve tribes we need to understand the entire Old Testament. Also, if we are going to understand the names of the twelve apostles we need to understand the entire New Testament. These twenty-four names on this composition are a part of the ultimate consummation of the things in the Bible.
The names of the twelve tribes on the twelve gates (Rev. 21:12-13, 21a) indicate that the history of the twelve tribes is a kind of entering. The law, which comprises a major part of the Old Testament, is considered by Paul as a child-conductor which conducted us to Christ (Gal. 3:24). We may say that the entire Old Testament history of the twelve tribes is a kind of conducting business. The Old Testament conducted us to Christ. Now Christ is “the oyster” which produces the pearls to be the gates of this New Jerusalem. Actually, the twelve tribes conducted us to Christ, the One who produces the pearl through His death and through His resurrection. His death fulfilled all the obligations of the Old Testament. By fulfilling the obligations of the Old Testament His death terminated the Old Testament and stopped it. Paul’s thought in Galatians 3 was that after the law conducted God’s chosen people to Christ, Christ’s death stopped the law by fulfilling it. The death of Christ stopped the Old Testament and the resurrection of Christ began the New Testament by His life secreting to produce the pearls which are the very entry into this ultimate consummation. Christ’s dying to fulfill the obligations of the Old Testament stopped the Old Testament and terminated it. He secreted His life juice in His resurrection to produce the precious pearls which are the threefold entries on the four sides of the holy city. Thus, the twelve gates of twelve pearls bearing the names of the twelve tribes of Israel signify the ultimate consummation of the Old Testament.
Then we see the twelve names of the twelve apostles on the twelve foundations of the city (Rev. 21:14, 19-20). Whatever was there in the Old Testament was a kind of conducting, a kind of entry, but whatever is in the New Testament is a foundation. Whoever has been conducted to Christ will be led to the New Testament foundation. This one must be built upon the foundation of the New Testament signified by the twelve names of the apostles. This foundation is the ultimate consummation of the entire New Testament. Ephesians 2:20 tells us that the church is built upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets. This means that their teaching and their speaking forth of Christ laid a foundation. The Old Testament was a conducting to the gates and the New Testament is a foundation for this ultimate consummation.
Now we must see that the ultimate consummation of the Triune God in this consummation is at least five-fold.
First, the Triune God is the entrance into the holy city. The “three gates” on each side (Rev. 21:13) signify that the Triune God—Father, Son, and Spirit—work together to bring people into the holy city. This is indicated in the three parables in Luke 15 and implied in the Lord’s word in Matthew 28:19. To be baptized into the Father, the Son, and the Spirit is the real entrance into the holy city.
Second, the substances of the Triune God are the building materials of this New Jerusalem. Gold signifies God the Father’s nature (Rev. 21:18b, 21b), pearls signify the produce of Christ through His death and resurrection (Rev 21:21a), and precious stones signify the transforming work of the Spirit (Rev. 21:18a, 19-20). These are the threefold materials for the building up of the New Jerusalem. This ultimate consummation is constituted with the Father’s nature as the gold, with the Son’s produce as the pearl, and with the Spirit’s work as the precious stones. These are the essences of the constitution of this ultimate consummation. Therefore, this New Jerusalem is the ultimate consummation of the Triune God in His essence to be the constituting elements of this ultimate consummation.