Both Ezekiel and Revelation end with a city, Jerusalem. Only one city in the Bible has twelve gates with the twelve names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and this is the city of Jerusalem.
Because we will eventually become the New Jerusalem, we should apply to ourselves the things mentioned in Ezekiel. This means that we should not regard the words of Ezekiel merely as prophecies. Although the book of Ezekiel contains prophecies, we should apply this record primarily to ourselves, applying the points in Ezekiel not merely to the future but also to the present.
With this city there is the number twelve, which is composed not of six times two but of three times four. It is three times four because there are three gates on four sides, making a total of twelve gates. We need to remember that four is the number of the creature and that three is the number of the Triune God. Thus, twelve signifies the mingling of the Triune God with the creatures.
Eventually, this city is not only a mingling but also a perfect government with a complete administration. In the Bible the number twelve also indicates a perfect government and administration in completion. It is not only a mingling of divinity with humanity; it is also a perfect government which comes out of this mingling. This mingling is for eternity. This city, which issues from the mingling, will exercise full authority for God’s complete administration.
The church should be like this today. This means that the church should be the mingling of God with man. Out of such a mingling there will be the church government for God’s administration on earth.
The fact that the city has four sides with three gates on each side also indicates that no matter from which side we enter the city, we will be in the same city. No matter which gate we enter, we will be one. In this city we cannot be divided.
Revelation 21:21 shows us that in the New Jerusalem there is only one street. No matter what direction we come from and no matter what gate we enter through, we will all be on the same street. On this street there is the one flow, the one river, with the one drink and the one tree of life (22:1-2). In this city we all are one. We have one street, one river, one flow, one drink, one tree of life. In every way we are one.
The book of Ezekiel concludes with the words, “The name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there” (48:35b). God dwells in the temple, and He dwells also in the city. In the temple God has fellowship with His people, and in the city God reigns among His people. This indicates that God has come down from heaven to live with man.
We hope that this will be the situation in all the local churches. In the church as His building today, God has His temple, His dwelling place, and He also has His city for His administration. In this way, the church becomes the center for the fellowship with God and for the reigning of God. If we have the adequate enjoyment of Christ as the good land, there will be an issue—the temple and the city. When there is the temple and the city in the good land, God will have His expression, we will enjoy God and God will enjoy us, and we and God will have mutual satisfaction.