The middle part of verse 12 says, “Having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels.” The twelve gates of the city are for communication, for coming in and going out. Twelve is the number of absolute perfection and eternal completion in God’s administration. Hence, twelve gates indicate that the communication in the New Jerusalem is absolutely perfect and eternally complete for God’s administration.
Verse 12 tells us that at the gates of the city there are twelve angels. In God’s eternal economy, angels are ministering spirits rendering service to those who inherit salvation and participate in the eternal blessing of the New Jerusalem, the center of the new heaven and new earth. The angels will be the gatekeepers of our possession, while we shall be the ones enjoying the rich inheritance in God’s eternal economy. This is all in the significance of the number twelve.
The angels at the twelve gates observe the enjoyment of those who enter in. In Luke 15:10 the Lord said, “In the same way, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting.” Whenever a sinner repents, the angels in heaven are happy. When you repented and received the Lord, did you notify the angels of this fact? Of course not. Long before you were ever saved, the angels were observing you all the time, realizing that you had been chosen and predestinated, pre-marked by God. Due to your stubbornness, it might have taken you more than fifteen or twenty years to repent. But on the day you repented and called on the name of the Lord Jesus, the angels who were watching you rejoiced. Your angel might have said, “The one whom I have been observing for more than twenty-five years has finally repented. Hallelujah!”
The angels observe us according to the law to see whether we have truly repented and confessed our sins to God and whether we have entered into the holy city according to the law of Israel. The children of Israel represent the law, and the angels, “ministering spirits, sent forth for service for the sake of those who are about to inherit salvation” (Heb. 1:14), are gatekeepers. Firstly, the angels watch at the gates to see how we repent. Then, after we have repented and entered into New Jerusalem, the angels become our servants. We are the heirs, owners of the universe, and the angels are our servants. According to the ancient custom among the Jews in Palestine, the servants were concerned that the heirs would receive their portion and inheritance. Likewise, the angels, the servants of our Father’s family, are very concerned about our inheritance and about the fact that the heirs have been lost and have fallen away. Thus, the angelic gatekeepers are waiting for us to come back. When they see us returning, they rejoice and immediately begin to minister to us, gladly helping the repentant heirs enjoy their legal inheritance. By this brief consideration of the angels, we see once again that in order to understand any point in the book of Revelation, we must trace the development of this matter throughout the Scriptures.
Psalm 34:7 says, “The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.” According to this verse, angels even camp around us to protect us. Many nights I have said, “Lord, exercise Your authority to send a camp of angels to protect my house.” I have especially prayed this way when I was traveling and spending a night in a room on the upper floor of a hotel. Being concerned about the possibility of fire, I asked the Lord to send the angels to camp around me. The angels are truly the servants of the legal and genuine heirs of the riches of God.
Verse 25 says, “And its gates shall by no means be shut by day, for night shall not be there.” The wall of the city will separate it from the nations, but the gates will keep it open to them continually.