We must especially notice that the city of the New Jerusalem is not a matter of a place, because this city is actually the bride, the wife of the Lamb. Once some friends who were speaking with me concerning the New Jerusalem strongly suggested that the New Jerusalem was a place. I merely smiled and said, “No one would be so foolish as to want to marry a place as a wife.” Please remember that the New Jerusalem is not a place but a corporate great man. In what way is the New Jerusalem a corporate entity? In the city, the twelve gates are the twelve tribes of the children of Israel, and the twelve foundations are the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The twelve tribes represent all the redeemed saints of God in the Old Testament, and the twelve apostles represent all the saved ones in the New Testament. These two groups include all the redeemed and saved persons among the Jews and the Gentiles in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. We must realize that the record of the New Jerusalem is figurative. It uses a picture to show us the meaning of the New Jerusalem. Hence, when we read this portion, we have to read it as if we were looking at a picture, and we must try our best to understand its meaning. This picture describes all the redeemed people throughout the generations, including the saints in the Old Testament and all the saved ones in the New Testament, who have been gathered together to form the city of the New Jerusalem. This city is a living, mystical entity. It is the bride of the Lamb, the corporate counterpart that Christ wants to obtain. Therefore, it is definitely not a place but a person.
We have already said that John the Baptist testified of the Lord Jesus, referring to Him as the Lamb on the one hand and as the Bridegroom on the other. Indeed, Christ is the universal Bridegroom, and all the redeemed people of God are collectively the universal bride. The heavens and the earth are like the wedding chamber. God in His Son, Christ, was incarnated. He became a man and passed through death and resurrection to be the universal Bridegroom to marry all those whom He has redeemed throughout the generations. The totality of all these redeemed ones is the universal bride.
In the first two chapters of Genesis we see that a part of Adam was taken out to become Adam’s counterpart, who was Eve. In Ephesians 5 the apostle Paul tells us that this picture typifies the relationship between Christ and the church. While Adam was sleeping, his side was broken open, and a rib was taken out of him. Likewise, when Christ was crucified, His side was also broken open, and something flowed out of His side. The bone that was taken from Adam’s side became Eve as the counterpart of Adam, and the water and blood that flowed from Christ’s side accomplished redemption and imparted life to us, thereby producing the church. Therefore, just as Eve came out from Adam, so also the church came out of Christ, and just as Eve returned to Adam and became one flesh with Adam, so also the church was given back to Christ and became one with Christ. This is what the apostle Paul tells us in Ephesians 5, saying, “The two shall be one flesh. This mystery is great, but I speak with regard to Christ and the church” (vv. 31b-32). Therefore, the church is the universal counterpart of Christ, and this is signified by the city of the New Jerusalem, which is ultimately manifested at the end of the Scriptures. Therefore, God’s work throughout the ages will be finished and accomplished in the New Jerusalem.
Now we want to briefly look at the features of the New Jerusalem that through this we may know how the church is built and what the building of the church is.