Transcript

In January 2017, National Geographic had an article about El Dorado. The article said this: “The lust for gold spans all eras, races, and nationalities. To possess any amount of gold seems to ignite an insatiable desire to obtain more.

“Through the centuries, this passion gave rise to the enduring tale of a city of gold. In the 16th and 17th centuries, Europeans believed that somewhere in the New World there was a place of immense wealth known as El Dorado.

“Their searches for this treasure wasted countless lives, drove at least one man to suicide, and put another man under the executioner’s ax.

“[The famous British explorer] Sir Walter Raleigh made two trips to Guiana [in South America] to search for El Dorado.

“The legend of El Dorado endures because ‘you want it to be true,’ says Jose Oliver, a lecturer at the Institute of Archaeology at University College London. ‘I don’t think we’ve ever stopped seeking El Dorado.’”

For hundreds of years there have been stories about a city of gold. Like Raleigh’s search for El Dorado, famed conquistador Francisco Vazquez de Coronado led an expedition to find Cibola, the seven cities of gold, in the southwestern United States.

“They arrived in 1540, but all they found were huts and pueblos. The expedition was a complete failure.”

In contrast to the myths and legends of cities of gold, there is a real city of gold that will come to this earth from heaven one day. This city is Israel’s great hope.

Like Abraham their father, by faith, the nation Israel under prophecy looked “for a city which hath foundations, whose Builder and Maker is God” (Heb. 11:10).

For the saints in the future Tribulation after the Rapture, God has given them this book of Revelation and these 3 chapters so that they know that as they try to survive the horrific judgments and pain of the Tribulation, or if they must face martyrdom for their faith in Christ, they have assurance of a bright, victorious hope in Christ in the new Jerusalem.

Revelation 21:15-16: “And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.

“And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.”

A man once asked his pastor, “Pastor can you please explain eternity to me?” He responded, “I could, but it would take forever.” That’s what we’re explaining here in Revelation 21, the eternity and eternal state for believing Israel on the new earth.

After showing John the wall, the gates, and the foundations, the angel who took John in the Spirit to the high mountain to observe the new Jerusalem as it descended to the new earth, now measures the great city to impress upon him its staggering dimensions.

The “golden reed” in verse 15 is a measuring rod. The rod is golden and suited to the dignity of the occasion, that the angel was measuring the city of God. The angel takes the golden reed to measure the city, the gates, and the wall.

The angel’s measurements reveal that “the city lieth foursquare” (21:16) or equal on all sides; that is, the length is the same as its width, perfectly square. God is a God of order and perfection.

The fact that it is equal on all sides indicates the perfection of God’s city. Nothing is out of order or balance. Nothing is crooked. There are no mistakes. Its perfect shape and perfect measurements glorify its Designer and Creator.

The measurement of the length and width is “twelve thousand furlongs.” The Greek word translated “furlongs” is stadios. It’s said that a stadion is “a Greek measure corresponding to 600 Greek feet, or approximately 607 English feet.”

To put it in terms of our present-day miles, if we do some arithmetic: 607 feet multiplied by 12,000, divided by 5,280 feet per mile, and we find that each side is approximately 1,380 miles.

That’s the distance (as the crow flies) from New York City to Waco, Texas or from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania to Cheyenne, Wyoming. Or a square from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean to Colorado. That’s a big city!

That’s plenty of room for those who will dwell in it, which includes “an innumerable company of angels” as Hebrews 12:22, and countless saints from God’s earthly program.

Then it really gets mind-blowing. The angel measures the height, and it’s the exact same measurement! “The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal” verse 16 says. It is a perfect cube. Thus, it’s approximately 1,380 miles tall!

That puts the mile-high-city of Denver to shame! Now, unless the Scriptures demand otherwise, we are always to interpret God’s Word LITERALLY.

God means what He says and says what He means. Many say the measurements of the new Jerusalem are merely symbolic because they can’t be fully explained according to science, natural laws, and what we know and experience now.

Here’s an example of an objection to the literal size of the new Jerusalem: “The sheer size of it would prevent the earth from rotating smoothly on its axis.

“Something that big resting on one side of the earth would move the earth’s center of gravity well away from its current center of gravity.

“This offset center of gravity would cause the whole earth to wobble and shake in its rotation like an off-balance washing machine. The results would be catastrophic.

“Such a large mass added to the earth’s mass would also throw the earth out of its current orbit around the sun. And the city would rise above the earth’s oxygen level, so that people living there wouldn’t be able to breathe!”

Read and understand this passage with childlike faith. “For we walk by faith, not by sight,” 2 Corinthians 5:7 says. God is able, and He can make a 1400 mile square city work on the new earth. It’s not a problem for Him in His infinite wisdom and might.

The creation ministry, Answers in Genesis, had a little cartoon years ago that I liked regarding the statement, “God said it, I believe it, that settles it!”

The first drawing depicted that statement, and the second drawing was captioned, “God said it, that settles it! (No matter what you believe about it).”

We, and what we believe, are not the authority. God’s Word is the authority. What God has said settles it once and for all. What we believe must conform to the truth of God’s Word.

The obvious teaching of this passage is that one day there is going to be a glorious, golden city on the new earth that is 1,400 miles wide, 1,400 miles long, and reaches 1,400 miles into the sky. Praise the Lord!

According to the angel’s measurements, the city is a perfect CUBE. It is NOT a pyramid shape, and for an important reason. The dwelling place of God in the temple in Jerusalem in the past foreshadows the dwelling place of God in the new Jerusalem.

The dimensions of the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant stood, and where God’s presence dwelt, are described this way in 1 Kings 6:19-20:

“And the oracle [inner sanctuary] he prepared in the house within, to set there the ark of the covenant of the Lord. And the oracle [inner sanctuary] in the forepart was twenty cubits in length, and twenty cubits in breadth, and twenty cubits in the height thereof: and he overlaid it with pure gold.”

The length, breadth, and height of the Holy of Holies in the temple were twenty cubits each. It was a perfect cube. A cubit was eighteen inches. Twenty cubits is 360 inches, or 30 feet. Thus, the Holy of Holies was 30 feet long, 30 feet wide, 30 feet high.

In the tabernacle, the Holy of Holies was smaller but still cube shaped. It was half the size of the temple’s Holy of Holies, measuring 10 cubits long, 10 cubits wide, and 10 cubits high, or 15 feet long, 15 feet wide, and 15 feet high.

The new Jerusalem will be a massive Holy of Holies. It will be cube-shaped just like the Holy of Holies where the living God will dwell on earth with mankind.

And the three dimensions of 12,000 furlongs, equal in its length, its width, and its height, picture the tri-unity, equality, oneness, and perfection of the three Persons of the Godhead, three in one.

Revelation 21:17: “And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.”

In addition to measuring the city, the angel measures the wall. The measure of a cubit from biblical times was the length of a man’s forearm from his elbow to the tip of his middle finger. This is about eighteen inches.

The angel measures the wall at 144 cubits. It’s not without significance that its measurement is the product of 12 multiplied by 12! The number 12 is significant for Israel.

When we multiply 144 cubits by 18 inches per cubit, then divide it by 12 inches per foot, we find the measurement of the wall to be 216 feet.

Now, a short, 216-foot-high wall around a 1380-mile-high city sounds out of proportion. This is something for you to study and consider, but verse 12 reminds us that city “had a wall GREAT and HIGH.” The wall was “great” in thickness, and “high” in height. The wall’s height is likely proportionate to the city’s height, and perhaps even the same height.

Walls in biblical times were thick. People walked on them, rode chariots on them, and lived in houses on them.

When Nehemiah and the Jews completed rebuilding the wall around Jerusalem, they celebrated its completion at a dedication and 2 great companies of people marched in opposite directions on the wall. It was so wide, companies of people could walk on top of it.

Thus, the dimensions of a wall from that time were more about their thickness. I believe the angel’s measurement here is in regard to the “high” wall being 216 feet, or 72 yards thick. That is a “great” thickness. Picturing an American football field, 72 yards would be an impressively thick wall.

Regarding the measurement, John adds, “according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel” (Rev. 21:17b).

The dimensions of the city and the wall are so astounding that John assures the reader, by inspiration of the Spirit, that the angel used the same measurement as men.

It’s no heavenly, angelic measurement. He’s saying that, though it was measured by an angel, a standard, human unit of measurement was used.

Thus, a stadion is a stadion, a cubit is a cubit, a yard is a yard, a foot is a foot, a mile is a mile. It shows that these measurements should be taken literally. It is a literal city with these literal dimensions.

Revelation 21:18: “And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.”

“The building of the wall of it” means the material with which the wall was constructed. And it was made “of jasper.” This is no normal construction material like cement, brick, or wood. The city is made from the most valuable of materials, and its great and high walls are made with the beautiful jasper stone.

Ezekiel 28 describes Satan and his place in heaven prior to his fall, “every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.”

The new Jerusalem comes down from heaven to the earth. The materials that are described in Revelation 21:18-21 come from heaven and are present in heaven right now, and all these stones are known for their value, beauty, and incorruptibility.

The wall is glorious and the city is glorious: “and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass” (v. 18). The whole city shines as pure gold, and even “the street of the city was pure gold” verse 21 tells us.

The most valuable of metals will be abundant in the heavenly city of Jerusalem. The gold used in the city is “pure.” The quality of the gold will be flawless and perfect.

The gold used in the new Jerusalem reminds us that, in the tabernacle, God’s dwelling place on earth in the past, much was made with gold.

The lampstand, the table of shewbread, the altar of incense, the ark of the covenant and its two cherubim were all either made with solid gold or were overlaid with gold.

The gold represents the glory of God. Using the most precious of metals in His dwelling place declares the preciousness and infinite worth of Almighty God.

That is the case in the new Jerusalem where “the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them” (Rev. 21:3). The gold will be “like unto clear glass” (v. 18).

The gold will be so pure that it will be like glass reflecting the light of God’s glory from every surface throughout the golden city. The new Jerusalem will be a transparent city of gold, which allows the light of God’s glory to shine through it brightly.

Revelation 21:19-20: “And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;

“The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.”

God is a God of beauty. We see it in His creation. There are magnificent sights in this world: sunsets and sunrises, the oceans and lakes, the mountains, forests and fields, plant life, and so on.

Each day we can see the beauty of God’s creation all around us, but the new Jerusalem will be resplendent with utter, perfect beauty. He will lavish His beauty on the city He has prepared for His people, Israel.

After looking at the construction of the wall and the city as a whole, John notes the foundations of the holy Jerusalem. Foundations are usually underground, but these foundations will be visible.

Also, unlike any foundations we’ve seen, they will be garnished with precious stones. Each separate foundation will have a name of an apostle as well as its own jewel.

Going around the city walls at their foundations, the twelve jewels are jasper, sapphire, chalcedony, emerald, sardonyx, sardius, chrysolite, beryl, topaz, chrysoprasus, jacinth, and amethyst.

The twelve precious stones take us back to the breastplate worn by Israel’s high priest, which carried twelve precious stones, one for each tribe (Ex. 28:17-20). Seven of the twelve breastplate stones are the same as on the foundations in the new Jerusalem.

The similarity is a reminder how the glorious hope for Israel is that they will be “made unto our God kings and PRIESTS: and shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:10).

The high priest also had the unique privilege of access to the presence of God, going behind the veil once a year on the Day of Atonement.

I believe these twelve stones are teaching that everyone in the new Jerusalem, as a priest of God, has the privilege of access to God at all times and for eternity.

When you put all twelve stones together with their varied colors: green, blue, red, white, yellow, purple, and then think about the light of God’s glory shining on and through this wide spectrum of beautiful colors, it’s not difficult to imagine how magnificent the new Jerusalem will be.

These dazzling stones will gleam from the new Jerusalem’s foundations for all eternity.

The city reflects the creative wisdom and power of God, as well as His love and grace in taking great care to prepare such a perfect and glorious place for those who have trusted Him and received His salvation under His prophetic program.

The first half of Revelation 21:21 says: “And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl.”

Today in Jerusalem, there are many gates in the wall by which to enter the old city. They are ornate, but they are nothing like the gates that will be in the new Jerusalem.

And here we find where the idea of a “pearly gate” comes from! But there are misconceptions about this. First, the pearly gates are found in a specific place: the New Jerusalem’s walls on the new earth, not to walk through in order to enter heaven above.

The reason Peter is associated with the pearly gates is because his name is on the foundations of the city. But Peter isn’t stationed there, angels are at each gate.

Also, there’s more than just one pearly gate. There are twelve pearly gates around the cubed city of new Jerusalem.

Each gate is made from one great pearl. These pearls are like no pearl produced by an oyster. They are gigantic! God created them to be gates for His city.

A cab driver reaches the Pearly Gates and announces his presence to Peter, who looks him up in a Big Book. Upon reading the entry for the cabby, St. Peter invites him to grab a silk robe and a golden staff and to proceed into Heaven.

A preacher is next in line behind the cabby and has been watching these proceedings with interest. He announces himself to Peter.

Upon scanning the preacher’s entry in the Big Book, St. Peter furrows his brow and says, “Okay, we’ll let you in, but take that cloth robe and wooden staff.”

The preacher is astonished and replies, “But I am a minister. You gave that cab driver a gold staff and a silk robe. Surely I rate higher than a cabby.”

Peter responded matter-of-factly: “Here we are interested in results. When you preached, people slept. When the cabby drove his taxi, people prayed.”

The old story that you’ll have to wait at the pearly gates to meet with Saint Peter to see if you are good enough to enter heaven is a myth. It’s a sad fable that some even believe is true.

Salvation is determined in this life. Under grace, whether you go to heaven or hell is based on whether or not you trust that Christ died for your sins and rose again. You must believe this before you pass from this life to be saved and have the hope of heaven.

The unbeliever will never see the pearl gates. They go straight to the torments of hades after they die.

And then prior to the new Jerusalem descending to the earth all the unbelieving will be cast into the Lake of Fire forever after their judgment at the Great White Throne.

Those on the new earth will all be believers from Israel’s prophetic program. All of them will be permitted entrance into the city of God. They’ll be able to freely come and go through those gates of pearl forever.

Ephesians 1:10-11: “That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

“In whom also we have obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will.”

We see in these verses how God has an eternal plan and purpose “in Christ” for the heavenlies. And He has an eternal plan and purpose “in Christ” for the earth.

Of the eternal state, Paul writes, “In Whom [Christ] also WE have obtained an inheritance,” that is, we, the Body of Christ have obtained a heavenly inheritance.

This inheritance, says Paul, is something God predetermined for believers under grace, “according to the purpose of Him Who worketh all things after the counsel of His own will.” God predestinated that the Church, the Body of Christ, would rule and reign in Christ over the heavenlies for eternity, blessed with all spiritual blessings there (1:3).

The teaching of Paul’s epistles is that the Body of Christ has an eternal citizenship and hope in heaven above. This heavenly aspect of God’s eternal plans and purpose was kept secret until Christ revealed it to the Apostle Paul.

Paul says that in the dispensation of the fullness of times in the eternal state, at the ultimate consummation, all will be summed up in Christ. Yet the distinction will remain in eternity between those “which are in heaven” and those “which are on earth” (v. 10).

Reigning in Christ in HEAVEN for eternity will be the Church, the Body of Christ.

Reigning in Christ on the new EARTH in the new Jerusalem for eternity will be Israel, the saints of prophecy, as we find in Revelation 21.

Those who understand the two eternal hopes of God often ask, “Will we come down to the earth to visit the new earth and new Jerusalem in eternity?” My answer to this question is, “Yes. But it won’t be our home.”

With the abolition of sin and the curse in the eternal state, I believe that the third heaven, and the new heaven and new earth will be open to one another.

We will possess a heavenly citizenship throughout eternity, but we will have access to the earth and the new Jerusalem as members of the family of God.

So we will get to visit the splendor of this golden city as it shimmers like a diamond in the bright light of God’s glory. We’ll see its massive dimensions and its high, thick walls.

We’ll observe the foundations with their jewels and the names of the 12 apostles, walk through the gates of pearl, nod to the angel at the gate; we’ll walk the street of gold, and experience the beauty and joy of that magnificent place, and we’ll praise God for it.

But heaven is our home! It’s like when we take a vacation to a beautiful location to visit and fully enjoy our time there. However, in the back of our minds, we are always thinking about going back home.

Similarly, I think we will have free access to visit the new earth and the new Jerusalem for as long as we like, but we’ll be guests, welcome guests, and then we will always return “home” to heaven and our eternal position there in Christ.

Nothing compares with what lies ahead for those who love Him.