Revelation 21

A New Heaven and a New Earth// Isaiah 65:17–25

¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. ²I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband.

• REV 21:1[PROPHECY]I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away... behold, the tabernacle of God is with men → STILL TO COME
• REV 21:1[ALLUDES TO]Refers to ← IS 65:17; 66:22
• REV 21:1[NOTE]NO MORE SEA. In the Bible the sea often pictures chaos and danger, and the beast rose from it, 13:1.

³And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying:

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man,

and He will dwell with them.

They will be His people,

and God Himself will be with them as their God.

• REV 21:3[FULFILLS]God would walk among His people and be their God ← LEV 26:12
• REV 21:3[FULFILLS]My dwelling place will be with them; I will be their God and they My people ← EZK 37:27MEDIUM

⁴‘He will wipe away every tear from their eyes,’

and there will be no more death

or mourning or crying or pain,

for the former things have passed away.”

• REV 21:4[ALLUDES TO]Refers to ← IS 25:8; 35:10

⁵And the One seated on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” Then He said, “Write this down, for these words are faithful and true.” ⁶And He told me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give freely from the spring of the water of life. ⁷The one who overcomes will inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he will be My son.

⁸But to the cowardly and unbelieving and abominable and murderers and sexually immoral and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur. This is the second death.”

• REV 21:8[DEMONIC]Sorcerers, idolaters, and liars — outside the holy city

The New Jerusalem

⁹Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”

• REV 21:9[MIRACLE]One of the seven angels shows John the bride, the wife of the Lamb

¹⁰And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, ¹¹shining with the glory of God. Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, as clear as crystal. ¹²The city had a great and high wall with twelve gates inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve angels at the gates. ¹³There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west. ¹⁴The wall of the city had twelve foundations bearing the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.

• REV 21:10[PROPHECY]The New Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, having the glory of God... the city was pure gold, like clear glass... the Lamb is its light → STILL TO COME
• REV 21:12[ALLUDES TO]Refers to ← EZK 48:31-34

¹⁵The angel who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and walls. ¹⁶The city lies foursquare, with its width the same as its length. And he measured the city with the rod, and all its dimensions were equal—about 1,400 miles in length and width and height. ¹⁷And he measured its wall to be 216 feet, by the human measure the angel was using.

• REV 21:16[NOTE]1,400 MILES. In the Greek, the number here is 12,000, twelve times a thousand. The city is a perfect cube, like the Most Holy Place, 1 Kings 6:20.

¹⁸The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself of pure gold, as pure as glass. ¹⁹The foundations of the city walls were adorned with every kind of precious stone:

• REV 21:18[ALLUDES TO]Refers to ← IS 54:11-12

The first foundation was jasper,

the second sapphire,

the third chalcedony,

the fourth emerald,

²⁰the fifth sardonyx,

the sixth carnelian,

the seventh chrysolite,

the eighth beryl,

the ninth topaz,

the tenth chrysoprase,

the eleventh jacinth,

and the twelfth amethyst.

²¹And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, with each gate consisting of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.

²²But I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp. ²⁴By its light the nations will walk, and into it the kings of the earth will bring their glory. ²⁵Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day, because there will be no night there.

• REV 21:23[ALLUDES TO]Refers to ← IS 60:19
• REV 21:25[ALLUDES TO]Refers to ← IS 60:11

²⁶And into the city will be brought the glory and honor of the nations. ²⁷But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.