We continue on today in chapter 21 of Revelation and our look at the city of Heaven. Yesterday we looked at the “who” of Heaven. What a great passage it was. Revelation 21:1-8 is one of my favorite passages. We are told in Colossians 3:2 to “set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” To “set your mind” is to aim your mind in a specific direction and that collection of verses is a target where we should be constantly aiming. When life gets tough, think of Revelation 21 and Heaven. When problems and trials mount against you, aim your mind to chapter 21. When you just think you can’t take another step, set your mind on chapter 21. As believers our home is in Heaven not the United States or even the Earth. Heaven is our home. Keep your thoughts aimed on your real home, your eternal home, your home with God in Heaven.
Today we shift gears a bit and we get a very rare glimpse of the physical Heaven. A stunning, breathtaking view of that glorious city that descends from Heaven. I often hear people ponder, “what do you think Heaven will look like?” Well, it’s right here in chapter 21. What a joy that God decided to give us a glimpse of our eternal home in His Word.
We’ll break up the remainder of chapter 21 into two parts, today we’ll study verses 9-18 and then hit verses 19-27 when the 5MC returns tomorrow.
Let’s dig for some gold:
21:9-10 – “Then came one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues and spoke to me, saying, “Come, I will show you the Bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God”
John is very specific in what and who he interacts with in Revelation. This was not a dream or a vision. John was personally witnessing these events and was documenting them all with his own hands. In fact, John is told “to write these things down” 12 different times throughout the book of Revelation. I have to think that he kept getting distracted by the amazing things he was seeing and that God kept tapping John’s notebook and eyeing his paper to keep him on task. That brings up a good point to ponder. What kind of paper and pen do you think John was writing with? Did he have a clipboard or something? It must have been a pretty good writing surface because he did a lot of writing. I bet if we could see his actual writing it would lend so much more to the story. I bet at certain times during some of the seals and bowl judgements that his hand was trembling and the writing would be shaky. I bet some of the writing would be stained with tears as he wept at what he saw. I wonder if one day I will be able to write what I see as I walk the streets of Heaven with God. If I do, the hand-writing will be done in pure peace and joy and will have nary a tear drop upon it.
In John’s specifics he mentions that one of the “bowl angels” spoke to him and told him to come along and he would show him the “the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” This is a direct reference to the city of Heaven. The city of Heaven gets its description from the people that live within it. The church, the body of Christ is the bride. He carries John away to a great, high mountain to be able to really soak in the spectacle. I think he took John to the absolute best vantage point so that he could really see heaven in its full splendor.
In Hawaii, all along the Honoapiilani Highway from Lahaina to Kahaului are “lookouts” or “pullouts.” Places where the views were nothing less than breathtaking. But because of the way the highway curved in and out the view just 250 yards up the road would be completely different. The view was all about where you were seeing it from. I think the angel had the perfect spot and he took John to just this spot. He took him to a great high mountain to see the city as it was descending down from Heaven. What a sight John is about to give us.
21:11 – “having the glory of God, its radiance like a most rare jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal.”
I want you to really grasp this picture and this concept, for it is mind blowing. As the city descends, it “has the glory of God.” What is God? What is the glory of God? God is light. “When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12
“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” 1 John 1:5
God is light. Perfect light. Pure light. Holy light. The first thing John is in awe of, is that the city is completely illuminated by the light of God. Wow. But it gets better. God’s light is not shining through glass or plastic, the city itself is completely made out of a brilliant, rare jewel, clear as crystal. The translation of Jasper here is not the opaque jewel of today but a diamond. Heaven is completely constructed of a perfect diamond and God’s Holy light will be shining through it. It will be like a Tiffany lamp with a diamond shade. Millions of colors and refractions tossed around by the light of God's presence. Folks, I’ve got goosebumps at the thought. Heaven is built to radiate the pure, Holy light of God. The brilliance of God’s light radiating through a massive perfect diamond is a thought that cannot be comprehended.
Close your eyes and imagine this for a moment. Stop what your doing, close your eyes, drown out all distractions, turn off the TV, turn down the radio, and just think about Heaven for a moment. Heaven is God’s home. God is in Heaven right now. God is light. His light is pure and true. His light shines bright, brighter than the sun. And it will shine through a diamond like the world has never known. This diamond was made by Him just for Heaven. It is perfect, flawless, colorless, and pure. God’s light will react with this perfect diamond in a way that will cast out color and brilliance into all creation. God’s light is the center of the universe and here, we are allowed to see it’s source. Envision this. Think deeply on it. Now keep that thought close in your mind today. Keep your mind on this image tomorrow. Constantly keep your mind on the things above.
21:12-14 – “It had a great, high wall, with twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and on the gates the names of the twelve tribes of the sons of Israel were inscribed— 13 on the east three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates. 14 And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.”
John now takes in the whole of the city. We see the perfect symmetry of God’s home. Big walls with 12 gates, 3 to a side. On the gates were inscribed the 12 tribes of Israel. This arrangement is exactly how the tribes camped around the ark of the covenant as they were in the desert. (Numbers 2) The walls of the city had big, thick foundations, 12 layers to be precise. Upon the foundations were the names of the 12 apostles. We see here the 12 tribes from the OT and the 12 apostles from the NT. This is to recall all believers from all periods.
21:15-17 – “And the one who spoke with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city and its gates and walls. 16 The city lies four square, its length the same as its width. And he measured the city with his rod, 12,000 stadia. Its length and width and height are equal. 17 He also measured its wall, 144 cubits by human measurement, which is also an angel's measurement.
We’re next given very specific dimensions of Heaven. The angel measures it right in front of John and John writes it down. (I think it’s awesome that even the measuring rod was gold!) The city is a perfect cube, 4 sides, with the length being the same as the width and the width and height being equal. Each side is 12,000 stadia which is 1380 miles. If you were to enclose the cube in a sphere, the sphere would have a circumference of 8,164 miles. The moon’s circumference is 6,786, so the city’s interior volume would be a little bit larger than the moon. That’s one big city!
21:18 – “The wall was built of jasper, while the city was pure gold, like clear glass.”
We continue to get a picture of the city. It is perfectly translucent. We have already seen that the city itself shone like a diamond. We now see that the walls are also like perfect diamonds and the city is pure gold, like clear glass. A couple of things strike me about these materials.
1) They are all chosen to perfectly illuminate the light of God. The materials don’t compliment God, God compliments the materials. They are here to make His light radiate outwards to the entire universe.
2) These materials last forever. A diamond is the hardest natural substance known to man with a perfect 10 on the Moh’s scale of hardness. A diamond does not tarnish, disintegrate or perish. Gold is also beautiful but very hardy. It does not tarnish or corrode. God built Heaven to last. God built Heaven with eternal materials for His people to live out eternity with Him.
3) These materials are very precious. Diamonds and gold. We think that He made these materials for Earth and then chose them later for Heaven but folks, check your timeline. “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.” God made diamonds and gold as the building blocks of heaven and He’s letting us enjoy them in small quantities on this planet. But even though He’s allowing us to enjoy them here for a bit, we’ve never seen any diamonds or gold like the ones that will construct heaven.
Wow, my head is swimming. I praise God that He gave us this picture of Heaven but how do you really grasp it? I mean how can the human mind possibly fully perceive what we read this morning? Oh, but how fun it is to try. I’m not sure about you, but I will see this place one day. In fact, I will spend eternity there. As a believer in Jesus Christ I am a child of God and He promises me I will be with Him one day in this place. Do you have that confidence? Do you know that you are a child of God thorugh faith in Jesus Christ? You can know, you can know today.
Do you feel empty inside? Do you feel like your life has little meaning and purpose? Our full purpose and potential is only discovered after we place our faith in Jesus Christ. And you can do that today. It’s not hard, complicated, or lengthy. Just call out to your maker. Admit that left to your own way, you have made a mess of things. That you have sinned and as a result there is hurt in your life that you no longer want. Ask Him to be your Lord. Ask Him to come into your life and be your Lord...personally. He came here to this Earth 2000 years ago and hung on a cross for you. He died to cover the penalty of your sins before God. But God raised him three days later in triumph over all man’s sins; past, present and future. He did that for you. Call out to Jesus to save you and your life will change. You have been promised a home in the very Heaven we looked at today, but you must claim it. As a result of calling upon Jesus to redeem you, you will not only be guaranteed eternal life in Heaven with God, but you will be afforded abundant, joyful life as you walk this Earth. This is God’s plan for all. Let Him change your life today.
God blessings to each of you ~ Dan
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