COMPLETE
Opening Prayer
Lord of life, the God for all seasons; I need your hand upon me as I face trials and tribulations.
Read REVELATION 21:15-27
15 The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. 16 The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia[a] in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits[b] thick.[c] 18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. 19 The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.[d] 21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
22 I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. 23 The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. 24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. 25 On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. 26 The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. 27 Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.
Footnotes
- Revelation 21:16 That is, about 1,400 miles or about 2,200 kilometers
- Revelation 21:17 That is, about 200 feet or about 65 meters
- Revelation 21:17 Or high
- Revelation 21:20 The precise identification of some of these precious stones is uncertain.
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
Sing or listen to: ‘Only by grace can we enter … Into your presence you call us … and now by your grace we come’.*The city is ‘as wide and high as it is long’ – in other words a cube. The Holy of Holies in the earthly temple was also a golden cube, the place where the presence of God rested. It was off limits except for one day a year. Even then only the high priest could enter (see Leviticus 16). In God’s new creation, the atoning work of the Lamb (see Luke 23:45,46) means there is no sin (v 27) to separate the people from the holy presence of God. Ian Paul points out that the city is ‘holiness on a cosmic scale’** as the footprint of the city is a ‘Holy of Holies’ (vs 15–17) large enough to encompass the entire Roman Empire. There is no inner court accessible to priests alone, no court of women, no court of Gentiles. The hierarchy of access to God is gone for good (v 22).
All the gems that make up the foundations (vs 18–20) are seen by many to correspond with the gems that represented God’s people on Aaron’s ephod (Exodus 28:15–21). The message: all God’s precious people have their place here. All who belong to the Lamb (v 27) are welcome into the very presence of God.
Apply
Which part of today’s vision for your glorious future with God will you fix in your mind to help you endure your current difficulties? See Romans 8:18.
Closing prayer
Father, I am forever grateful for your call upon my life. You chose me and made me your child. I give my thanks and praise to you.
*Gerrit Gustafson, 1990, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnBaIM3JFkQ
**Ian Paul, Revelation – Tyndale New Testament Commentary, IVP, 2018
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