UNION
Opening Prayer
Heavenly Father… show me truly what that means, that I have a Father in heaven, waiting and preparing for me.
Read Revelation 21:9–27
The New Jerusalem, the Bride of the Lamb
9 One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the Holy City, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God. 11 It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. 12 It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. 13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. 14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
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
a Revelation 21:16 That is, about 1,400 miles or about 2,200 kilometers
b Revelation 21:17 That is, about 200 feet or about 65 meters
c Revelation 21:17 Or high
d 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
How do you think about heaven?There are some surprising things about this city. For a start, it’s a vast cube – 12,000 stadia in length, width and height is almost 1,500 miles in each direction (16)! On the gates are the names of the 12 tribes of Israel (12) and on the foundations the names of the 12 apostles of the Lamb (14). The numbers are significant – 12,000 and 144 draw us back to chapter 7 and the great multitude gathered in worship around the Lamb’s throne. There is room in this vast cubical city for the whole people of God.
It’s surprising that it appears to be the “wife of the Lamb” (9). And when we consider that this city represents us as the people of God, most surprising of all is that the city shines with the glory of God (11). Compare the descriptions of the city’s splendor (11, 18, 21) with John’s vision of the throne of heaven in 4:3, 6; the glory of this city shines more brightly. I have no glory. I am unholy. And yet this glorious city represents what God will do with me, and with you.
Apply
Spend some time thinking what heaven might be like. How does it look? How does it feel? How do you feel?
Closing prayer
I praise You, God, that I am Your child. I praise You Christ, that when You appear I shall be like You (1 John 3:2).
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