having a great and high wall; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels, and names inscribed, which are those of the twelve tribes of [the] sons of Israel.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.
On [the] east three gates; and on [the] north three gates; and on [the] south three gates; and on [the] west three gates.
The verse counts the gates of the holy city, and the count is even: three on each of the four sides. Why does one city need so many gates, and why do they face every direction?
One writer contrasts what gates normally do in a great city with what these gates are for.
The city will be four-square, facing without fear or shame every point of the compass. It will be equal on every side, and on every side there will be three gates... A great city like London keeps its gates open all the time, because it depends on every part of the earth for its very life. Supplies pour into it from north, south, east, and west. But the gates of the holy city will open for the opposite reason. They will open not to let supplies flow in, but to let blessing flow out — blessing for the whole earth.
One commentator breaks twelve into its two factors and finds a meaning in each.
The wall has four sides, and in it are twelve gates — three gates on every side, for going out and coming in. This city is the home of a life that never stops working. The number 12 is stamped on the whole city. It is an expanded 7, with the same factors (4 × 3 instead of 4 + 3), and it is the sign of open divine government, with God clearly supreme here... The 12 here is the usual 4 × 3. The 3 still speaks of God showing Himself, while the 4 shows that this is universal, the sides facing every way.
These gates are set in the city wall. Wall and gates do opposite jobs, and both are needed.
Walls are to keep out what ought to be out. On the other hand, its twelve gates are to allow in what ought to be in... Three gates stand on each side of the city (v. 13). This reminds us how the tribes of Israel camped around the tabernacle in the wilderness (Num. 2:1-31).
Another writer draws out what a wall with no openings would have meant.
It also has twelve gates. Since the city is foursquare, it looks the same from every side you approach it, and the way in is generous. If the wall had no gates it would be a poor thing.
The previous verse writes the names of Israel's tribes on these gates. One writer explains what those names mean, with a picture from everyday town naming.
In cities on earth people often name the main streets after the towns those streets lead to. In the same way, the gates of the heavenly city carry the names of the tribes that its blessings flow to. That blessing will reach every quarter of the globe in equal measure, because there are three gates on each of the four sides of the city.
The names sit on the gates, but they do not make up the city itself.
As for the twelve tribes of Israel, their names are only written there, nothing more. Nothing at all suggests that they make up the city; their names are simply inscribed on the outside. That city will be a constant reminder of those who came before restored Israel on earth, and it will certainly be used for their blessing during the thousand years — but not for theirs alone. On the contrary, we shall find that the city looks out toward the whole universe, and yet Israel has its special place there.
An earlier prophet saw a city with the same shape and the same gate count. Setting the two side by side shows where they part company.
In Ezekiel the city is also four-sided, with twelve gates, three on each side, named after the twelve tribes of Israel. (Ezek. 48:30-35.) In both cases there is complete order and symmetry, and in both cases a connection between the city and Israel. But in Ezekiel's city the connection is earthly. In the city of Revelation the connection is heavenly, for twelve angels stand at the gates.
- Shape — the city is equal on every side. Three gates stand on each of the four sides, so the city favours no direction and forgets none.
- Number — twelve is four times three: three for God showing Himself, four for the universal spread, with the sides facing every way.
- Guard — the wall keeps out what ought to be out; the gates let in what ought to be in. A wall with no gates would be a poor thing.
- Channel — the gates carry Israel's names, the way city streets carry the names of the towns they lead to. Blessing flows out to every quarter of the globe in equal measure.
- Reach — Ezekiel saw a city of the same shape, but its link was earthly. Here the link is heavenly, and this city looks out toward the whole universe.
And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
The wall of the heavenly city rests on twelve foundations, and each one carries the name of a man who had walked with Jesus. Commentators read this as a picture of the church's foundation, and it raises questions: why apostles and not Israel, why twelve, and where is Paul?
The names on the foundations point back to real work done on earth.
The names of the twelve apostles connect the City with the foundation work of the apostles at Pentecost. Their work, under the control of the Holy Spirit, formed the Church on earth as the House of God where God dwells, rules and blesses. So a sphere of heavenly blessing and rule came into being on earth. That work began on earth through the apostles, and the City in glory shows it completed.
What they laid down was teaching, and no single apostle carried the whole of it.
The names on the foundations show that the truth of God about His Son Jesus Christ, ministered by the apostles, is the solid basis of true separation according to God. Each apostle received his own line of ministry, so that together they might form a well-balanced foundation that cannot fail.
The verse does not call them apostles of Christ. It calls them apostles of the Lamb — a title that points back to His sacrifice.
The city is clearly the fruit of His own work. Its foundations begin with Him: twelve foundations, with the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb on them. The names written there are the names of the sent ones of the Lamb who once suffered as a sacrifice. Had there been no Lamb there would have been no apostles. And if each foundation had one apostolic name on it, then every one of the twelve was a reminder of the Lamb whose apostles they were.
The gates carry the names of Israel's tribes. The foundations underneath carry the names of the apostles. The two places are not interchangeable.
The wall is what fences a city off from the world outside. The gate is what gives it contact with the world outside. The apostles appear in what marks the Church as distinct and set apart. The twelve tribes appear in what marks its relationship with the world. This is because the apostles are the foundation course of the Church, while Israel is always God's first thought in His government of the world.
Paul's name is not among the twelve. Is he left out? One writer treats the number as a set figure, not a headcount, and draws a parallel with Israel's own tribes.
They have laid the foundations, and their names are stamped on their work. We are surely not to imagine any individualising here, as if any one foundation could be assigned to any one apostle. Nor is the number twelve itself anything but characteristic... It is remarkable that almost the same difficulty comes up with the twelve tribes of Israel. They often exclude and often include the tribe of Levi... Why may not the apostles, despite the addition of Paul to their number, be counted here as twelve?
Another writer points to which side of the church this city shows.
The City does not show the Church as the Apostle Paul presents it — in its close relations to Christ as the body of Christ, or in its privileges of access to the Father's house. It is the aspect of the Church presented by the twelve apostles: the vessel for the display of the glory of God before the world.
Names on a foundation could suggest that the church rests on men. One writer answers that from the high priest's breastplate.
The names of the apostles are engraved on the foundations of the Church, but Christ Himself is the true foundation. In the high priest's breastplate, the perfections of Christ gleamed in the precious stones. Those stones were linked with the tribes whose names were cut on them. In the same way, the many perfections, beauties and glories of Christ, the true foundation, bear up the Church in its heavenly brightness.
- Lamb first. No Lamb, no apostles — every foundation stone carries a name that exists only because of His sacrifice.
- Apostles next. Their Spirit-led work at Pentecost formed the church on earth; the city in glory is that same work finished.
- Truth as base. Each apostle carried a distinct line of ministry, and together they form a foundation that cannot fail.
- Church, not Israel. Israel's names mark the gates that face outward; the apostles' names mark the wall that sets the church apart.
- Christ beneath all. The apostles' names are on the foundations, but Christ Himself is the true foundation, and His many glories hold the Church up.