What is the New Jerusalem?

Together with her descent to the new earth, John hears "a great voice out of heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people, and God Himself shall be with them, [and be] their God." (v. 3.) There are then three things; the tabernacle, the men, and the relationship which God sustains towards the one and the other. The tabernacle is the holy city; and the holy city, as already explained, is the church; and, inasmuch as it is God's tabernacle, it is presented to us as His dwelling-place. The reason for the use of the term tabernacle will be afterwards seen. Then there are men, and these are all the saved from Adam down to the first coming of the Lord, and all the saved from the rapture of the saints, as described in 1 Thess. 4, until the close of the thousand years; and these have the blessed position of being God's people, of having God with them, and having God as their God. They are not, as the church, the dwelling-place of God, but their place and blessing are as perfect in their relationship as are the church's in hers. There are differences which God in His sovereignty has been pleased to make, but all these are but illustrative of His own perfections and grace; and all the redeemed, whatever their special relationships, will be eternally blessed, according to God's thought, in the several positions in which by His grace they are found.

There is a special reason for the use of the word tabernacle in this place. The tabernacle was God's first dwelling-place on earth amongst His people Israel, after their redemption out of Egypt. "Let them make me a sanctuary," He said to Moses, "that I may dwell among them." (Exodus 25:8.)* The tabernacle was erected, and, as we find in the first chapters of Numbers, the tribes were arranged round about it, Jehovah's dwelling-place forming the centre of the encampment. While still in the wilderness, giving instructions concerning their conduct when His people should be in the land, Jehovah gave this promise, a promise conditional upon their obedience, "And I will set my tabernacle among you: and my soul shall not abhor you. And I will walk among you, and will be your God, and ye shall be my people." (Lev. 26:11-12.) This promise, owing to Israel's transgressions, was never entirely fulfilled; and hence it is repeated (for God never allows His purpose to be frustrated) through Ezekiel, and applied to the time of Messiah's kingdom during the millennium: "My tabernacle also shall be with them; yea, I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And the heathen shall know that I the Lord do sanctify Israel, when my sanctuary shall be in the midst of them for evermore." (Ezek. 37:27-28.) Coming to our scripture, we have the reproduction of almost the same words, only now not in the form of promise, but as a statement of fact and accomplishment. Connecting the three scriptures we learn, therefore, that it was ever God's thought to surround Himself with His redeemed people; also, that His tabernacle was a figure of the church as His habitation through the Spirit; and, finally, that the encampment in the wilderness, and the sanctuary during Messiah's glorious reign — which He Himself will build (Zech. 6:12-13), even as He is now building the church (Matt. 16) — are but foreshadowings of the eternal state, as portrayed in this scripture.

But that is not all — Into this dwelling-place and scene of order that God will have made, so remarkably distinguished from all that has been before, and even from that which accompanies the reign of His own Messiah, John sees "the holy city, New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice out of heaven, saying, Behold the tabernacle of God [is] with men, and he shall dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, their God" (verses 2, 3). I apprehend that the New Jerusalem is the tabernacle of God. It is where He abides in a very special sense. And this tabernacle of God descends out of heaven to be with men. The heavenly saints compose the tabernacle of God; while those that are found upon the new earth are simply described as "men." They are no longer Jews and Gentiles then, as in the millennium; this will have all passed away with "the first or former things." Every distinction which had to do with time is at an end. When a saint is risen or changed, he is no longer a Jew or a Greek; he is a man, though bearing the image of the heavenly. So here God has to do with men, and "he shall dwell with them and they shall be his people; and God himself shall be with them, their God." Instead of regarding it from a distance, God will not merely come to visit the scene that His hand has made for man as of old in the garden of Eden; but He will dwell eternally in their midst. "And God shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and death shall be no more; and no sorrow, nor crying, nor pain, shall any more be; for the first things are passed away" (verse 4). Unquestionably the figures that are used to describe this state of things are derived from Isaiah — figures which the Spirit of God had applied primarily to millennial blessedness. Isaiah predicts a glorious but earthly condition, which God will make true of the just during the millennium. Blessedness will then be the rule, sorrow the exception. Similar terms, but with striking differences, the Holy Ghost now takes up and applies in a far deeper and really unqualified sense.

Another event is now introduced: "And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." (v. 2.) It may be necessary to point out at once, for the sake of those who have not hitherto considered the subject, that the scene in verse 10 of this chapter is prior, by the thousand years, to this in verse 2. This will be more fully explained when verses 9 and 10 are reached; but it may be said now, that in verse 10 John sees the "holy city, Jerusalem" (as it should be read) in her millennial glory, and in relation to the millennial earth; whereas in verse 2, the millennial kingdom has for ever passed away, and the "holy city" is seen descending from the position occupied during the kingdom, to take up her appointed place on the new earth, of which verse 1 speaks. It is the "holy city," holy according to the nature of God (compare Eph. 1:4); and it is "new Jerusalem," not the old described in the Old Testament Scriptures. Paul speaks of it in Galatians as "Jerusalem which is above," and as "our mother."* It cannot be doubted, moreover, that the writer of the epistle to the Hebrews refers to the same city, when he describes Abraham as looking "for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God." (Heb. 11:10; see also v. 16.) It is thus a figure of the church, the church as seen from the next verse, as the tabernacle of God, God's habitation through the Spirit as known even now. (Eph. 2: 22.) Three things are predicated of her: her origin is "from God"; she comes "out of heaven," she is heavenly in her character;† and she is "prepared as a bride adorned for her husband." The marriage of the Lamb has long since taken place, and then His wife made herself ready; but, notwithstanding the centuries that have elapsed, she is still seen arrayed in all her bridal beauty, as much without blemish or wrinkle, and as holy, as on the day of her presentation to her glorious Spouse.

Its chief feature will be God dwelling with men in His tabernacle, which is identified with the holy city the new Jerusalem, which city is likened to "a bride prepared for her husband." This might seem a strange mixture of symbols did we not remember that we have already, in Revelation 17 and Revelation 18, seen that which falsely claims to be the church represented as great Babylon and as a seducing woman — a harlot. In this new Jerusalem we have in symbol the church of God, which is the bride of Christ. It descends "from God," since it is altogether His workmanship, and it comes "out of heaven," for its calling was from heaven, and to heaven it had gone at the coming of the Lord Jesus for all His saints.

The Revelation closes with the vision of the holy city — the New Jerusalem. To realize its meaning we must, at the outset, rid our minds of a thought fostered by sentiment that the holy City is a literal description of the eternal home of believers. In a book where all other visions are symbolic, it is unlikely that, in this vision, symbols should give place to literal description. The City is expressly said to be "the Bride the Lamb's wife;" hence it is clear that the City is a symbol of the Church in glory. Yet we judge from many a detail that it is not solely a symbol of the saints themselves, but rather a symbolic description both of the Church in glory and of her eternal home.

Moreover while all that characterizes the City will surely abide for eternity, yet it is a vision of the Church in relation to the earth during Millennial days. The mention of the nations, the kings of the earth and the necessity for healing would prove that the City is the figure of the Church as the heavenly centre of government for the world to come.

Indeed, that this New Jerusalem is not a real city seems obvious, for it is described, not as the dwelling-place of the bride, but as the bride herself, whose marriage with the Lamb has already been celebrated in heaven. Its form too, as shown in the following verses, though exquisite as a symbol of the divine symmetry of the true Church, is impossible as the shape of a real city. Besides, the description of the millennial Jerusalem given by Ezekiel, while bearing some resemblance, is for the most part a striking contrast, to the glorious vision here beheld.

As with Babylon so here we have brought together the two symbols of a woman and a city. They appear, on the surface, to be quite incongruous, but not so when we come to their significance. The one sets forth what the church will be to Christ; the other what it will be for Him: as the bride, the object of His love; as the city, the centre from which His powerful administration will proceed.

The holy city, new Jerusalem, comes down from God out of heaven (v. 2). It is not said to come to earth, but will evidently be in sight of earth and in close connection. Its description given later (v. 9 to Rev. 22:5) shows it to be a cube of 12,000 furlongs (over 1400 miles) and therefore not a city designed for earth at all, but symbolical or pictorial in its appearance and dimensions, though at the same time picturing a reality. In verse 9 the city is called “the bride, the Lamb's wife” when it is seen and considered in connection with the millennial kingdom which of course precedes verse 2 in point of time. This city, the bride, is the Church of God comprised of all believers of the present dispensation of grace, seen then in connection with the millennial reign of Christ. As the wife she assists in administrative matters. She is not said to administer in eternity, but then to be “as a bride adorned for her husband” (v. 2), for in eternity the emphasis is on the personal joy and newness of this beautiful relationship of Christ and His Church. This fresh bridal affection does not wear off after the 1000 years, but is new for eternity. Though this holy city is named for the bride, the Church, it is also a place of holy fellowship in contrast to the world's unholy cities. Old Testament saints also will have their place there, for Abraham looked for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11:10).

The holy city, new Jerusalem, comes down from God out of heaven (v. 2). It is not said to come to earth, but will evidently be in sight of earth and in close connection. Its description given later (v. 9 to Rev. 22: 5) shows it to be a cube of 12,000 furlongs (over 1400 miles) and therefore not a city designed for earth at all, but symbolical or pictorial in its appearance and dimensions, though at the same time picturing a reality. In verse 9 the city is called "the bride, the Lamb's wife" when it is seen and considered in connection with the millennial kingdom which of course precedes verse 2 in point of time. This city, the bride, is the Church of God comprised of all believers of the present dispensation of grace, seen then in connection with the millennial reign of Christ. As the wife she assists in administrative matters. She is not said to administer in eternity, but then to be "as a bride adorned for her husband" (v. 2), for in eternity the emphasis is on the personal joy and newness of this beautiful relationship of Christ and His Church. This fresh bridal affection does not wear off after the 1000 years, but is new for eternity. Though this holy city is named for the bride, the Church, it is also a place of holy fellowship in contrast to the world's unholy cities. Old Testament saints also will have their place there, for Abraham looked for the city which has foundations, whose builder and maker is God (Heb. 11: 10).

Later in the book, the seat of heavenly light or instruction and of administration is clearly presented in the heavenly city, the New Jerusalem. The foundations are furnished with all manner of precious stones manifesting distinction by refracted and reflected light. The gates of the city showing its completeness and perfection are twelve pearls involving distinction in perfect harmony (the prophet Haggai predicted that in the millennial age the latter glory Of the house would eclipse all the splendour of the former glory). It is the temple (the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb) which is mentioned in connection with millennial display, as appropriate to the idea of the kingdom (Rev. 21:22). There the temple and the city ideas coalesce. The glory of God and the Lamb will be the light thereof, and the saved nations will walk in that light, that is, in perfect intelligence of the mind of God.

Beyond the changes of time, are presented the new heaven and the new earth, heralded by a great voice from heaven making the statement, `Behold the tabernacle of God is with men' (Rev. 21:3). That is not with a chosen nation nor in the selection of grace. In the final emergence to view of the ways of God, the whole universe will manifest the features of the house of God. He will dwell with men in keeping with His eternal characters of constancy and consistency. There will be no question of distinction between light and darkness. There will be no possibility of the intrusion of contrary elements. So the oracular manifestations peculiar to the thought of the temple will be unnecessary. No shrine is seen, for the glory of God shines from every atom of its constitution. There is no holy place nor holy of holies, for every part of it is new creation, wherein righteousness dwells! That will be the consummation of the eternal purpose of God in grace. We trace through the dispensations God's dwelling on earth as the temple displaced the tabernacle and in turn was superseded by the church, embodying both ideas in a living way. The temple will again emerge in the millennium, and finally on the new earth the tabernacle of God will be with men!