What will be the purpose of the walls around the New Jerusalem?

The City "had a wall great and high." The wall speaks of security and exclusion. The wall is "great," and thus the City is secured against every assault of the enemy. It is "high," and therefore all evil is excluded. The great wall cannot be broken down; the high wall cannot be scaled. Had the Church on earth walked in the light of the Church in glory, it never would have become likened to a "great house" in which there are vessels "to honour and some to dishonour." No vessels to "dishonour" will be found in the holy City, for "there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles." The wall separates the City from all outside. Had the Church maintained a holy separation from the world, it would have been proof against the attacks of the enemy and the intrusion of the evil. The apprehension of the truth symbolized by the great and high wall would in practice lead us to depart from iniquity and separate from vessels to dishonour. Every departure from the principle of exclusion of evil had led to a corresponding departure from the truth.

The symbolic meaning of the wall will be security; and this is assured, as may be seen in verse 18, by the fact that "the building of the wall of it was of jasper "that is, the glory of God. Clothed with, she is also protected by, the divine glory, even as Isaiah speaks, "The glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward." All that God is, and all that God is in display, is the wall round about the New Jerusalem. But, as we may see further on, the wall not only. encloses and secures the holy city, but it also excludes all evil; for "there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie." (v. 27; compare Rev. 22:15.)

Its great and high wall (v. 12), speaks of its being fully protected, but also of the city being set apart from every evil. 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. Twelve in Scripture always is the number of governmental completeness. Administrative order in that city will be perfect. Twelve angels guard the gates, which bear the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. Though the city is named for the bride, the angels are not a part of the Church. But since the heavenly city is the great exemplification of the grace of God (Gal. 4:22-29), there is the blessed reminder that Israel, though on earth, has been blessed through the same matchless grace. Also, while Israel will be the chief of the nations of the world, yet the real center of government will be “Jerusalem above” (Gal. 4:26). Three gates are on each side of the city (v. 13), which reminds us of the encampment of the tribes of Israel around the tabernacle in the wilderness (Num. 2:1-31).

As the figure of a city is consistently maintained, the heavenly saints are spoken of as its inhabitants. "And there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles, neither whatsoever works abomination, or makes a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life." (v. 27.) God is "of purer eyes than to behold evil;" and if believers are saved, it is only because He has made them "meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light." No evil can exist in the presence of His light. The jasper wall, His own surpassing glory, is a perfect wall of separation between His dwelling-place and all that defiles, all that is abominable, all that is inconsistent with His own holy truth. None can be there but those "written in the Lamb's book of life;" those whom He has fitted by His own grace for His own presence.

Rev. 21:12. — “Having a great and high wall.” The wall is a solid, massive, and brilliant structure. It is made of jasper (v. 18). It cannot, therefore, be broken down, nor can it be scaled, as its height forbids — 144 cubits, or 216 feet (v. 17). The wall round about the city, enclosing it on all sides, denotes the most ample security (Isa. 26:1; Zech. 2:5). It guards and separates God’s glory; guards the city and separates it from all outside. God Himself is the defence and safety of His Church. He stands between it and every hostile power, moral and physical.

The glorious wall which reflects the splendour of the city inside, telling of divine protection and absolute safety, reposes on twelve foundations (vv. 19, 20), each foundation being one stone, solid, immense, and precious. Each foundation stone is of rarest value, of priceless worth, of incomparable beauty, and of unfading lustre; the twelve together forming a magnificent combination of varied and brilliant hue and tint. No building on earth can be for a moment compared to this for weight, size, and splendour. “The Builder and Maker is God.” The great and high wall not only bespeaks the security of those within, but guards the city from the intrusion of those without (v. 27).

"And had a wall great and high." (Ver. 12.) The heavenly city is enclosed and shut in thus, against all that is unsuited to the glory of God, of which it is the dwelling-place. And the suited material of the building of the wall of it was jasper (ver. 18), that which symbolized the glory. Is there nothing that answers to the wall of the heavenly city, in the responsibility of the Church as the house of God on earth, to maintain the holiness and truth that alone consist with His presence? And if it is just in the breaking down of this that it has utterly failed, how blessed to see that no thought of God shall fail of its full accomplishment. The glory of God will itself maintain what is suited to it, and to His dwelling-place, in the day of glory.

The jasper wall, great and high, tells us not only of glory and beauty in keeping with every other part of the city, but also of security and separation; and if of the earthly city it will be said, "Peace be within thy walls, and prosperity within thy palaces," how much more will this heavenly city be the place of endless peace and unchanging blessing? There is something Divine, something consistent with the glory of God, in the symbol of the jasper wall; for we find, in the vision of the presence of God on the throne in the fourth chapter, that the One who sat upon the throne was like a jasper and a sardine stone.

Verses 12 to 21 are occupied with the wall, the gates, the foundations, and the city itself. We may consider them in that order. The wall is described as great and high. No adverse power could force an entrance. Evil is totally excluded. Its measure was 144 cubits, the square of 12, which is the number of administration. Here at last then is administration in such perfection as to shut out all that is wrong.

The wall, however, was not absolutely continuous: there were twelve gates, three on each of its four sides. Now gates are made in order that there may be going out and coming in, so that the city, though amply protected by its wall, is not a self-contained and isolated unit. There is to be happy intercourse between it and the millennial earth. He who approaches it finds an angel at each gate, so that all come under inspection. Moreover each gate is a pearl; a reminder this, we should say, to all who approach, that the city itself as "the bride" represents that "pearl of great price" for which the Saviour "sold all that He had." Those who go out find on the gates the names of the tribes of Israel, as indicating the route by which one travels to the happy earth beneath. All the administration of that day will proceed from the throne in the heavenly metropolis, and reach the earth by way of Israel.

Next we read of "a wall great and high." This suggests the twofold idea of separation and security. Alas! the Church has not been careful to exclude all evil during her sojourn on earth; but in the glorified state "there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defiles." Separation from evil will then be perfectly carried out. Also, what security is there! No more thieves and robbers occurrent, and the roaring lion no longer going about seeking whom he may devour. And, what is even more blessed, no more evil hearts of unbelief to lead us astray!

The symbolic meaning of the wall will be security; and this is assured, as may be seen in verse 18, by the fact that "the building of the wall of it was of jasper "that is, the glory of God. Clothed with, she is also protected by, the divine glory, even as Isaiah speaks, "The glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward." All that God is, and all that God is in display, is the wall round about the New Jerusalem. But, as we may see further on, the wall not only. encloses and secures the holy city, but it also excludes all evil; for "there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie." (v. 27; compare Rev. 22:15.)