November 25 Perfect Light

Revelation 21:15-27 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 in length, and as wide and high as it is long. 17 He measured its wall and it was 144 cubits thick, by man’s measurement, which the angel was using. 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 chalcedony, the fourth emerald, 20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.  21 The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of pure gold, like 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.
 
ONCE again a vision from the Old Testament, the Old Covenant, is repeated and enhanced to point toward the New Covenant. Read Ezekiel 40-41, and you’ll see the Spirit show to Ezekiel the measurements of a new city and temple. Now the apostle John views our God-designed heavenly home. The Lord’s plans are eternal. Revelation is not a new vision; it is the complete vision of God’s will for humanity.
    Here is an understanding of the city’s dimensions: “The city’s measurements are symbolic of a place that will hold all God’s people. These measurements are all multiples of 12, which is the number for God's people: there were 12 tribes in Israel and 12 apostles who started the church. The walls are 144 (12 x 12) cubits (200 feet) thick. There are 12 layers in the walls, and 12 gates in the city.
    “The height, length, and breadth are all the same: 12,000 stadia. The new Jerusalem is a perfect cube, the same shape as the Most Holy Place in the temple:1 Kings 6:20a The inner sanctuary was twenty cubits long, twenty wide and twenty high.” (from the Life Application Bible Study)
    The city is strong, perfect, beautiful and complete. The city is also God’s home. Gone are the transient sun and moon. All light comes from the eternal glory of God. Jesus, is truly the “light of the world.” (John 8:12) as the Lamb is its lamp.
    God’s people from all the earth have come to dwell with their God and worship him. His holiness fortifies it from any sin ever. Only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life will live with God and be his people.
 
Prayer: from Psalms 117 Praise the Lord, all you nations; extol him, all you peoples. For great is his love toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever. Praise the Lord. Amen.