“Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come with me! I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” So he took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God. It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal. The city wall was broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels. And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates. There were three gates on each side—east, north, south, and west. The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. The angel who talked to me held in his hand a gold measuring stick to measure the city, its gates, and its wall. When he measured it, he found it was a square, as wide as it was long. In fact, its length and width and height were each 1,400 miles. Then he measured the walls and found them to be 216 feet thick (according to the human standard used by the angel). The wall was made of jasper, and the city was pure gold, as clear as glass. The wall of the city was built on foundation stones inlaid with twelve precious stones: the first was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, the fifth onyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst. The twelve gates were made of pearls—each gate from a single pearl! And the main street was pure gold, as clear as glass. I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. And the city has no need of sun or moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light. The nations will walk in its light, and the kings of the world will enter the city in all their glory. Its gates will never be closed at the end of day because there is no night there. And all the nations will bring their glory and honor into the city. Nothing evil will be allowed to enter, nor anyone who practices shameful idolatry and dishonesty—but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.”
Revelation 21:9-27 NLT
Here we see a picture that is vastly different from the amorphous prophecy of most Christians regarding humanities finality. Rather than people endlessly, or rather mindlessly, worshipping God upon harp ridden clouds, we have the picture of a vast city where God resides with his people. To be sure, there are more questions than there are answers, but in a way, that is the point. The story is to be concluded this way, but the characters are not finished. It would appear that there is still daily living. It would appear that there will still be nations. It is definite that there is still art and worship. One can gather that there will be still valued creation. Precious stones and minerals will still have meaning. The difference will be that of necessity. Post Eden, what was beautiful gave way to what was necessary. Very often, beauty had to be found and preserved amongst the ugliness of cold efficiency and utilitarianism. For every single rose, twenty thorns arose. But this will be no longer true. The beauty of God’s creation will finally be restored to its rightful role in his kingdom. There is much to look forward to.
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