Daily Thought

A holy angel now gives John a breathtaking view from a great, high mountain of the eternal city, New Jerusalem, described as the bride, the Lamb’s wife, for which all the patriarchs looked in faith, Heb. 11. 8-16. It is free from all sin and darkness, not lit by any created lights, but radiant with the Shekinah glory of the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. They are its only temple sanctuary, since all is now in accord with God’s holiness. It will be a very busy and joyful place, where we as God’s servants will serve Him and see His lovely face ‘without a cloud between’, as we reign with our beloved Lord over the new creation. The redeemed of all Gentile nations will live in its light, and their kings will bring the wealth of the new earth into it. Because our glorified bodies will need no rest, there will be no night there, ‘in the land of fadeless day’. Because there is no evil, the city gates will remain permanently open for access.

But what will our eternal home be like? John is describing a literal city using some symbolical language, because we cannot comprehend all its new physical laws. It will contrast utterly with man’s city, Babylon the great, and be quite different from millennial Jerusalem. John saw it descending to the new earth, radiant with the shimmering light of many different precious stones, and completely translucent. There is nothing there to hide. The number twelve, denoting perfect divine administration, is stamped on all its features. It is a vast cube of some 1400 miles, like the holy of holies in the temple. Probably both redeemed Israel and the church will occupy it, while redeemed Gentiles will have ready access to it. A pure river of living water will flow from the throne of God and the Lamb to refresh it, and the tree of life on its banks will continually provide all its citizens with healthy food. Its beauty will surpass Eden’s; the curse will be forever gone. But its chief glory, joy, and blessing will be its uniting centre, the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb. His very Name will forever remind us of the only basis of our entrance there, the precious shed blood of His sacrifice on Calvary. God will be known in His fullness and worshipped by all the redeemed. Wonderful hope! But, reader, will you be there?