[1] “And I saw a new heaven and a new earth”: New heaven and new earth (Mat 24:35; Isa 65:17; Isa 66:22; Heb 11:13-16; 2Pe 3:7-13). “...in earth as it is in heaven” (Mat 6:10).
Heaven and Earth to disappear! Outside of “time” => Eternity (Heb 1:10-12; Heb 12:26-27).
“...no more sea”: Why? Not needed for its cleansing action: 70% of earth covered to an average depth of 2.3 miles, antiseptic salinity (3.5%) purges, cleanses, and preserves our planet.
[Is the sea evil? (Mat 8:26, “rebuked”?) End of old order? (Exd 20:11; Eze 48:28); Beast out of the sea (Dan 7:1-3, 17; Rev 13:1, '6-8'); Demon swine take refuge in sea (Mat 8:30); Job 26:5-6; Isa 27:1; Jonah 2:1-6; Luk 8:30-33; Psa 69:14-15]
In John’s day, the sea meant danger, storms, separation—he was on an island at the time!
[2] “And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband”: Heb 11:10, 16.
“Down, out of heaven”: Doesn’t necessarily touch the earth! Heaven is a definite place. A new home. The Ultimate UFO!
[3] “And I heard 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”: Cf. Jhn 1:14; Mat 12:6.
Jerusalem; Jireh-shalom, provides peace:
[4] “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes...”: Why tears at all? Lost opportunities?
[5] “And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new”: A fresh start! (I sure could use that!)
[7] “He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son”: Can we even imagine what this means? All things!
“Overcomer” = 1Jo 5:4.
[8] “But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death”: A vivid and instructive catalog. Note “the fearful” and “the unbelieving”; Cf. Mar 4:40; Jhn 14:27; 2Ti 1:7-8. Notice also:
[10] “And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain”: Mountain (Dan 2...) Abraham looked for this city (Heb 11:10).
[In contrast to the false bride, the prostitute Mystery Babylon, also both a city and a woman, the New Jerusalem will be to eternity what the earthly Jerusalem is to the Millennium.]
“She that hath the bridegroom is the bride” (Jhn 3:29). The citizens are identified with the city in Rev 22:3, 6, 19.
“Descending out of heaven...” No reason to limit it to any specific number of dimensions... Cf. Beyond Perception, et al. (It is not stated that it comes to the earth.)
[11] “Having the glory of God: and her light [was] like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal”: Light (Isa 60:1-3), “arise, shine...”
iaspis : diamond, opal, or topaz (various authorities). Similarity of the Hebrew word for crystal in Eze 1:22 to Hebrew word for “ice” suggests diamond. A diamond in a gold setting—appropriate for the bride.
[12] “...Twelve tribes”: a perpetual reminder that “salvation is of the Jews.” Access to the city is through Israel. No middle wall (Eph 2:14-18); no Temple (Jhn 4:21-24).
[13] “On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates”: Suggests the order of Israel’s encampment around the Tabernacle in Numbers 2. The Bride constitutes the priesthood that serves as did the Levites in the Tabernacle.
Israel on the earth will enjoy the same relationship to the city that they did toward the wilderness tabernacle, and later, the temple (Song 8:5). [Notice that Peter isn’t guarding any of them!]
[14] “And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb”: Apostles are the foundation; Christ is the chief cornerstone.
[16] “And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal”: John was told to measure the old city (Rev 11); now he reckons the New City.
Furlongs (stadia): If a furlong is taken as 600 ft (measures differed in ancient days) the city would be about 1500 (Roman) miles square (1378 miles)! Some see it as cube; some as a pyramid; some as cube circumscribed inside a sphere—about the size of the moon. [The Holy of Holies was a cube.]
[17] “And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred [and] forty [and] four cubits, [according to] the measure of a man, that is, of the angel”: “Cubit,” from Latin cubitus, elbow; while there are many variations, all approximate 18 inches.
216 ft thick (or high?)! If viewed as a cube, wall thickness (rather than height) seems more likely. [Herodotus describes the walls of Babylon as 50 cubits thick and 200 cubits high.]
[18] “And the building of the wall of it was [of] jasper: and the city [was] pure gold, like unto clear glass”: God is a God of beauty; Peter wrote of the “manifold” grace of God (1Pe 4:10): manifold = variegated, many colored.
19-20] Authorities differ on specifics; these are hard to establish with certainty:
Jasper (iaspis): clear. [Associated with Pisces, and Simeon]
Sapphire (sappheiros): blue. (Exd 24:10, the foundation of God. (Moffatt: blue; Pliny, opaque with gold specks; Petrie agrees.)
[Associated with Aquarius, Reuben]
Chalcedony (chalkedon): greenish; Robertson, green silicate of copper.)
[Associated with Capricorn, Naphtali]
Emerald (smaragdos): green
[Associated with Saggitarius, Asher]
Sardonyx (sardonux): red; (Robertson: white with layers of red.)
[Associated with Scorpio, Dan]
Sardius (sardios): fiery red; (Pliny, red for Sardis; Swete, fiery red.)
[Associated with Libra, Levi]
Chrysolyte (chrusolithos): golden yellow; (Moffatt, golden hue; Robertson, golden like our topaz.)
[Associated with Virgo, Zebulon]
Beryl (berullos): green; (Robertson, like an emerald; Pliny, sea green.)
[Associated with Leo, Judah]
Topaz (topazion): greenish yellow; (Robertson, golden greenish stone)
[Associated with Cancer, Issachar]
Chrysoprasus (chrusoprasos): gold-green; (Robertson, a golden leek; International Bible Encyclopedia, sea green.)
[Associated with Gemini, Benjamin]
Jacinth (huakinthi): violet; hyacinth.
[Associated with Taurus, Joseph]
Amethyst (amethustos): purple.
[Associated with Aries, Gad.]
[These stones may also be related to the stones in the breastplate of the high priest (Exd 28:15-21; Exd 31- Ex 34; Exd 39:10-14). There is great difficulty in associating the specific stones since the terminology is not consistent throughout the literature, and John is also making his own translation from the Hebrew to Greek equivalents. They also appear to have been connected to the signs of the Hebrew Mazzeroth (Zodiac): Josephus (Ant. iii.7.7) and Philo (De Monarchia, ii.5; Cf. Vit. Mos. iii. 14). John’s order is the reverse of the zodiacal order.]
Cf. Isa 54:11-12. There are also associations with the heavenly Eden (Eze 28:13).
[21] “And the twelve gates [were] twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city [was] pure gold, as it were transparent glass”: Pearls were not “kosher”: Cf. Mat 13:45-46. They come from the sea, not the land; they grow in response to an external irritation; they grow by accretion; they are removed from their place of growth to become an item of adornment.
The church will be the fairest jewel of all (Mal 3:17-18).
Gates are never closed: Cf. Rev 21:25
[22] “And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it”: Mat 12:6.
[23] “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb [is] the light thereof”: Jhn 14:3.
[24] “And the nations [of them which are saved?] shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it”: It does not say they will live there; the New Jerusalem will give light unto the earth.
[27] “And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither [whatsoever] worketh abomination, or [maketh] a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life”: God has apparently accomplished His original purpose with man (Eph 2:7).