In Revelation 21, the Apostle John writes that he saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven." He then describes this holy city as a "bride adorned for her husband," terminology evoking thoughts of the church as the bride of Christ, and as "the dwelling place of God," words which make one think of a tabernacle or temple. Subsequently, in a passage beginning in verse 8 and extending through the first five verses of chapter 22, this temple will be described as both a massive structural temple and as a garden yielding fruit and through which flows the river of life. The reader may recall that Paul mixes imagery in the same way in I Corinthians 3. In all of this, we begin to see all of the Bible's temple imagery, from the beginning of Genesis through both the Old and New Testament come into focus. Given the powerful symbolism and typological fulfillment here, one hardly knows whether to cry or laugh when interpreters ignore it and seek out some sort of physicality for future fulfillment.
What, then, is it all about?
There are many descriptors of the new Jerusalem that claim our attention, but to see what we are being taught here, we should focus on the overall shape of the city: it is an enormous cube -- more than 1,300 miles each in length, width, and height. What is the significance of its shape as a cube? In the temple, the only portion of the structure that was a cube was the Holy of Holies, that inner sanctum of God's presence where only the high priest could enter once annually following very strict processes. No uncleanness could enter the Holy of Holies. Now, with the new Jerusalem, the entire city, the place where all of God's people dwell, is a Holy of Holies. How can that be? The redemptive work of Christ is complete, all of God's people have been washed by the blood of the Lamb, and all sin has been done away with. Now, the entire temple of God's presence is opened to all of Christ's redeemed. For those who know the weight of their sin and long to be released from its guilt, power, and presence, this is a breathtaking vision including all of God's people.
The temple is so huge because it encompasses a great company of people out of every corner of the earth. When God placed his first priest within the initial temple, he told him to "fill the earth," but Adam failed at that task, as did everyone else before Christ, the Second Adam, who succeeded where Adam failed, and who has extended his temple to the ends of the earth.
Because the last chapters of the Bible take us back to the first, it is not surprising that much of the imagery reappears. The tree of life, from which man lost access in Genesis 3, is seen again in Revelation 22. The Garden of Eden was characterized by its rivers of water (as was the giant temple envisioned in Ezekiel 47, and in Revelation 22 we find the River of the water of life flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb. Similarly, the Garden temple was associated with precious minerals, as were the tabernacle and Solomon's temple, and there is a similar focus regarding the holy city in Revelation 21. That the New Jerusalem represents the triumph of Christ in behalf of all of his people is seen by the fact that both the 12 tribes of Israel and the 12 apostles are named on the structure.
Fans of the cinematic version of The Lord of the Rings trilogy will recall that the movies conclude where they began -- looking at the strange entrance of a hobbit hole. More remarkably, the apocalyptic vision of Revelation concludes by taking us back to the beginning. In Genesis, God had created a temple, and man had ruined it by his sin. In the person of God's Son, all things have been made new.
That, in a nutshell, is the story of the Bible.
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