Written by T. M. Suffield |
Friday, January 26, 2024
More importantly for John is the shape—a perfect cube. We’re meant to think of the Holy of Holies (Exodus 26, 1 Kings 6), the place where Heaven touches Earth. The Church is a holy place, and where Heaven touches Earth. Do we think of what we do when we gather together like that? Do we think of ourselves as a people that embodies heaven touching earth? We should, because we are, and we will be.
In Revelation 21 the church (the ‘bride’) is described as a city, a new Jerusalem, in intricate detail. John is referencing from all over the Bible, he has the later part of Ezekiel and Genesis 2 in particular view, but liberally references elsewhere.
John is at this point in Revelation talking about the future; this is a claim that some will agree with that I’m not going to defend. I don’t think all the book is about the future, but I think these new heavens and new earth here are. But it’s a future that speaks into the church today for two reasons.
Firstly, the new heavens and new earth of the first verse were inaugurated in the resurrection of Jesus, as John is at great pains to make clear in his garden encounters between Jesus and ‘the woman’ Mary. This is, by the by, where an argument that even these last two chapters of Revelation describe the world today would come from. We are stepping into this world, even if John’s account of it in chapters 21 and 22 of his apocalypse are what it will ‘look’ like in its fullness.
Secondly, and really saying the same thing from another angle, if this is what the perfected church looks like in her glory, then our churches should have this in view now. This is the goal that we are growing towards, so our efforts to tend and aid that growth should have this firmly in view.
What I’d like to zoom in on, as the title rather gives away, is three features of the city that can inform our churches today: its shape, its foundations, and its gates.
Shape
The city is a cube, just under 1400 miles in each direction, including up (15-17). Which is about 1392 miles beyond the heights at which we could breathe. This thing is massive. Why are we told this? While I suppose there could be literal Borg cube of a city in the age to come, I think this is missing it a bit.
The dimension given is 12,000 stadia. In Revelation’s language we should read that as 12 x lots, which we should read as Israel x lots. The Church will be enormous, and glorious in our breadth and depth.
More importantly for John is the shape—a perfect cube. We’re meant to think of the Holy of Holies (Exodus 26, 1 Kings 6), the place where Heaven touches Earth. The Church is a holy place, and where Heaven touches Earth. Do we think of what we do when we gather together like that? Do we think of ourselves as a people that embodies heaven touching earth? We should, because we are, and we will be.
Foundation
The foundation of the New Jerusalem has the names of the twelve apostles inscribed on it (14) and is adorned with twelve specific jewels (19-20): Jasper, Sapphire, Agate, Emerald, Onyx, Carnelian, Chrysolite, Beryl, Topaz, Chrysoprase, Jacinth, Amethyst.