In the New Jerusalem, God is the light and the glory and the everlasting King! Abraham looked for this city and "heaven" was seen by Daniel, Ezekiel, and Isaiah. The prophets saw the Throne Room but not the city itself. The city has always existed. Jesus said, "In my Father's house are many mansions" (John 14:2). The mansions already existed. Christ said, "I go to prepare a place for you. There was a time that we did not have access to God, prior to Christ's resurrection. Jesus has prepared, given us access to God again by the finished work of the cross. We no longer have to go through the priest to get to God. The word place in Greek is topos, meaning, a spot, a condition, location, or a place.
The city has been reserved for the bride. Rev. 21:2 says, "I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband." Rev. 21:9-10 says, "One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, "Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb." If the city was the bride, then Jesus was married to the city and not the people. Paul said we were "espoused to one" (II Cor. 11:2) and a chaste virgin. The Holy Spirit is the "earnest of our inheritance" (Eph. 1:14). God is married to Israel (called a husband). Christ is married to the church (the parable of the ten virgins. The city is the home of "just men made perfect" (Hebrews 12:22-24). The New Jerusalem is a part of the planet heaven.
The city is foursquare, the base is foursquare; the length and width are equal to the heights of the city. The inhabitants (saints) will come from the north, south, east and west. Four is an earthly number (four winds, four corners, and four rivers of Eden). "The city lies in a square, its length being the same as its width. And he measured the city with his reed - 12,000 stadia (about 1,500 miles); its length and width and height are the same. He measured its wall also - 144 cubits (about 72 yards) by a man's measure (of a cubit from his elbow to his third fingertip), which is (the measure) of the angel" Revelation 21:16-17 AMP. If each room was 2800 sq. ft. by 12 feet high the city could hold 1 zillion, 500 trillion people. To count that many, with 469 a second without stopping would take 1 million years. The city has high and thick walls. The walls appear to be about 72 yards thick (100 yards is the length of a football field), 1500 miles high, then foundations are each 125 miles high.
The city is like a jasper and transparent. Jasper can be a transparent stone similar to a diamond (red, blue, yellow, green). Gold is yellow or white depending upon the mix. What is transparent gold? Gold that is like a golden-clear-crystal - there are a lot of crysal appearances. The wall is solid with precious stones embedded within the wall (or like a natural rock). The twelve stones have all the progressive colors of a rainbow. The 12 stones are found in two other places in the Scripture. The foursquare High Priest breastplate with 12 stones and tribal name (Exodus 28:16-21) and the covering stones of the anointed Cherub that was once in Eden (Ezek. 28:13).
The city is linked with the number 12, twelve is linked to government and divine order (Rev. 21). Twelve gates lead into the city (Rev. 21:21). Twelve gates have twelve angels at the entrance (Rev. 21:12). Twelve gates have twelve tribal names carved on them (Rev. 21:12). Twelve gates are divided with three on each four sides (Rev. 21:13). These are massive, huge gates!
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