3. The description of the New Jerusalem (Rev 21^-22'). — The details of this sublime description are typically Jewish, but the thouglit is pre-emi- nently Christian. The earthlj' Jerusalem had been in ruins for a quarter of a century, Hadrian's new city was not yet in existence, and the Chris- tian Seer had no thought of the possibility of rebuilding the old. The new city must come down from heaven to be a fitting abode for Christ and the saints. The Seer represents himself as being shown ' the holy city ' from a high mountain by one of the seven angels (21^- '"). ' Her light was like unto a jasper stone, clear as crystal : having a wall great and high ; having twelve gates, and at the gates twelve angels ; and names written thereon, which are the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel : on the east were three gates ; and on the north three gates ; and on the south three gates ; and on the west three gates. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them twelve names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb' (vv."""). As in Ezekiel's city, the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem bear the names of the twelve tribes — three names on each side of its foursquare order (cf. Ezk 48^""^'^). But besides these, there appear twelve other names on the city wall ; between each pair of gateways above the surface of the rock is a foundation stone, and each stone bears the name of an a|)ostle. The same connexion of the twelve tribes and the twelve apostles appears in Mt 19'-', where Jesus says of His disciples : ' in the regeneration when the Son of man shall sit on the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.' St. Paul has a similar thought when speaking of the Ephesiaus : ' Ye are fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the house- hold of God, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the chief corner stone' (Eph 2'"- '-"). The heavenly city is measured by the angel with a
golden measuring rod (Rev 21"). 'And the city lieth foursquare, and the length thereof is as great as the breadth : and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs: the length and the breadth and the height thereof are equal. And he measured the wall thereof, a hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of an angel' (v.""-). Molliitt translates: 'he measured fifteen hundred miles with his rod for the Citj', for its breadth and length and height alike ; he made the measure of the wall seventy-two yards, by human, that is, by angelic reckoning' {The New Textamcnt : A New Trnnslution, London, 1913). It is a huge cube, as high as it is broad and long, like the Holy of Holies in Solomon's Temple (cf. 1 K 6-"), only the measurements are hyperbolical. The wall is out of all proportion to the height of the oily, but both heights, it ought to be noted, are multiples of twelve, the number of the tribes and of the apostles.
Kev 21'^"" : ' And the building of the wall thereof was jasper : and the city was pure gold, like unto pure glass. The foundations of the wall of the city were adorned with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper ; the second, sapphire; the third, chalcedony; the fourth, emerald ; the fifth, sardonyx ; the sixth, sardius ; the seventh, chrysolite ; the eighth, beryl ; the ninth, topaz ; the tenth, chrysoprase ; the eleventh, jacinth j the twelfth, amethj'st. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls ; each one of the several gates was of one pearl : and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass '(cf. also Is 54"'- and To 13'"-). Similar lists occur in Ezk 28'^ of the precious stones with which the king of Tyre was covered, and in Ex 28"-=" 39i»-"' of the gems set in the breastplate of the high priest ; the latter are repro- duced in the Apocalypse evidently from memory, as the lists do not completely coincide. What was exclusively for the high priest's breastplate is now for the whole city of the New Jeru.salem — the foundation stones with the names of the apostles are brilliant with all manner of sparkling gems, and each gate consists of a single monster pearl.
Rev 21--'- : 'And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God the Almighty, and the Lamb, are the temple thereof. And the city hath no need of tlie sun, neither of the moon, to shine upon it : for the glory of God did lighten it, and the laniji thereof is the Lamb.' The actual presence of God and the Christ in the City forms the sanctuary ; similarly in 2 Co 6'° St. Paul says : ' we are a temple of the living God ; even as God said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them ; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people ' ; only what St. Paul says of individuals the Seer says of the ideal city as a whole. No need in such a place for any created light, since the Divine presence is there illuminating all ; its sun is the glory of the Father, and its lamp the glorified Son. There is here a fulfilment of the ideal in Is 60™- : ' The sun shall be no more thy light by day ; neither for brightness shall the moon give light unto thee : but the Lord shall be unto thee an everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. . . .'