The new Jerusalem, bride of the Lamb
Revelation · Draft · BSB
Content revision: 5e0d68692d5e23d7 · No editorial review date recorded
Date: Revelation 21 · reading sequence. This is the order of the book. It does not assign a calendar date to a vision or choose one scheme of fulfillment.
An angel shows John the holy city as the Lamb’s bride. Its gates bear Israel’s tribal names and its foundations the apostles’ names; God and the Lamb are its temple and light, and the nations bring their glory into it.
The city’s equal length, width and height, precious materials and measured walls belong to its visionary portrayal. The same invitation to see a woman that introduced Babylon now introduces the bride, inviting a contrast between the two cities. Israel’s tribes and the Lamb’s apostles are both named. Open gates and the nations’ glory are joined with the exclusion of impurity and falsehood. No modern city footprint, architectural plan or ownership claim is inferred from the measurements.
Primary Scripture
21:9 Then one of the seven angels with the seven bowls full of the seven final plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”
21:10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a mountain great and high, and showed me the holy city of Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,
21:11 shining with the glory of God. Its radiance was like a most precious jewel, like a jasper, as clear as crystal.
21:12 The city had a great and high wall with twelve gates inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of Israel, and twelve angels at the gates.
21:13 There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south, and three on the west.
21:14 The wall of the city had twelve foundations bearing the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.
21:15 The angel who spoke with me had a golden measuring rod to measure the city and its gates and walls.
21:16 The city lies foursquare, with its width the same as its length. And he measured the city with the rod, and all its dimensions were equal—12,000 stadia in length and width and height.
21:17 And he measured its wall to be 144 cubits, by the human measure the angel was using.
21:18 The wall was made of jasper, and the city itself of pure gold, as pure as glass.
21:19 The foundations of the city walls were adorned with every kind of precious stone: The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald,
21:20 the fifth sardonyx, the sixth carnelian, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.
21:21 And the twelve gates were twelve pearls, with each gate consisting of a single pearl. The main street of the city was pure gold, as clear as glass.
21:22 But I saw no temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple.
21:23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, because the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its lamp.
21:24 By its light the nations will walk, and into it the kings of the earth will bring their glory.
21:25 Its gates will never be shut at the end of the day, because there will be no night there.
21:26 And into the city will be brought the glory and honor of the nations.
21:27 But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.
Related Scripture
These readings illuminate biblical language and themes. Connections do not by themselves settle the timing or every interpretation of the vision.
Isaiah’s nations, open gates and divine light offer extensive background for the holy city.
Location evidence
New Jerusalem descends from heaven within the vision. No outline is overlaid on present-day Jerusalem, and the high mountain is not assigned a geographic coordinate.
No event map marker is assigned. Do not infer an exact venue from related places.
For the class
How does this city reverse the character of Babylon, especially in what gives it light, value and security?
Interpretation and reuse
Narrative order is a reading arrangement, not a proven chronology. Dates retain their stated uncertainty. An identified locality does not establish the exact venue or prove an event. Region extents and routes are illustrative, not surveyed boundaries or ancient roads. Draft material has not completed editorial review.
Record source: editorial (content/authored/revelation.json)
Place coordinates from OpenBible.info Bible Geocoding Data, CC BY 4.0.
Teaching stops, summaries and regional extents are original editorial content of this atlas.
Berean Standard Bible (BSB), public domain. https://berean.bible/licensing.htm