Revelation 21 Study Notes

21:11b-14,21 On a jasper stone, see note at 4:3-4. The twelve gates (each made of a massive single pearl) in the great wall of the new Jerusalem have written on them the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. The twelve foundations of the city wall have the twelve names of the apostles of Christ. This strongly implies that the unified people of God will in some sense maintain the distinct covenant promises to Israel and the church eternally.

Alpha is the first letter in the Greek alphabet, and omega is the last. In the NT, these two letters occur together three times in the phrase “the Alpha and the Omega,” twice of God the Father (Rv 1:8; 21:6) and once of God the Son (22:13), indicating the close unity between the Father and Son (cp. Jn 10:38; 14:10-11). “The Alpha and the Omega” appears in juxtaposition to “the one who is, who was, and who is to come” (Rv 1:8; cp. 1:4), as well as to “the beginning and the end” (21:6) and “the first and the last” (22:13). The phrase sums up the entirety of God’s sovereign power over all things, specifically his control over all human history. “The Alpha and the Omega” has the power to begin and end all things in accordance with his decree, and the phrase provides strong affirmation of Jesus’s deity and messianic lordship.

21:15-20 The mention of the measuring rod is an allusion to Ezk 40-41 (see note at Rv 11:1-2). For a city to be 1,400 miles square (12,000 stadia) with walls over two hundred feet thick (144 cubits) is mind-boggling, as are the materials of the wall—jasper stone and gold. Human language is stretched to its limits in these descriptions.

21:22-27 No temple is needed in the new Jerusalem. God the Father (the Almighty) and the Lamb (Christ) are its temple. Also, as there was light from the Lord before the creation of the physical light sources of the universe (Gn 1:3,14-15), there is no need for light (sun or the moon) in the new Jerusalem because the glory of God illuminates it. There apparently will be national distinctions (the nations) and human rulers (the kings of the earth) in the eternal state, but since all who will be there are included in the Lamb’s book of life (excluding the unclean . . . de-testable . . . false; see note at 3:4-5), there is no need for security, and there can be no sin.