I want to give credit to Dr. Kenny McComas of Rittman, OH for the material in this series, as it came from one of his sermons and used by permission. In my humble opinion, Dr. McComas is one of the greatest preachers of the twentieth century and I feel it a great privilege to count him as a personal friend.

The New Jerusalem as seen from the outside. Rev 21:9-27 – “And there came unto me one of the seven angels which had the seven vials full of the seven last plagues, and talked with me, saying, Come hither, I will shew thee the bride, the Lamb’s wife.  10. And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, 11. Having the glory of God: and her light was like unto a stone most precious, even like a jasper stone, clear as crystal; 12. And had a wall great and high, and had 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:  13. On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.  14. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.  15. And he that talked with me had a golden reed to measure the city, and the gates thereof, and the wall thereof.  16. And the city lieth foursquare, and the length is as large as the breadth: and he measured the city with the reed, twelve thousand furlongs. The length and the breadth and the height of it are equal.  17. And he measured the wall thereof, an hundred and forty and four cubits, according to the measure of a man, that is, of the angel.  18. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.  19. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;  20. The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst.  21. And the twelve gates were twelve pearls; every several gate was of one pearl: and the street of the city was pure gold, as it were transparent glass.  22. And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.  23. And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.  24. And the nations of them which are saved shall walk in the light of it: and the kings of the earth do bring their glory and honour into it.  25. And the gates of it shall not be shut at all by day: for there shall be no night there.  26. And they shall bring the glory and honour of the nations into it.  27. And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.â€?

John saw the city coming “from God and out of heaven”. Notice that this city is not coming from heaven but “out of” heaven.  It is coming from where we go when we die.  It is coming from where the marriage supper of the Lamb is going to be – in heaven.  From where the wedding feast is going to be.

John now describes the New Jerusalem.  His description is again one that is a perfect cube – four square.  Listen, this is the city that Abraham looked for as described in Heb. 11:10 – “For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.”

Oh dear fellow Christians, look at the color of this our future home.  God must like color.  Have you ever seen the sunset in the evening when the clouds are burning with fire and there is gold, crimson, orange, and blue in the sky?

Have you ever seen a rainbow in the sky and marveled at the many array of colors?  Let me ask you this – what earthly good are they?  Can you buy them and paint your house?  Can you plow them under in the field and grow them?  No, you see, I just believe that God loves color.

All the stones named in vs. 18-20 – 18. And the building of the wall of it was of jasper: and the city was pure gold, like unto clear glass.  19. And the foundations of the wall of the city were garnished with all manner of precious stones. The first foundation was jasper; the second, sapphire; the third, a chalcedony; the fourth, an emerald;  20. The fifth, sardonyx; the sixth, sardius; the seventh, chrysolite; the eighth, beryl; the ninth, a topaz; the tenth, a chrysoprasus; the eleventh, a jacinth; the twelfth, an amethyst. are exquisite in color.  God took the azure blue of the chalice of His sky, the surf of the raging sea, the emerald of the verdant meadow, the glory of the autumn fall, the fire of an August sunset, and crystallized them all into the living color of His holy city.

Let us see the gates and the foundation.  We see these in vs. 12-14 – “And had a wall great and high, and had 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:  13. On the east three gates; on the north three gates; on the south three gates; and on the west three gates.  14. And the wall of the city had twelve foundations, and in them the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.â€? First let us take a look at the foundations.  Verse 14 tells us that there is going to be twelve foundations.  These have the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb, thus indicating that the redeemed of this dispensation of time will be there.

Now let us look at the gates.  There are twelve gates, three on each side. Each gate is of one pearl.  These bear the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel.  So now I see the saved of the Old Testament dispensations represented in this wonderful city of God.