THE REVELATION
OF ST JOHN THE DIVINE
CHAPTER 21
Those who overcome shall be sons of God—The earth attains its celestial glory.
1 AND I saw a new heaven and a new earth: [ Ether 13:9, D&C 29:23-24 ] for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea.
2 And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, [ The New Jerusalem comes down as a built city from Heaven. (Ether 13:3) Including some of the residents as well. It is not clear if this New Jerusalem is lifted for a short period as the earth is transformed or what exactly happens. ] prepared as a bride [ What does it mean to be prepared as a bride? She is ready to be married, she has done all that she needs in order for the marriage to take place. 1) She has been faithful to her betrothal. 2) She is watchful and ready as in the ten virgins 3) She is full of joy and anticipation. ] adorned for her husband. [ Wearing her white linen, representing that she has been loyal and is ready to complete the wedding ceremony. ]
3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God [ Physical presence of God. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ will both dwell with those in this city. This is the city that will stand through eternity once the earth is transformed. New Jerusalem will have been on the earth at this point for roughly a thousand years by now. ] is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; [ sorrow and suffering are over. That time has past. People as individuals have made their way to the kingdom where they feel most comfortable. All will have a kingdom beyond their wildest dreams (except sons of perdition). ] and there shall be no more death, [ Death is done away as everyone that was designed to come to earth has come. The work is finished. ] neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: [ We are no longer subject to the pains of mortality. As Gods plan finishes up all are resurrected, never to face pain or death again. ] for the former things are passed away. [ Or those who have been faithful it will be worth it, your work and diligence to God will be rewarded. ]
5 And he that sat upon the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful.
6 And he said unto me, It is done. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. [ The bridegroom here is the one doing the giving. ] I will give unto him [ The faithful members of his church. ] that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life [ Or eternal life. ] freely. [ We will eventually come to know all things, when the son of God will freely teach us all things. ]
7 He that overcometh [ yakol = to prevail, overcome, endure, have power, be able. ] shall inherit all things; [ That is we inherit the exact same things as the son - or all that God has, EVERYTHING. I don't think that we comprehend that well enough or we would simply live differently. Who shall inherit all things? The bride. ] and I will be his God, [ Notice what he is not saying. That it is our responsibility to fight Babylon. As a matter of fact he tells us to just stay away from Babylon. The Lord says he will do that. No it is our job to be prepared, to exercise faith, to stand as witnesses, to hold our ground and to pray. ] and he [ They. ] shall be my son. [ Children. It is all done now, the work is finished. Those who have been faithful in keeping their 1st estate have risen from the dead. The people have separated themselves according to what they were/are willing to receive. ]
8 But the fearful, and unbelieving, [ Those who have a raging hate for God and his son. These are those who will not at any degree show any humility, and even so much as ask that they be forgiven. If they would only ask and believe enough to ask they would be forgiven and at least inherit some kingdom. However; without asking there is simply nothing that God can do for them because their agency would require that they at least ask for it, and if they will not then God will not break their agency and they are left in the state that they have chosen. These are those who are sons of perdition and we know that because we see the fate that awaits them is the fate that awaits the sons of perdition. End of this verse - lake of fire and brimstone - the second death. ] and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.
9 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, [ The temple. ] , and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, [ This is not to be confused with the New Jerusalem that is to be established on the Americas, see 3 Ne. 20:22, Ether 13:3-6. As this great city will be the dwelling place of the sanctified and resurrected, "the bride, the Lamb's wife", see v. 9, cp. 19:7-9. And, is built on the new heaven and earth. see v. 1-9. ] descending out of heaven from God,
11 Having the glory of God: and her light [ This city will become the capital city of the celestialized earth and as a result will be even more that the capital city for this earth but for all of the creations of Heavenly Father. ] was like unto a stone most precious, [ And the stones bore the names of the twelve tribes see vs 12, Exod. 17-21, Isa. 54:12] 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. [ So it is a cube, this was how the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle was described for size - cubic suggesting they are parallel objects. John the Revelator gave the dimensions of the New Jerusalem as 12,000 furlongs square. A furlong is an eighth of a mile. That means 1500 miles square. From Jackson County, MO to SLC is 1308 via the highway system. Incidentally, when the Nauvoo temple was dedicated, GBH mentioned that the statute faced west rather than east because Nauvoo & SLC Temples were "bookends". It's some 1400 miles between SLC & Nauvoo. (“O That I Were an Angel, and Could Have the Wish of Mine Heart,” Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2002, 6).
GR stadia. A stadium was about 607 English feet, or 185.2 meters.
Which, given that there was enough info for a volume calculation, it naturally led to wondering how big the heavenly city was.
12,000 furlough x 185.2 meters/furlough = 2222400 meters
-> 2222.4 kilometers.
for each the width & length, making the height:
height = width: 2222.4 km + height: 2222.4 km = 4444.8 km tall.
"Wait what? That's going to be a huge city... is that planet sized?",
So the volume of the city would be:
width: 2222.4 km x length: 2222.4 km x height: 4444.8 km = 21,953,141,710.848 cubic km
a.k.a the volume of the heavenly city is 21.9 billion cubic km. Interesting that 21.9 billion cubic kms is the volume of the moon. ] 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.
[ Each of these precious stones are symbolic for each of the twelve tribes of Israel, cp. Exod. 17-21, Isa. 54:12. These are the stones that were found on the Breastplate of Judgement tha the High Priest would wear when he would administer in the Holy of Holies. ]
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.
[ The Temple is the House of the Lord, and since God and the Savior are living in the city the whole city then is in essence a temple. ]
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, [ The earth then is in a different state. It is no longer temporal but rather has become eternal and celestial state, so there is no longer any need for a Temple. The Temple being a conduit between a fallen temporal world and the celestial one. I think that this was the same state that at least the Garden of Eden was in originally. I think that when Adam and Eve were there there was no need for the sun - such that when they we removed from the garden they felt the heat of the sun of their backs, they had never experience that, they also learned what darkness was as they had never dwelt in a place where the light was not alway there. Now out of the garden the sun would set, night would come, it would get cool. all things they did not experience in the garden. ] and the Lamb is the light thereof.